Property managers have many jobs and they have to be great at them all. Put simply, the job involves maintaining rental property like homes and apartment buildings. They are experts in executing the wishes of the property owner to help them make their investments more profitable. This means handling the day-to-day operations, tenant screening, rent collection, and more.
As a property management company, the Forest City team takes away the stress of ownership and maintenance. Here’s how our work actually works!
What Property Managers Do
When someone buys real estate to rent out as an investment property, they might find keeping it up to be a challenge. Maybe it’s not in their temperament, they have day jobs that take up most of their time, or they have too many properties to give enough time and attention each one needs to succeed.
Owners with these issues will hire a manager for their rental property to make sure that their goals are met. To do this, they entrust the manager to the finding of tenants, repairing and maintaining the building, coming up with budgets, and keeping property records.
The property manager will have to know the provincial and national rules and regulations that pertain to landlord-tenant law. This includes following proper procedures for screening quality tenants, terminating leases, conducting evictions, and complying with safety standards. Many owners find the best way to handle the workload is to hire a property management company.
How Property Managers Handle Tenants
One of the most common jobs passed on to a property manager is setting up lease agreements and collecting rent payments. The property manager should know the rental market and set a competitive rate that attracts applicants to the unit. They then do the job of collecting rent on a date that allows the prompt payment of monthly expenses. They will then have to strictly enforce late fee policies as proscribed in the lease agreement.
Many property managers will also advertise vacancies, screen prospective tenants, and collect security deposits on behalf of the owner. They must have the skills to set up a screening process, come up with a questionnaire that doesn’t infringe on the law, make sure that financial institutions run credit checks, and find quality tenants to fill every unit so that vacancy times are as low as possible. Having a good property manager will reduce the money lost to tenant turnover, but building a good rapport helps the manager handle complaints and timely move-outs (or, should the unfortunate step be necessary, evictions) more easily.
How Property Managers Handle Operations
The physical aspects of management, including rental property inspections, regular maintenance, and emergency repairs, are some of the hardest parts of owning an income property. So on top of their excellent people skills, a good property manager knows how to keep a rental unit in great condition!
Good maintenance keeps tenants safe and happy, but it also helps to protect the property owners from liability. If an owner who isn’t good at property maintenance fixes something like a porch step improperly, they’ll be at the mercy of the courts.
Finally, property management means being responsible for the planning and implementing of a budget and maintaining all the important records. They have to figure out ways to operate within a set budget for the building so that they can handle all expenses and make a good profit for the investor!
Believe us, it’s a lot of different types of work, but this variety makes it very rewarding. Being good at all these jobs and more is why Forest City Property Management handles the screening of prospective tenants, day-to-day operations, rent collection, and maintenance for property owners working in London’s rental market!