In the U.S. alone, there are approximately 20 million rental properties comprised of about 48 million units. Individuals own around half of those properties. Some of them are accidental landlords who typically inherited a property.
As for the rest of the owners, many of them got into real estate investing looking for a passive income source. Only a few wanted a second job or a whole new career as a landlord.
Many turn to property management services to ease the burden. Yet, those services can also help protect your investment.
Not sure how? Keep reading for a quick overview.
Tenant Screening
Bad tenants will routinely leave rental properties in much worse shape. For inexperienced landlords, though, finding good tenants is often a challenge. You don't know what to look for, what to ask, or even what's legal to ask.
A good property management service knows how to handle tenant screenings without crossing any ethical or legal boundaries. They can eliminate the bad applicants before they get a chance to damage your property.
Property Inspections
Another way that property management protects your real estate investment is with property inspections. Most management services will conduct an annual inspection on all of the units to look for damage and illegal activity.
Catching damage lets them conduct repairs and, if illegal activities are found, evict the offending tenant. The last thing any rental property needs is a reputation for people dealing drugs or equally unsavory activity.
On top of that, they can and should do an inspection whenever a tenant moves out. Again, that lets them stay on top of any repairs that the unit might need before they rent it out to the next tenant.
Property Maintenance
For individuals who own rental property as a sideline, maintenance is one of the most difficult aspects to manage. Let's say that a tenant calls up in the middle of the day to report a leaking pipe.
If you work a day job, you may struggle to carve out the time to find someone to make that repair in a timely fashion. All the while, water is leaking into one of your units, potentially damaging the walls and floors.
Property services deal with these problems for you, and often faster than you can. They typically have people on staff to handle basic maintenance. Beyond that, they often maintain relationships with local professionals for more complicated repairs.
Property Management Services and You
Individuals who get into real estate investment for passive income often find themselves overwhelmed with the amount of work required of landlords. That can leave them poorly positioned to protect their investments. Property management services can help you protect those investments in several ways.
They can handle tenant screenings, which lets you avoid bad tenants. They deal with property inspections, both annually and when tenants move out. Property services also deal with emergency and non-emergency property maintenance and repairs.
PMI Georgia offers property management services in the Greater Atlanta area. For questions or to get started, contact PMI Georgia today.
