Oversights a Property Management Company Can Help Landlords Prevent - Article Banner

Landlords who manage on their own are at a disadvantage in many ways. You don’t have access to the resources, technology, and expertise that a property manager can provide. You’re probably paying more for maintenance and turnovers. And, you’re at risk of making mistakes that a professional management company would help you avoid. 

We’re focusing on those mistakes in this blog. While it’s more than possible to manage your rental property on your own, it’s easy for oversights to trip you up, cost you money, and put your investment property in danger. 

Here are some of the most common oversights we see, and how a property manager can help you prevent them.

Not Property Screening Tenants  

It is important to have application guidelines and rental criteria in place. This will protect you from potential evictions, potential property damage, and the accidental violation of fair housing laws. Some landlords are in a time crunch, and they often want to fill their vacancy as soon as possible. Have you ever approved the first application that comes through just so you have a tenant in place? 

Not a great idea. You won’t always be lucky and get a great tenant.  

Property managers have a consistent, objective, and legally compliant process in place for establishing rental standards and screening tenants. We will check: 

  • Credit and eviction history
  • Criminal backgrounds
  • Income and employment
  • Rental history. 

We screen for pets, too, and make sure they’ll be good for your property. Placing an unqualified tenant is a huge oversight that can lead to late rent, eviction, property damage, and lease violations. Avoid all that and have your tenants placed professionally by a property manager.  

Hiring Unlicensed Vendors 

Do not make the mistake of hiring unlicensed, uninsured, and unskilled vendors to work at your property. It’s tempting to hire the neighborhood handyman to do all the repairs and remodeling because it’s convenient and probably cheaper.

But, the cheapest work isn’t always the best work, especially if the vendor is not licensed or insured. If a worker gets hurt, it’s not only terrible that they’re injured, but it might hurt you as a landlord because you could be liable for those injuries. Hire plumbers to do plumbing, electricians to do electrical work, and roofers to do roofing.  

These licensed vendors are hard to find, and sometimes they’re hard to afford. That’s where a property manager can help. We have existing relationships in place with some of the best and most reliable professionals in the area. We’ll make sure the work is done well and affordably.  

Not Responding to Maintenance

Avoiding maintenance is a huge oversight, and one that can be easily prevented when you partner with a management company. When maintenance is not being handled in a timely manner, you’re putting your investment at risk for deterioration and you’re also risking your tenant relationship. 

Emergencies like leaks and sewer problems need to be handled immediately. You don’t want a small problem to become a huge, expensive problem. If you can’t take that call from a tenant at 2:00 a.m., you should hire a property manager who can. 

Neglecting to Documentation Move-In Condition

One oversight we see all the time is a landlord not conducting a thorough and well-documented move-in inspection. 

You need to do a thorough inspection before a tenant moves into the property. Make written notes, and take a lot of photographs. It’s important to document the condition of your rental home. Right before move-in, you need a lot of photos to show how clean the property is. You also want to document the condition of the floors, the carpets, the walls, and the appliances. 

When tenants move in, give them the report in case they want to include something that they noticed. Property managers will ask your tenants to review the move-in condition report and sign it. Then, when they move out, we’ll have an easier time determining what was damaged during the tenancy. It makes the move-out process a lot easier, especially when it comes to returning the security deposit

Missing the Opportunity for Routine Inspections 

Some landlords don’t enter their property at all when it’s occupied. That’s an oversight. You need to conduct at least one walk-through during the tenancy. This gives you the opportunity to make sure the property is in good shape. You want to look for potential deferred and unreported maintenance issues. You want to make sure the tenants are following the terms of the lease agreement. 

Landlords are often stunned by the amount of tenant damage and deferred maintenance they find once a tenant moves out. But, if you’re not getting inside the property once in a while, you’re not going to know what’s happening there. 

Property managers will save you money and work by inspecting your property regularly. This will be done efficiently, without disrupting your tenants. 

Avoiding Professional Property Management

Property ManagementLeasing, managing, and maintaining a rental property requires attention to a lot of detail. It can be challenging to keep up. 

Professional property management saves you time and money. You should explore your reasons for not hiring a property manager. Are you worried it will cost you money? Most of the investors and landlords we work with notice that they actually earn more and spend less when they begin working with a management company. 

Our resources are as extensive as our knowledge. We’ll help you avoid common oversights. We’ll keep you in compliance with all state and local rental laws. We’ll make sure you have a pleasant, profitable rental experience. 

Let’s talk about how we can help you do better, whether it’s earning more rent, retaining tenants for long, avoiding vacancy, or cutting your maintenance bills. We’re here to answer your questions and provide the resources and support you need. 

When you’re ready to talk, please contact our team at Park Avenue Property Management. We work in Lake Buena Vista, Orlando, Kissimmee, Celebration, Maitland, Altamonte Springs, West Palm Beach, Tampa Bay, and throughout central Florida.