Investment properties represent an opportunity to earn income (passive or active) and build a strong portfolio with which to meet your long-term investments. While owning multiple properties gives you the chance to realize more income, managing multiple investment properties can easily become a full-time job - and one that is rife with challenges and complexities. Because the success of your investments boils down to your ability to manage properties, it is essential that you start on the right footing.
What You Need to Know to Effectively Manage Multiple Investment Properties
Property management encompasses a number of different facets - and you will be called upon to wear a number of different hats. Management includes:
- Marketing your properties
- Building a waiting list of potential tenants
- Screening and vetting tenants
- Developing legal leases to protect both you and tenants
- Conducting move-in, move-out, and intermittent inspections
- Fielding repair/maintenance requests
- Scheduling or completing repair/maintenance tasks
- Collecting and depositing rents
- Complying with housing requirements
- Handling tenant disputes
- Tracking rental expenses
- Filing the appropriate taxes
- Navigating eviction situations
- Ensuring the property is safe
- Completing necessary upgrades
The list goes on and on! And don’t forget about midnight plumbing emergencies, noise complaints, and other issues that occur with regularity.
Hiring a professional, experienced property manager allows you to hand off these duties while taking advantage of the income opportunities presented by multiple investment properties.
If you should decide to go it alone, Asheville Phoenix Properties has a few tips to help:
- Create a Marketing Plan. Vacancies are lost opportunities - and lost income. To keep vacancies to a minimum, create a marketing plan that allows you to reach out to qualified tenants. Advertise online, and remember, “old fashioned” print ads in newspapers and other publications (and even on notice boards) are also effective. Highlight the features and amenities that make your properties appealing to your target demographic (e.g. close to schools for families, near public transit, swimming pool, Energy Star appliances, etc.) and include photos.
- Prioritize Maintenance. One of your most critical jobs is to stay on top of maintenance and repair issues. This includes routine issues, emergencies, and upgrades that are necessary to keep your properties competitive. This can easily become a full-time job when you’re dealing with multiple properties. It is important to hire a handyman or repair person, as well as have contacts with contractors (e.g. plumbers, electricians, roofers, painters, HVAC professionals, etc.).
- Screen Tenants Thoroughly. The right tenants are key to successful property investments. A good screening process helps you select the best candidates. Start by identifying your criteria. Will you allow pets? Multiple tenants? What type of income level are you looking for to ensure stability? Before signing on the dotted line, so to speak, you need to conduct a criminal background check as well as an employment/credit check. And do not neglect to contact their references (prioritizing those from former landlords).
- Be an Involved/Approachable Landlord. You put a lot of work into selecting the best tenants; don’t waste it by being uninvolved, unapproachable, and standoffish. The goal is not to become friends with your tenants, but to ensure that you are responsive to their needs and will act quickly on their behalf. Be fair, firm, and consistent.
- Get Organized. With multiple properties, you have a lot of irons in the fire. Establish a schedule that includes rent collection, maintenance tasks, inspections, and other duties. And then stick to it!
Need Help? Hire a Professional Property Manager
If your investment goals involve passive income, you have other jobs or obligations, or you simply want to be a hands-off owner (on a day to day basis), consider hiring a property manager. They are experienced in each of the tasks we mentioned above and can handle all of the essentials of running successful properties. For a percentage of rental income, you can free yourself to pursue other opportunities.
Asheville Phoenix Properties is here to help you maximize your results; with our team managing your multiple investment properties, you can achieve key objectives - and find time in your day for other pursuits. Contact us today to learn more.