Some landlords think they can save money by managing their rental properties themselves, but we have found that making just one mistake can cost you more than an entire year of property management fees. There are three specific things you need to think about when you’re deciding whether you want to self-manage or hire a professional management company.
Better Tenant Screening
A great example of how professional management can help you is tenant screening. We have lots of tools in place to do a thorough job of checking out potential tenants. These resources are not available to an investor managing two or three properties. One bad tenant can cost thousands of dollars, which is more than what you’d spend to use a property management company.
Knowledge of Tenancy Laws
Understanding tenancy laws is a major benefit of using professional management. These laws are very complex and you need to follow them properly. The laws tell you how to manage rent collection, eviction filings, and other issues. If you’re not involved with that on a daily basis, you can really get yourself in trouble. For example, your lease might not be following all the required laws. Have someone in place who knows the laws that govern your relationship with your tenant.
Tax Deductible Expenses
Finally, you can’t charge your time off as a business expense when you’re filing your taxes. But you can charge the Self-Management vs. Professional Property Management in Atlantaexpenses a property management company charges you. The fee you pay is a business expense that you can deduct when you’re filing taxes. So that’s a real cost savings because it reduces your profit when you charge off that expense.
These are some of the things you might want to think about when you’re deciding whether to manage your property on your own or hire a professional management company. If you’d like to discuss this further, please contact us at DKRentals.net.
