Investing in properties is a great way to earn additional income outside of your job. There are a lot of people who need shelter, so getting into the business of managing properties is profitable because of that. However, once you start accumulating a lot of properties, it can be difficult to keep track of everything while juggling it with other aspects of your life.
If you’re not careful, you might end up lowering the quality of service that you provide any of your tenants. Once you start getting a lot of properties, you should then consider hiring a property manager to help you.
A property manager can be an individual or a company that helps oversee the day-to-day operations involved with a specific real estate unit. So, why should you hire a property manager exactly?
Why Hire a Property Manager?
Hiring a property manager will help you open up some more time for yourself and other aspects of your life. Having to deal with the concerns of your tenants as well as of the property during the day-to-day can be quite a hassle, especially if you have a lot of property under your belt.
Aside from that, a property manager can help elevate the quality of service that you provide your tenants. This is going to generate positive reviews from your previous tenant which is always good for business.
Before you hire an Auckland property management service provider, you should first identify the do’s and don’ts of hiring a property manager. Plenty of people before you have made mistakes that you could learn from. On that note, here are several common mistakes to avoid when it comes to hiring a property manager.
Hiring an inexperienced property manager
No matter what industry you are talking about, the experience is a valuable trait that is priceless. However, if you have a lot of properties that you need to have managed by a property manager, then you should definitely seek someone more experienced.
An inexperienced property manager can end up not committing their full attention to your property if they have too many properties that they aren’t able to juggle all at once. This could be fine if you know which properties they are managing and whether you think they can juggle the workload for yours as well.
However, to be on the safer side, it’s best that you hire a property manager that has a portfolio to show you.
Not doing enough research
If this is your first time hiring a property manager, then before you choose the first option that you see, make sure that you did a bit of background research on them. Regardless of the fact that they have a professional website or they walk the talk, you should make sure that their previous clients were satisfied with their work.
Checking on their previous clients can give you a better idea of how they work and the results that they were able to bring in. Before you commit a huge chunk of your property’s responsibilities to your chosen property manager, make sure that they are able to answer delivery.
Unaware of their monthly management fee
Before you hire a property manager, you first have to figure out what your budget is for each month of management. Some people are tempted by the low management fees that they see. However, you have to make sure that they are listing down the ancillary fees as well. After all, you don’t want to be blindsided by additional fees.
Not asking the right question
Make sure that you have at least three options open and that you interview each property manager before you commit to a single person or company. In this interview, you have to prepare the right questions, or you are going to miss the obvious signs that they might not be the one for you.
You should check their qualifications first. Then ask them how many properties they currently are managing each month. Then ask them about their workflow. You should find someone who has knowledge of the current and local real estate trends.
Ignoring the fine print
Before you sign the contract agreement, make sure that you read through the fine print. One of the most important things that should be included in the contract is work termination. How you can terminate the contract and whether there are any fees involved with the termination.
Being overly friendly
Just because you click with a property manager doesn’t mean they have the qualifications and experience that can best manage your property. Although they might feel like a friend, it doesn’t mean that you should hire them. This is still a business relationship, so you should judge them based on professional qualifications.
Binding due to personal relations
The same vein as the previous factory you shouldn’t hire someone just because you know them. Although familiarity makes it a lot easier, you still have to make sure that they have the qualifications to manage your property. It’s not them who will be losing out on money. It’s you.
Over to You
Now that you know the top common mistakes homeowners make when hiring a property manager, you should be more aware of your actions. Once you find the perfect property manager, you will have an easier time earning money through your properties.