If you are a landlord who is considering outsourcing the management of your Bristol property, it can be beneficial to first understand precisely how the services of a property management company could help you to save time, keep your stress levels low, and ensure that your property consistently remains a sought-after unit in what is a busy and competitive property market.
What Do Property Management Companies Do?
Property management companies essentially act as a representative of the landlord as they oversee all aspects of a rental property, which includes:
1. Property Maintenance
Landlords are legally required to address maintenance issues swiftly, which can be challenging if you have a busy schedule or own several properties. Property management companies are equipped to deal with everything from smaller problems requiring urgent attention to more substantial issues that may take time and effective management to address.
Some common maintenance tasks that management companies handle include:
- Addressing urgent plumbing problems
- Fixing integrated appliances
- Conducting preventative property maintenance, such as maintaining roofs and clearing gutters
- Maintaining shared outside spacesÂ
As property management companies understand the legal requirements and industry standards that a property must meet, they can therefore take the pressure off your shoulders and give you the peace of mind that any problems your tenants encounter will be addressed as quickly as possible.
2. Tenant Screening
Finding responsible tenants isn’t an easy task and requires both time and resources which you might not have yourself. Property management companies handle everything from marketing your property to screening interested tenants and obtaining references.
3. Lease Management
From simple lease renewals to missed payments and major lease breaches, proper lease management can take up a lot of valuable time and resources. Experienced property management companies are often in a better position to provide efficient solutions to any issues that arise, including liaising with the police and legal professionals.
4. Rent Collection Management
Property management companies handle all aspects of rent collection, which includes ensuring that tenants are paying the correct amount of rent on time and maintaining up-to-date records. Any disputes will be efficiently managed and appropriate steps taken if a resolution is not found within a reasonable time frame.
Advantages of Using a Property Management Company for Landlords
Effective property management companies expertly handle all aspects of renting out your property, only contacting you directly with complex issues that need your approval and to keep you up-to-date with all the information you need to know about your property. This has many advantages to you as a landlord, including:
1. Reducing Stress
Emergencies can occur in even the best-maintained properties, which can cause a lot of stress if your tenants need your help during the early hours of the morning or late at night. Plus, if you have multiple properties, you may quickly find that your days are filled with a variety of different maintenance tasks, fielding tenant queries and managing financial records, which can be especially difficult to manage if you also have other work and/or family obligations.
By outsourcing management to a professional company, you can feel assured that everything is being handled by a team that knows exactly what they’re doing.
2. Saving Time
From marketing your property to meeting with prospective tenants, collecting rent, maintaining records, completing maintenance tasks and handling disputes, it’s easy to see just how much time and effort goes into maintaining a rental property. By outsourcing this to a professional property management company, you can reclaim this time to invest into other aspects of your professional life.
How Tenants Benefit
Tenants also benefit when renting properties that are managed by a professional company, which is why managed properties typically experience less downtime and secure higher monthly rents. Some of the key benefits that tenants experience include:
1. Fast Resolutions to Issues
Property management companies allow tenants to contact them directly 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This means that issues that arise are met with swift resolutions without tenants needing to follow up multiple times before the problem is fully addressed.
2. Confidence in Renting a Well-Maintained Property
There are unscrupulous landlords out there who don’t maintain their properties in accordance with the guidelines set out in law, which includes ensuring that the property is in a good state of repair. Many renters actively seek out properties that are managed by professional companies, as it increases their trust and confidence levels that their hard-earned money is affording them the standard of living they deserve.
3. Easy Lease Renewals
Many tenants choose to stay in well-managed properties for longer, which is why the lease renewal process is often kept as simple as possible. This allows tenants to avoid spending money on what can be a very costly moving process and enables them to feel settled in a property that genuinely feels like home.Â
Key Considerations When Choosing a Property Management Company
It is important to note that not all property management companies provide transparent, mutually beneficial services, so here are some things to look out for:
1. Local Property Market Knowledge
In order to effectively market your property, your chosen management company needs to have a comprehensive understanding of the local market. This is something that our property management company Hopewell puts a lot of time and effort into. Plus, our team all live in Bristol, which adds to their local knowledge and helps them to find the right tenants for every property.Â
2. Highly Contactable
You need to feel assured that your management company will respond to your communications efficiently.
3. Solid Reputation
Looking at reviews from both landlords and tenants will help you obtain a balanced and objective perspective on the services offered by your prospective property management company.
