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June 25, 2008
By GSA Staff
Once you have purchased your New Jersey rental property, the responsibility of running and maintaining
the property can quickly become overwhelming. For many landlords, the logical solution is to hire a property management company to oversee their rental property. But is this the right decision for you? Here are several issues to consider.
Do you have what it takes to run your property yourself?
If this is your first time owning a NJ rental property, you could find yourself in over your head. Collecting rent may sound easy, but in reality, it can be difficult and time consuming. If you are not familiar with rent collection, you can quickly find that your tenants are taking advantage of your inexperience.
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Does your property require day-to-day maintenance or repairs?
You are not just looking for somebody to collect the rent on a weekly or monthly basis. Chances are that is the least of their duties. In addition to rent collection, day-to-day maintenance of a rental property can be tiring. If you are not operating your property as a full-time job, you may not have the time to address tenant concerns and repairs in a timely manner. This may make hiring a property management company an excellent choice. A good property manager is well experienced in managing regular repairs and alteration. They will know when to evade needless repairs and cut your maintenance expenses.
Where is your rental property located?
If you live or work near your rental property, you may be able to make regular visits for maintenance, or just to keep on eye on it. However, you may not have that convenience. Hiring a property manager comes in handy when you are located far away from your property. For example. driving from North Jersey to South Jersey for regular maintenance and repairs may be costly and impractical. Having a property manager from the area could cut travel expenses out.
From finding and screening tenants, through regular inspections, to sourcing tradesmen for property maintenance, a property manager will help ease the responsibilities of owning rental property.
What to look for when hiring a property manager.
Your property manager's experience level is key. How many properties does the individual or firm manage and how long have they been in the industry? And do they have conflict resolution expertise? You'll want to find a company that is friendly, professional, and easy to communicate with. Always ask a company to provide references before hiring them.
Be sure you know your manager's availability, and get everything in writing. Also make sure they can properly enforce rent collection. After all, you're hiring them to make your life easier - not more difficult!
Keep an eye out for companies that outsource their duties. Some may actually hire more individuals to perform maintenance on properties. This can lead to a chain of several people and may make it difficult for you to find out what is going on, which can result in fraud. Make sure it is clearly stated whether or not a company may outsource their work.
You can find a property manager a number of ways, from word of mouth to various online services. Garden State Apartments provides a section dedicated to listing property management companies - click here to view it!
While you may lose some of your rental income to the manager, it may well be worth the money if you own multiple properties, deal with a large number of tenants, live far from your investment, or simply have a full time job to focus on. Hiring a property manager will make owning property in New Jersey a far less daunting task.
