What Does Rental Property Management Involve?

rental property management includes a wide range of tasks from finding new tenants to handling tenant issues and even doing the day-to-day maintenance work. For many landlords, it’s not worth the hassle of managing their own rentals so they turn to a professional rental management company.

One of the first tasks a manager will take on is screening for potential tenants. This will likely include checking credit with a trusted tenant screening service, checking references, conducting a walkthrough of the property and creating a lease agreement. Screening is critical because bad tenants can cause damage, not pay rent on time, and even pose a threat to other tenants. Some of these issues can be worked out directly with the tenant, while others may require eviction and legal fees.

Another important task is working with vendors, from contractors to cleaners and plumbers. It’s vital to choose vendors that can handle the volume of work needed for a property management company and keep costs low. This will help the company provide an established value-added service to both tenants and owners and protect the company from liability for faulty vendor workmanship.

Finally, regular property inspections are key to keeping the property in good condition. These can be done proactively by scheduling a pre-move-in or move-out inspection with the tenant, or during seasonal services like having gutters cleaned and heating and cooling systems checked. It’s also a good idea to do random drive-by and walkthrough inspections to spot any issues that need attention.