Long Term Real Estate Profits Through Property Management

Someone once said, "If you don't manage properties well, then you are just a custodian for the properties until you sell them at rock-bottom prices to the next guy."

The goal of a good property management company is to maximize property profitability through maximizing revenue and keeping costs as low as possible. The company also gives property owners complete access to property and tenant information. This can be done through on-line software that is available 24/7.

Whether you pay someone to manage your property or do it yourself, if you are going to keep properties long-term, you need to understand what it takes to manage a property.

Tenants

Each property is an asset that needs to be maintained and improved on over the lifetime of the property. The cost of maintaining and improving the property can vary greatly, depending on the tenants.

Screening for great tenants can take time and energy, but experienced landlords say its worth it to avoid evictions and property damage. Some owners look at tenants as employees that safeguard, maintain, and utilize the property

Maximize Revenues

Revenue maximization is a function of keeping rents high and occupancy rates high. Occupancy rates are a function of keeping tenants, attracting new renters when properties become available and minimizing the amount of time between move-out and move-in.

Revenues also come from collecting late fees and enforcing lease contracts.

Minimize Costs

Costs are impacted by tenant turnover, repairs, ongoing property maintenance and tenant delinquencies and/or evictions. Turnover costs (the cost to get a house rent-ready) are significant, even when the tenants are clean and take care of the property.

Repairs paid by property owners can be kept down through good lease contracts and proper tenant screening. Ongoing property maintenance is unavoidable and strong relationships with service providers keeps costs down.

Obviously keeping delinquencies and evictions to a minimum and preventing these costs is best, controlling the costs when needed is critical.

Information Systems

When using a property manager, you should have access to all of the information that pertains to each property you own: property ownership documents, tenant lease information, revenue owed and collected, and costs. Reports can be scheduled to be sent automatically by e-mail. They can also be generated on an “as needed” basis.

If you are managing the properties yourself, the need is the same- you need to know if you are making or losing money on each property.

What about your properties? Any "tricks of the trade" that you can share?