Many landlords don’t like to manage their own properties. Instead they hire a professional property manager to do the job. We don’t do that, and there are important reasons why we don’t use property managers.
Property managers are not responsible for the costs associated with the property repairs, but they collect 10% of the rent. For that money, they collect the rent and hire contractors to make any repairs needed (then bill the owner). But if the property is generally in good condition and has been recently renovated, there are fewer repairs, and it’s less work to manage the property. Because our properties are renovated, we don’t get as much value for that 10% fee.
Nobody will give our properties more attention than we do. Professional property managers often have hundreds of houses to manage, and that’s a lot to juggle. Which houses, repairs and calls get top priority? It’s often not our’s, and we want our tenants to get the best service possible.
One of the responsibilities of a property manager is to keep costs down for the owner. But sometimes that thinking can be short-sighted, causing tenant turnover and bigger problems down the road. We prefer to fix problems the right way, so that our rental houses can stay in good condition for many years into the future.
Before we got into real estate, we were professional marketers. Believe it or not, marketing is a big part of real estate! So when we are marketing a property for rent, and taking the time to meet potential tenants, there’s nobody better suited to the task than us.
Many investors don’t want that personal connection with tenants. They just want the check at the end of the month. But we enjoy getting to meet our tenants and providing them a great leasing experience. Many residents prefer that direct relationship with the owners, and that’s what we provide.