If you’ve purchased rental property in Bellevue, Washington, then there are a few things you have to consider. One of those considerations is whether you want to manage your property yourself or hire a professional Bellevue property management company to handle the details for you. The following includes a quick guide with information from both sides.
What’s Involved?
Property management requires a few specific skills or skilled workers on hand to do work for you. Some of the services you will have to perform while managing property include:
- Maintenance
- Communicating with Tenants
- Regular Inspections
- Handling Disputes
- Collecting Rent
- Accounting
- Writing Paperwork
- Advertising
- Screening and Interviewing Tenants
- Repairs and Emergencies
One important thing to remember is that if you have to do all of these services, you will most likely have to hire some of them out to someone else, even if you only have one or two buildings that you are renting out. Because most of us are not qualified accountants, you probably need a professional accountant for tax season, and will have to hire someone to inspect your premises for you. If you decide to hire a property management company, they handle all of these services.
What do I Have to Know?
Managing property in Bellevue requires several very specific things including a knowledge of local real estate and landlord tenant law. You can pick up copies of both of these items at your local city hall or find them on the Internet. You can also take local courses for real estate management and basic regulations. While this will teach you the basics, it will not teach you the ins and outs of real estate law, like you would get from a standard property management company.
Should I Self-Manage?
The most important considerations when you’re trying to decide whether to self-manage or hire a property manager include whether you have the time, whether it’s a profitable choice and how it affects the quality of your rental units. For example, if you have one to ten units that are fairly close to where you live, you know how to write up professional paperwork or don’t mind hiring someone to do it, and can handle all of the maintenance and responsibilities professionally and in a timely manner, then you can probably self manage. On the other hand, if you have a full time job, won’t be able to respond quickly or will have other priorities, then a property manager will ensure that your tenants get quality service. The same goes for if your units are spread out over a wide area, might take more than 20 minutes to drive to, or you have so many units that you cannot easily handle them all yourself in addition to a job.
Will it Save Me Money?
One of the main things that keeps property investors from hiring a Bellevue property management company is the cost. While most local property managers do take a percentage of the rent, they can actually save you money. For example, some high-cost services such as marketing become free when you hire a property manager. You can also rent out units in weeks instead of months. Another consideration is that without costly phone bills, no messaging or pursuing tenants for rent, not setting aside time to interview potential tenants and run credit or background checks, and not handling maintenance and repairs in the middle of the night, you also save time.
Depending on your level of experience, how much free time you have and your connections with repair and servicing companies, you might want to hire a property manager or manage yourself. If you’re interested in management, contact Bellevue Property Management at SJA for a free quote.