Many people who buy investment rental property attempt to save money by managing the property themselves. They don’t realize just how complex and costly it is to manage a rental property until they get started.
If you have just invested in rental property, consider the benefits of hiring professionals to handle your property management in San Diego. If you don’t, you’ll likely encounter these 6 issues:
1. There Will Be a Drain on Your Time
If you’re like most rental property owners, you also have a career or job that requires a great deal of attention. Even if real estate investing is all you do, you will still want to spend your time looking for new investments or pursuing other interests.
It’s challenging to keep up with your obligations while also managing rental property alone.
You’ll have the day-to-day tasks involved with taking care of your property, including addressing tenant complaints and getting repairs done promptly, and you’ll also have to maintain accurate financial records for the property.
Without the resources and personnel of a property management service, keeping up with these tasks can become overwhelming.
2. Vacancies Will Be Difficult to Fill
When one of your rental units becomes vacant, you’ll have to find a new tenant. Rushing through this process can leave you with a bad tenant who won’t pay rent on time or will disrespect your property. Taking the time to fill your vacancy correctly can be equally frustrating and time-consuming.
A professional service that offers property management in San Diego can fill a vacancy for you. They will have the resources to market the vacancy and properly vet potential tenants.
3. Collecting Rent Will Be an Inconvenience
Even though you own rental property as a source of passive income, it can become an inconvenience to try to collect rent each month. You’ll have to make yourself available to your tenants towards the end of each month, but you also won’t want to unnecessarily bother your tenants about the rent.
Property managers will handle this process for you while providing more convenient ways for your tenants to pay their rent. This approach leaves you free to go about your own life without worrying about collecting rent. Your property manager can simply deposit rent payments in your designated bank account.
4. You Will Have to Hire Contractors for Repairs
Owning rental property requires paying attention to the upkeep of the grounds and buildings you own.
If you’re managing the property yourself, you’ll have to mow the lawn, maintain walkways and driveways, and repair damaged components yourself. Even if you hire landscapers and other contractors, these obligations can disrupt your life on a daily basis.
Professional property management in San Diego will handle these tasks for you. They will have their own work crews who keep up with their clients’ landscaping and property repair needs. Since maintaining your property will be their only obligation, you can rest easy knowing that problems will be addressed quickly.
5. You Will Have to Handle Legal Issues Personally
As the sole person responsible for your rental property, you will have to keep up with how local and state landlord/tenant laws affect you. There may also be situations in which a tenant or prospective tenant takes legal action against you. This occurrence would require the added expense of hiring an attorney to help you.
When you hire professional property managers, they will keep up with the changing laws that affect their clients. They will also serve as a buffer between you and your tenants. If a tenant makes a legal complaint, the property management firm will handle it for you.
In most situations, the property manager can negotiate with your tenant for a satisfactory out-of-court compromise.
6. Paying Taxes Is a Complex Issue
As the owner of rental property, your income taxes will be a little different. There may be extra incentives for which you will qualify. You’ll also have to maintain accurate records documenting every payment you receive. This work can quickly become confusing if you’re not educated in current tax laws.
A property management service will keep these records for you, and they can provide you with quarterly earnings statements. You can use these statements to file taxes yourself or leave everything in the hands of your property manager. They will stay current on tax law changes to help you file accurate tax returns each year.
Choosing to Hire a Property Management Firm
When you hire a property management firm, you’ll be able to leave all of these issues in their hands. This delegation will save you time and help you lower the cost of managing your property firsthand.