Should You Manage Your Rental Properties Yourself?

Are you a landlord? Well, chances are that you will be packed up with loads of work. Finding a tenant can be a real tough deal and you have to make sure to put on ads, attend phone calls and show the property accordingly-phew…indeed a number of tasks!

And, now the question pops up-whether you have to do it all by yourself? Is there an alternative that you can trust in this aspect? While there are so many ‘ifs and buts’, however, if you own it Detroit will make it possible for you to come across a number of property management companies.

But the question is- can you depend on such a company?

Looking In-Depth

While you are in the process of finding a tenant and have to accomplish a lot of tasks, approaching a property management company can help you out to a great extent. But when it comes to giving you the “perfect solution”, such companies may not always stand to be a great alternative. Here’s why…

Get Your Rental Property

Now, if we take the fees into consideration, the property management company does charge a good amount. Again, the charge amount is not constant and varies depending on the location. Considering an average, most of the times, the fee stands to 8-12% of the total rent on a monthly basis. Again, with every new tenant there can also be a one-time fee and mind you it can go higher- maybe 50% of the monthly rent or the total rent. Also, for some companies, the manager charges an additional fee known as the renewal fee every year. All these fees stand to a good amount and can be a bit tough for the landlord if he or she is not able to get some profits out of the investment.

If we now consider the positive side of the investment, it is seen that by spending an amount, the landlord gets some free time, allowing him to do something extra and more productive. The time saved his way can be further used to do hard work and buy another property, thereby multiplying the profits. If the entire thing is considered this way, then going to a property management company will be the best possible option.

On the contrary, if you are not willing to hand over the property to the company, then as a landlord, it becomes essential on your part to know about every detail of maintaining a property well. If not, you will not be able to maintain the property and will invite additional investments in order to rectify the damages already caused due to poor maintenance.

What is the truth?

Most of the times, the landlord complains about the management company for not taking care of the property so well. While the management companies need to do this, there is also a possibility that after maintaining so many properties at a time, your property may get ignored to an extent. While this action can be termed as something unprofessional, but you being an individual with no knowledge of maintenance has got no other options but to trust the company.

As an alternative, you can always learn the tricks and take care of your property. This is the best possible way because, at the end of the day, the property is yours and nobody other than you can take good care of something that is completely yours- don’t you think so?

Erin Emanuel