If you’re ready to take the plunge and get started with commercial property management then you might want to consider your options, think about hiring a company to help you out, and then focus your time and your money where it matters most. While there are a lot of pros and cons to hiring or not hiring a company, there are a lot of great reasons to hire one when you decide to make property investment your business. You should make sure you consider your options and why you should or should not hire a property management company.
What is a Commercial Property Management Company?
A commercial property management company is a company that is licensed and trained to handle large scale real estate management. In Bellevue, Washington, that means having a business license to work as a business inside of the city. It also means holding a real estate license to show, rent, and lease property inside of the city. While there are a lot of other factors such as the connections, time, and training to professionally manage and rent out large scale property investments.
What Does a Property Management Company Do For You?
Now that you know what commercial property management is, you can start making your decision by taking a look at what a Bellevue property management company can do for you, comparing costs and benefits, and then making up your mind. For most, a commercial property management company saves time and money by performing the following functions: Advertising Property when units are empty Screening and running background checks on new tenants Providing business license and real estate license to ensure services are legal Collecting rent and lease Handling paperwork and documents Dealing with Tenant complains Handling maintenance and inspections
While most people can do all of the above themselves if given the time and the necessary training, most don’t actually have the time. Managing just 40 units can be a full time job for anyone who is not experienced in commercial property management, and many investors own many more units. An investment company can easily take the massive responsibility of 200 or 300 units and turn it into something as simple as checking up with the property manager, and collecting a paycheck each month.
Cons of Commercial Property Management
While there are a lot of pros to commercial property management, there are also a couple of things to look out for. For example, not all Bellevue property management companies are the same. Some will offer options like not being charged until you rent units, or regular property inspections at no extra charge, others might try to charge you for inspections, or charge you up front for your potential income. Other cons of hiring a Bellevue property management company include:
- More expensive than handling the management yourself.
- Most companies charge a minimum of 70%.
- You have little to no interaction with tenants
- Might be unnecessary if you live near or in the building
For most, a Bellevue commercial property management company is a good investment under a couple of circumstances. If you have enough units that you have trouble managing them on your own, if you have so many units that you might have to get a business or real estate license, if you do not have the time to manage your tenant complaints, repairs, tenant screening, rent collecting, and other mundane tasks, then hiring a property management company could actually save you both time, money, and frustration. If you live in the building or nearby, just have a few units, or have plenty of free time, you might be better off without the management company. Most investors should calculate the time they spend, how much better off the property would be with someone who knows how property management works, and then decide between hiring or skipping the Bellevue property management company.