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Are you a property owner thinking about hiring a property manager? Or you probably want to pursue property management as a career option. You'll want to know everything that the job entails. This includes the responsibilities involved and why they are essential for a successful real estate business. But don’t worry as this article explains everything you need to know.
Responsibilities of a Property Manager
Generally, a property manager is a third-party person hired by a real estate investor or the property owner to manage daily functioning at a commercial rental property. The property manager's responsibilities may greatly vary though some of the tasks involved are common across various rental property types. Let's discuss the typical responsibilities you can expect to handle as a property manager.
A property manager bears the responsibility of managing the tenants at an investment property. While this is often the main task for landlords, most of them dedicate this to property managers. This responsibility mainly includes finding and attracting a new tenant.
You will be expected to find and fill the vacant property. So, advertising a rental property is part of the job description. It means that you must prepare and post compelling posters, banners, or ads to appropriate listing websites and other spots for marketing the investment property.
After finding and attracting a new tenant to the rental property, it is your responsibility to ensure that the prospective tenants are honest. In this case, you may be required to carry out a thorough tenant screening process to check their credit history, checking employment proofs, references, and general backgrounds.
The best part is that you will get more experience quickly finding better and suitable prospective tenants and minimizing regular tenant turnover. That's so because you will be handling more people over time and gain the courage and skills for this task.
Handling rent-issues and security deposit is one of the most critical property manager's responsibilities. Usually, they set the initial rent that the tenants can agree to. However, this responsibility demands a better understanding of the market the investment property is situated in.
Besides, they need to know the kind of clients to attract and adjust the rents' a bit to attract a new-tenant while doing rent collection for the property owner. Similarly, they may raise or lower the rent yearly depending on the advancements in the real estate industry and government regulations like taxes.
What's more, property managers often determine and set up reliable systems for rent from the tenants. On top of that, they must include strict deadlines, policies, and enforcing late penalties. They also need to find the best method for confirming that all the tenants have paid their rents as required on behalf of the property owner.
Managing and resolving complaints raised by tenants is also another popular property management duty. For instance, if a tenant complains about a neighbor who hosts parties frequently and disrupts, a property manager is the most likely person to handle them. Besides, they may also be required to attend to emergencies when they arise. So, be aware of the general safety precautions that are observed at the rental properties.
Other than that, property managers should have a good understanding of the legal functioning of their respective investment property. This is to say that you must know all the legal laws and processes regarding dealing with a security deposit, eviction, ending leases, safety compliance, and so on. More importantly, the best property manager must know landlord-tenant rules, including rent collection policy or any other related laws, and do their jobs as per the laws.
Coordinating tenant turnover is yet another common responsibility of a property manager in property management. They facilitate and organize how a new-tenant moves in and out of the building. In such a case, they need to look out for any damages in the previously rented spaces and fix them. Asides from that, they should organize how the spaces will get cleaned before prospective tenants come in.
As a qualified property manager from a property management company, you are also responsible for keeping the rental properties in good, safe, and livable condition. This may include facilitating property maintenance, repairs, and upgrading all the facilities such as parking and laundry.
It is also a must to perform routine maintenance like landscaping, trash elimination, pest removal, and inspecting for leaks in the plumbing system. Or, they may hire an individual to do these vital tasks more often. If the rental property needs repairs or renovations, they can fix the problems themselves or hire a professional to do the job.
In other words, property managers must have a vast network of reliable carpenters, contractors, electricians, and plumbers. Maintenance primarily involves inspecting, identifying, and resolving tenant complaints about the efficiency of the properties. They also need to check out the state of a vacant property, maintain and renovate them as required.
Apart from performing essential maintenance, a property manager also needs to make sure the rental properties have top-notch security. They can do so by hiring security guards or adopting and sustaining best performing security devices, or both. Besides, they may formulate policies and procedures for emergencies. As a rule of thumb, rental properties with remarkable security make the tenants feel more secure. This, in turn, increases tenant retention.
Since a property manager is a supervisor, it is their responsibility to create a budget that will run the whole rental unit sufficiently within a given period. The plan should also include room for making improvements, buying repairs, and saving funds for an emergency while at the property. Plus, they are also required to file tax returns for the property or help the rental property owners when tax season comes.
Moreover, they must keep proper records for running the building. This involves all the expenses such as insurance costs, leases, repairs, etc., and income. They also need to keep records of complaints, building inspection, and rent collection details.
To stay put in all of the property's affairs, getting organized is vital. While it may be time-consuming, a good property manager from a reputable property management company can handle and safeguard all the property documents on behalf of rental property owners. It may also include keeping records, transferring keys to new prospective tenants, creating annual financial statements, maintaining postage, leasing agreements, and so on.
By this, we mean that the property manager should be easily accessible whenever the tenants want to communicate their issues like maintenance. They must also be ready to help the tenants' woes and maintain constant and effective communication with rental property owners.
Property management should never be something tricky. With our list of 10 responsibilities of property managers, we believe you are now well-informed about this amazing job. Plus, you probably have seen the impact such responsibilities can have on your real estate business.
Sources
https://www.mashvisor.com/blog/common-property-manager-responsibilities/
http://www.talentcor.com/blog/6-common-property-management-responsibilities
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-is-a-property-manager-2124842
https://different.com.au/blog/property-manager-duties-responsibilities/
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A Street Partners in Southern California and Salt Lake City Utah
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