If being a landlord is a second job, doesn’t it make sense for landlords to pay someone else to do it? This is the basic premise driving the rise of property management, which allows people to own investment properties without the burden of all the work.
Please read on to see how property managers make it easy for investors to earn a steady secondary monthly income.
Find the Best Tenants Easily
Novice property investors don’t necessarily know how to recognize A+ tenants when they see one, and a mistake here can be costly. Homeowners will breathe a sigh of relief when they have responsible, mature tenants who pay their bills on time and respect the property. On the flip side, anxiously awaiting that monthly rent cheque and hoping that the property is still in good shape can be an ongoing nightmare that doesn’t go away for years.
That’s why the leading Toronto property management companies stress putting in the initial work to find an amazing tenant. They usually have a four-step process:
- a) Employment letter: verify that the applicant is who they say they are and works where they say they work. The longer they’ve been in that position speaks to their reliability as a tenant, as does their income level, which shows they can comfortably make rental payments.
- b) Credit check: you need to know how seriously they’ll treat your monthly payments, and seeing how they’ve treated other financial obligations is the best way. If they regularly skip payments, you may want to skip them as a tenant.
- c) Reference check: sometimes, important aspects of people’s character don’t get represented in the above types of data. Learn more about the prospective tenant by having relatives, friends, and past landlords fill in the gaps.
A property management company will track down the relevant people, no matter how long it takes.
- d) Tenant application: The company will vet the applications for homeowners and present to them only the best candidates, from which homeowners can freely choose without requiring an explanation.
You don’t want to be stuck for years with a nightmare tenant. If you don’t want to sign a year-long contract with a random person but don’t have the time or skills to scrutinize the application yourself, get the help of a professional property manager.
Support 24/7
Perhaps the biggest burden landlords face is needing to be available constantly in case something goes wrong at their investment property. Traditionally, landlords could get pulled away at any given moment if there was, say, a leak in the basement that needed to be fixed. After all, not being responsive to tenant requests may result in damage to their own properties.
Now, professional property managers take this concern off your hands by being constantly available 24/7, even on evenings, weekends, and vacations. Investment property owners can sit back knowing their home will stay in great condition without sacrificing their free time.
Plus, professional property managers have extensive contacts among reliable, vetted contractors who can fix anything that goes wrong. Whenever there’s a need for repair, the leading property managers let homeowners pick from three different options at different price brackets.
Repairs are done quickly, properly, seamlessly, and transparently.
Marketing
Do you know how to make your investment home look its best, and do you have access to the outlets where the listing would be most effective? Homeowners often have understandable personal attachments to their property, which prevents them from maximizing its appeal when showcasing it to potential renters.
Leading property managers know what renters want because they have years of experience. They’ll make your home look like what they want to rent and post it on their social media accounts and even in glossy magazines like Toronto Life.
All you need to do is let them handle it, and your home will put its best foot forward before the right audience.
Costs of living are rising quickly, especially rent in major cities like Toronto. Investment property owners can capitalize on this by hiring professional property managers to do all the heavy lifting, so the only thing owners need to do is collect a nice cheque every month.
