Some owners come to us and say “we thought you would charge more”. Some come to us and say “Why does property management cost so much”? The biggest question all investors should be asking, however, is, “What is the value of the service”?
When you call a plumber, dentist, or an electrician it’s not because you want to burn money or just need someone to talk to. It’s because you’re seeking an expert’s opinion of the best way to solve a problem and don’t mind paying to have that problem solved on-time, the first time and backed up by a guarantee in case something doesn’t work out perfectly. Can you imagine trying to save money on your own dentistry? No way! You could of course go back to dental school and learn how to do it yourself but it’s simply not worth the time or effort. So you pay a dentist for their expertise. You pay a plumber to come out and fix things right the first time. No one wants a supply line under pressure to begin leaking inside their home at 2am. You pay an electrician. Not because you can’t figure it out yourself but because your time is valuable and a house fire from doing it wrong isn’t worth the risk.
Hiring a property manager is very similar. You could do it yourself. You could attempt to guess the latest market conditions based on free information on the web, not knowing if it was accurate or not. You could hope that Zillow guessed correctly in a non-disclosure state such as Texas. You could hope that the tenants appreciate your idea of a “ready” condition and don’t complain or change their minds. You could attempt to negotiate contracts with the tenants without knowing real estate law, being an attorney, or even having the appropriate authorization to use forms your Realtor provided you for free. You could attempt to run background checks on tenants, not knowing what to ask, what not to ask, and how to even obtain the information.
Do you know what criteria delivers a 0.5% or less eviction rate? We do. Do you know how to legally say no to a tenant if you’ve seen their credit? It’s a federally required form. We know. Do you know what to do when a tenant tells you they’ve been the victim of domestic abuse? What about a military transfer? How about they simply got locked out at 2am and want a key to get in or they’re threatening to break a window. What would you do?
We know the answers. That’s what you’re paying for. Some property management companies may just do rent collection and disbursements. But a great property management company does so much more. They stay up to speed on all laws (federal, state, and local), stay insured, licensed, and available 24/7. They provide properly detailed accounting, with software designated for you and the tenant, and are experts at keeping you out of trouble before you accidentally step into it. If you hire a property manager and never have a problem, it’s because they’ve removed opportunities for problems to arise or grow. They’ve dealt with the problems before they reached you, knew how and when to communicate with tenants, vendors, and even the neighbors who call to complain about the tenants.
If you can imagine it, it will happen. The question is do you want to deal with it or have us take care of business before it ever reaches your inbox. Remember this is the biggest investment most of you will ever make. Why would you take a chance on that going wrong when you can hire an expert to help ensure it goes right?
Call us today at 1836 Property Management for the best property management services in Austin and central Texas. www.1836PropertyManagement.com or 512-994-4323.
Listen to a few words on the topic from 1836PM founder, Matt Leschber…
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By: Matt Leschber, 1836PM Founder
