Many homeowners who have never rented their properties wonder what a Residential Property Management company does? Typically, the first statement I hear when talking to a future landlord is: “What do you do besides collecting Rent?”
So I ask, “What do you do when you get a 2:00 A.M. maintenance call?”, “How do you handle HOA or COA violations caused by your tenant?” What can you do when your tenant does not pay his/her rent? What if your tenant does not respond to your phone or email inquiries? How do you know your tenants are not damaging your property?
A residential Property Management company performs duties on behalf of the property owner and provides services to the tenants and the property. A landlord or an investor employs a property management company to maintain their real estate so that they do not need to attend to the tenant and property issues and can focus on new properties or simply go about daily life. In short, a good property management company should minimize your expenses while maximizing your profit. As a residential property management company in Northern Virginia, our goal is to meet the needs of the landlords to the level he or she requests. About 95% of landlords want us to perform nearly all tasks in managing their property. Our general duties include: finding, qualifying, selecting, and managing relations with tenants, handling contract issues with the tenants, maintaining accounting records, overseeing legal tasks, performing maintenance services and managing the property turn over in between the tenants. This list is not inclusive of all the tasks that a property management company will perform. Property management services are specific to each property and as issues present themselves they need to be handled uniquely. Overall, rent collection is just a small task amongst all of these.
The key to understanding property management services is that you establish an ongoing relationship with a company and its representatives. It is not a one-time project. It is an ongoing relationship.
