Self-managing an income property in Houston for any length of time can be financially rewarding. After all, privately managing your investment property is simply finding a tenant, signing a lease, and collecting rent checks, right?
Not exactly.
While it may make sense to devote several hours per month on property management, the reality of maintaining and running a Houston property can quickly become overwhelming and require a huge commitment of time and effort even to the savviest investor. In many cases this just isn’t practical especially if you hope to expand your business. With this in mind, you can save time, effort and frustration that come with running a property by hiring a property manager. For many owners, hiring a Houston Property Management company like Apogee Properties is the most logical solution to handle maintenance issues or to ensure that your Houston property is fully compliant.
If you need more reasons to make this life-changing decision of hiring a professional property manager in Houston, then read on…
- Compliance to Texas Property Code
The Texas Property Code contains a number of requirements and regulations that you are going to need to abide by when renting and maintaining your rental property – local, state and federal regulations, as well as fair housing regulations (such as the ADA). Property managers are constantly keeping up to date and in compliance with these regulations. The importance of property compliance cannot be overstated as ignorance, or simply not being aware could open yourself up to significant fines and even worse, expensive lawsuits that may put your tenant’s life and your’ property at risk.
- Extensive Market Knowledge of Rental Rates
A good Houston property management company will conduct a thorough market study in order to set a competitive rental price for your property, ensuring that you achieve the perfect balance between maximizing monthly income and maintaining a low vacancy rate. Property managers are often real estate agents who have extensive market knowledge to make sure your rental rates are profitably and competitively priced, and that your property does not sit empty while other properties get rented.
- Seamless Property Marketing
Property managers, with their innovative and effective marketing strategies, are well-poised to market and advertise your property in a manner that ensures filling your property quickly and avoiding long vacancies. They know exactly where and how to best market your property and find qualified tenants quicker.
- Proper Tenant Screening
A good Houston property management company will undertake the proper verification and collect references to ensure that your property is in the right hands and the result is a better waiting list of potential clients. Property managers have extensive marketing and advertising programs, so they will know exactly how to screen out potential tenants and find the best tenants. They have set requirements and standards for accepting or declining applicants that comply with fair housing rules and other local and state regulations.
- Collects and Maintains On-time Payments
Securing payment from clients can be difficult, not to mention awkward. A professional Houston property management will handle vendor invoices and collect rent on your behalf. Property managers have set up their own systems in place to effectively collect rent and maintain on-time payments. Maintaining on time and consistent payments is absolutely critical in the real estate market because good cash flow can mean the difference between success and failure as a property investor.
- Handles Routine Maintenance
Protecting the condition of your property requires responsive and reliable maintenance work. While it may be possible for self-managers to do maintenance and repairs, there will be odd hour requests that only property management employees can carry out. Property owners don’t always live near their properties so by having a property manager, routine daily tasks are taken care of while you focus on your other investment or your own career. More than that, property managers are bound by law to respond immediately to certain needs and requests of your tenant.
- Performs Inspection Reports
It is standard for property managers to perform inspections before a tenant moves in, during their lease, and after the tenant moves out. Through these routine inspections, a property manager can find and fix problems before they grow into costly endeavors. Not only will your property manager be extra vigilant in the care of your rental property, they will perform routine property inspection and prepare written inspection reports so that any documentation are all in one place should there be a dispute in the future.
- Acts as Bridge between Owners and Tenants
Hiring a professional property manager is especially critical for landlords who live on the other side of Houston. Even owners who live near their properties can have trouble responding to the needs of their investment property from where they are. The best property management companies in Houston have property managers who can clearly and conveniently clarify any property related issues for the tenants on behalf of the owner over the phone or by simply making personal visits.
- Aids in Keeping Financial Records
Keeping detailed income and expenses reports as well as cash statements every month are tedious tax for many owners. Property managers will save you from the bookkeeping headache. They can manage your security deposit escrow funds and make sure you are in compliance with local and state regulations. They can provide end-of-year tax reports for your accountant or financial advisor and give expert advice on claim deductions and organizing essential documentation and forms to avail the claims.
- Freeing your Time for More Investment Opportunities
Privately managing your property can be a full-time job from advertising your property, screening clients, collect fees to dealing with complaints and repairs. Relinquishing this seemingly endless list of ongoing responsibilities to a good property manager will allow you to free up your time, which means conveniently pursuing your career or other interests. With the constraints on your time lifted, you can spend your time identifying further investment opportunities without sacrificing your time and health.
By having a property manager take care of the day-to-day aspects of running your income property, you not only maintain and increase the value of your properties but also maximize the profit from your investments.
These are just the 10 good reasons to hire a property manager in Houston. You may just find that having Houston property management company by your side is a worthwhile investment. Obviously though, hiring a property manager will come at a cost while privately managing your property means personally investing a lot of your time and money unexpectedly, which is why it’s important to weigh up all the pros and cons. At the end of the day, all that matters is having the peace of mind that your property turns over the highest possible yield while ensuring the lowest number of headaches.
Working with Apogee Properties
Apogee Properties is Houston’s leading real estate management company. We work and live in Houston and our property managers are local. We have been in business for more than a decades and, over that time, we provided comprehensive property management services and we would love to earn your business. Contact us today to learn more!
