Thinking about renting out your Gainesville, Haymarket, or Warrenton home? Owning a rental property in the Gainesville, Haymarket, and Warrenton areas can be hugely rewarding. With urban sprawl increasing and property values rising, owning property in these rising areas is a smart investment. When you have your own income property, you may be inclined to manage it yourself. While it is certainly possible for an owner to manage their own property, there are a few important considerations, namely the ability to command dollar for your property, the value of your time, and mostly importantly, legal concerns.
Of course the primary reason why most owners try to manage their own property is that they want to avoid the cost of hiring a professional property management company. Makes sense. However, right about the time you are filing your first eviction notice, you are likely to regret your decision to manage your property yourself. But, we are putting the cart ahead of the horse here. So, let us discuss rental value, time value, and legal concerns in more depth.
1. Earn Top Dollar For Your Rental While you may be hesitant to engage the services of a professional property management firm, in reality, you almost always make more money when you use a professional management company because you can more easily command top dollar for your property. And, tenants are often more comfortable renting a professionally managed home.
How do you make more money? Well, experienced property managers will run your property more efficiently, which typically leads to increased profitability over time. By hiring a property manager to handle the day-to-day tasks associated with your rental property, you turn your investment into a cost-effective business. For example, the right property manager will provide the following (and much more):
Advice on Rental Value
Collection and Disbursement of Security Deposit to Tenants
Coordinating Maintenance/Repairs for the Property and Payment of all Invoices
Electronic Deposits to Landlords
Electronic Property Survey Reports
Filing Court Documents in connection with Evictions and Court Representation for Evictions, when allowed
Find Quality Tenants
Handling Tenant Calls, Tenant Violations and Enforcing the Lease
IRS Form 1099 Processing
Monthly Income/Expense Statements
Move-In Reports that Include 100+ Photos and Detailed Reports
Move-Out Inspections
Online Owner Access to Documents and Accounts Through an Owner Portal
PetScreening.com™ assistance to screen household pets and help validate assistance animals
Preparing Property for Tenants
Provide 24/7/365 Emergency Response Service
Rental Collection
Year End Income/Expense Statements Ensuring Maximum Deductions on Tax Returns
Thus, even though there are costs associated with hiring a property manager, you are effectively increasing the value of your rental unit over time which is invaluable, especially when you are ready to sell the home. 2. Time Value
When it comes to managing your property, you have to consider what your time is worth and how much you would be willing to pay yourself for all the duties associated with managing your home. Managing a rental can be hectic sometimes. Between marketing and showing the property, taking applications and screening tenants, drafting lease paperwork, regular and seasonal maintenance, addressing complaints, handling the move-in and move-out process, and collecting rent, a rental property can be demanding. This overhead becomes even more complex if you do not live near the property, you have an active family, or you travel a lot for work. For example, dealing with a maintenance call while you are at your son’s football game can be an unwelcome hassle. When you hire an experienced property manager, you will get your valuable time back that you can dedicate to your family, your career, and other activities that you enjoy.
3. Avoid Legal Issues Remember when I said earlier that you right about the time you are filing your first eviction notice, you are likely to regret your decision to manage your property yourself. Believe me, it only takes one bad tenant. Moreover, your property needs to be up to code, you need to know how to prevent discrimination against prospective tenants, and you need to ensure your rental property is compliant with rental laws. When it comes to being a landlord, it pays to have a property manager that is experienced with local landlord-tenant law and federal law so that you can avoid costly legal problems—and also pursue legal action if necessary. At VHS Management we have been serving the Greater Piedmont area for over 10 years and have been named Best of the Best in Property Management three years running (2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021). We maintain high standards of quality with each and every property we represent. Our standards for presenting the home are superior to the competition and for this reason our homes draw quality tenants and on average rent more quickly, typically within 15 - 30 days. We care about the properties we manage as if they were our own. We believe well-maintained properties are critical because our properties are not just rentals, they are someone’s home!
Get in touch with us today! Call 540.825.8100 or email us at info@vhsmanagement.com to learn more about our property management services. For more updates and information from VHS Property Management follow our blog and find us on Facebook @vhsmanagement.