5 Benefits of Using a Property Management Company

Property owners often find it difficult to deal with all the nitty-gritty as their portfolio expands. They find they have less and less time to do what needs to be done. That’s where a property management company can help. Here’s just some of the things we can do to make your investment run as smoothly as possible.

Tenant screening management

Any landlord worth their salt knows that great properties start with great tenants. This comes from an effective screening process to ensure you get tenants who pay on time, will rent from you for longer and keep the property in a fit state. Yes, it’s possible to remove bad tenants if things go sour, but it’s far more cost-effective and much less laborious to simply filter them out in the first instance. At James Peacock, we’ve seen thousands of tenancy applications. We know what to look for and can quickly find out the right information and any warning signs for each applicant.

By employing the expertise of a property management company, you also protect yourself from rental scams or discrimination lawsuits as a result of poor screening processes. Experience in these takes time and is difficult to manage well when you have so many other things to consider. By outsourcing this process to a property management company, you can save time and stress on one of the most significant parts of being a landlord.

Lower maintenance & repair costs

If a leak springs up or something breaks in one of your properties, it isn’t always possible for you to sort it yourself or in good time for the tenant. A good property management company can address these issues round the clock and access their network of service providers on your behalf, making sure the tenant is kept happy.

Providing maintenance is part of our management service, making it far cheaper for you than hiring handymen yourself for each issue.

Higher tenant retention

Vacancies are expensive. Marketing, repairs, screening and all the rest add up. It’s proven that happier tenants stay longer and are more likely to renew tenancy agreements. This comes about by forging a good relationship with them. A property manager can be responsive to their problems, flexible with timescales and there round the clock to answer any questions. Solving niggling repairs as and when they come up rather than saving them for when the tenant leaves will save you a lot of time and money, which we can help to manage efficiently.

Quicker vacancy turnaround

Aside from the issue of having an empty property and therefore no rent coming in, the issue with having a vacancy is the mass of cleaning and repairs that need to be done all in one go. This, coupled with marketing, showing and screening of the vacancy creates a vortex of costs that needs to be shut down as quickly as possible.

To avoid this, we manage tenants effectively so that they’re much more likely to renew tenancy. It requires a consistent relationship with the tenant throughout their rental period. And when they do eventually move out, we have the procedure in place to turnaround the vacancy in the quickest possible time. We constantly monitor local, regional and national rent rates so that we immediately know the optimal rate to set your property at; and we have a large network of contacts in the property advertising sector to allow for a speedy placement.

Fewer legal issues to manoeuvre through

A bad apple of a tenant can cause all sorts of legal nuisances, which can amount to large costs. An effective property manager is fluent and up-to-date in landlord-tenant laws, closing any gaps in your knowledge and handling tenancy issues effectively to save you money and headaches.

Areas affected by law include by aren’t limited to:

• Tenant screening
• Safety and property conditions of the property
• Evictions
• Inspections
• Lease addendums
• Terminating leases
• Handling security deposits
• Rent collection

To find out more about how James Peacock can help manage your portfolio, get in touch with one of our property experts or give us a call on 01925 243 366