For rental property owners in and around Chicago, the time, resources, and efforts required to properly self-manage one or more rental units can be overwhelming. Even if you have access to a reliable network of contracting, repair, and cleaning companies, the number of tasks that self-managing a rental property requires is daunting. When these duties are handled hastily or inefficiently, it can result in an unsuccessful investment.
Rental property management often requires more oversight than a single property owner can provide. While there are some things that can help this (ie. free property management software), typically, the best solution for streamlining your rental unit is to partner with a trusted property management company.
Whether you are completely overwhelmed with the work of day-to-day supervision or if you simply want to increase the efficiency and return of your rental properties, there are several ways that a property management company can streamline things.
Vacant Unit Marketing
Advertising your available rental property adequately takes a significant amount of time. In order to market a house or apartment effectively, you need to determine the specific strengths of the unit, taking into account its location, amenities, and price point. Additionally, you should consider factors like school district desirability, crime rates, local economic trends, and community history.
A property management specialist will engage in an expert market analysis of your property in order to present it as effectively as possible. Property management companies also have syndication software that can maximize the exposure of your vacant units across dozens of different websites. Working with a property management company allows you to save time on promotional efforts, while drastically increasing your ROI.
Screening for High-Quality Renters
Another invaluable benefit to partnering with a property management company is the time you will save by filtering out unqualified applicants. When self-managing property owners post a rental unit online, they are likely to receive an enormous number of calls and emails from applicants who do not meet the qualifications for occupancy.
A property management specialist can provide the time, resources, and skills to properly vet all potential renters. This will save you valuable time by narrowing the field to only high-quality applicants, who meet all of your specified qualifications. When a management company finds trusted and responsible tenants for your rental property, your property investment will be much easier for you and will involve fewer inefficiencies. TIP: Properly screening tenants is probably the number one most important part of making your investment a successful one!
Maintenance Oversight
One of the most time-consuming elements of self-managing a property is the hours spent on the maintenance needs of the unit. Vetting, negotiating with, and coordinating maintenance vendors requires time and effort (and patience!) that could be better spent elsewhere. Even if you already have a network of available maintenance contacts, you will still have to spend time negotiating prices and coordinating schedules between the maintenance vendor and your tenants.
A qualified property management company can streamline this process by overseeing all maintenance issues and ensuring that they are handled in a timely manner. Moreover, property management professionals can provide move-in and move-out inspections. During these inspections, they can assess and attend to any maintenance needs between occupants.
Tenant Relations
A final way in which a professional management team can streamline your rental property is by providing quality tenant relations. While some tenants are incredibly easy to work with, others can present a number of interpersonal and professional challenges.
For instance, dealing directly with renters can be incredibly frustrating if they call excessively or if it’s difficult to coordinate with them. Partnering with property management professionals allows you to forego these kinds of frustrating interactions and spend that time on other areas of your work, family, and investments.
Landmark Property Management provides expert property management services, including property marketing, tenant screening and relations, rent collection, and maintenance oversight. Contact us online or call 312-313-8553 today.
