So you’ve done it. You’ve purchased your first rental property. All of the experts tell you that real estate investing is a great way to build wealth. Not only for yourself, but for future generations! You feel good about it, and you should! You’ve taken the experts’ advice and are now on your way to the promised land. You found some tenants, and everything is great for a little while, and then you get the call.
It’s your tenant.
The air conditioner just broke, and this Savannah heat is brutal. You can’t delay in getting this fixed, or the family that is depending on you will suffer. With summer heat index of over 100 degrees, they could realistically be in real danger.
But you are at work, and are waiting for the big meeting with your boss to start. Even though you want to, you don’t have time to handle this right now. This could take some time. You need to call a few local places and get quotes. Some of them might not even answer the phone. They will likely want to schedule an appointment to go by the property later, but you won’t be able to meet them, and without a few more phone calls, you aren’t sure if the tenant will be home either. You are starting to stress about this and your meeting begins, so it is going to have to wait until later. Hopefully, your tenants can go to a friend’s house in the meantime and you’ll have time to take care of this after work today- hopefully. Now if you could just stay focused on this meeting with you boss..
But what if there was a better way? What if you never even received a call, just a simple email that evening that the A/C unit was repaired today as you went about your business? The tenants are happy with the service, and you did literally nothing. That, my friend, is the role of a dependable property manager. They make your life easier, and take care of things behind the scenes, sometimes urgent things, so you can enjoy the fruits of your investment rather than the headaches that comes with being a do-it-yourself landlord.
Don’t get me wrong, being a do-it-yourself landlord can be fun. There is a certain satisfaction that comes with fixing things and pleasing the customer (your tenant). Taking on that role is a very serious responsibility and one that should not be taken lightly. There is a lot to know in the legal spectrum, and a do-it-yourself landlord should become an expert on the laws concerning “Fair Housing”, Landlord-Tenant codes, Fair Debt Collection, Lead-based paint, asbestos, and other potential hazards. Maintenance knowledge is also a must-have. If the A/C unit goes out on your rental during the Savannah summer, that needs to be repaired immediately. If a pipe bursts at 2am, that cannot wait until the morning to be repaired-you won’t be getting much sleep tonight, but at least your favorite coffee shop opens in a few hours.
Landlording will require about as much time as an extra part time job for each property you take on. You may need to make repairs on the weekends, or spread pine straw at night after a long day at work. You may be spending your lunch break taking care of problems that happened overnight, or going by Home Depot to buy more paint and a new toilet. Some people sincerely enjoy those activities and the time, labor, and love it takes to do them.
But others do not.
Some, maybe most people, don’t even know where to start when a pipe is leaking, or a toilet is broken. They don’t have people on call to do landscaping, maintenance. or painting. They don’t want to negotiate with a vendor every time they need a service for the best price, or spend time searching Angie’s List for the plumber with the most stars. While any one of these tasks alone may not be extremely time consuming, when you add them all up, they actually take quite a bit of time.
Time away from your hobbies.
Time away from your friends and family.
Time away from what you want to do.
After you partner with the right property manager, this will change instantly. A reliable property manager will buy you time. They take care of nearly everything at your property that you would otherwise have to do as an investor. The experienced do-it-yourself landlord, will instantly be overjoyed when turning these low-paying duties over to the professional, finding that it costs them nearly nothing, and rediscovering their freedom and their time for more enjoyable or productive pursuits. Even if you only own a single investment property, having a property manager can alleviate a significant amount of stress in your life.
Don’t want to deal with finding a lease that legally protects you and your tenants? A property manager can do that. Don’t want to take the phone calls about maintenance at all hours of the day and night? A property manager can do that. Are you concerned that you will lose money when your tenant moves out because you just don't have time to paint walls, clean carpet, negotiate prices on deferred repairs, cut grass, replace light fixtures, market and show the property? A property manager can literally do all of those things so you can have your time back to spend as you please. Time at the beach, at the ballfield coaching your kid’s team, on the boat enjoying the weather, or catching up on sleep that you lost while you were the landlord.
Frank Moore and Company has been managing Savannah area properties for over 20 years. Our property managers are not only experienced at what they do, but they all own rentals themselves, and know what a difference a good property manager can make. Hiring a qualified property manager puts the enjoyment back into real estate investing, and eliminates the headaches. Frank Moore and Company currently serves hundreds of satisfied investors in the coastal empire, and would love to learn more about what you are facing and offer solutions for you to take back your time. To learn more or to contact us, click here.