Date Posted: 2012-07-27 02:37:43
Site Posted: Myproperty.ph
Owning a rental property is a great way to have a steady flow of income. In order to ensure that your rental is always occupied, however, you have to be responsible for ensuring that the property is well-managed to keep the tenant happy. But perhaps the biggest issue that needs to be faced is whether you should manage your own rental at all.
Self-managing a house, apartment or condo for rent has a lot of advantages, but also has its share of downsides. Make sure that you understand what they are before you decide to go down that path. Here are some of the pros and cons that you need to consider:
Advantages:
· Cost efficiency is perhaps the biggest benefit of self-managing a rental. Hiring a property manager costs money, and sometimes their service is not the only fee that you pay for; they also charge you extra for things like inspection costs, rental condition reports and letting fees.
· As the manager of the rental, you get to screen potential tenants yourself. This lends you a sense of security that you know who’s renting your property, since you’ve met and spoke with them face-to-face. Also, getting to know the tenant gives you a chance to build rapport with each other so your landlord-tenant relationship starts off great.
· Managing your own rental will also let you stay on top of things. If any repair needs need attending to or any conflict has to be settled, you’ll be the first to know, which ensures that things will be controlled before they go out of hand.
Disadvantages:
· Rental management is a full-time responsibility, since you’re pretty much on-call 24/7. This is going to be hard to do if you have a day job, and are only renting out your house, apartment or condo as an additional source of income.
· Being a landlord requires knowledge of the laws governing rentals, too. This means having a good grasp of the laws that protect your rights, as well as your tenants’ so that no one gets taken advantage of. All of this needs to come into play when you’re drafting the lease, which is a legal document, and making a mistake here can be troublesome in the long run.
· How much experience do you have as a rental manager? If you’re doing it for the first time, you might get overwhelmed by the responsibilities that you have to face. This doesn’t just pertain to choosing the tenant and asking for the rent every month; you also have to be knowledgeable with repairs, since it’s one of your responsibilities as a landlord.
Because managing your own rental is a huge undertaking, you need to make sure that you’re up for the challenge so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to enjoy the benefits, too.
Jillian Cariola, Writer
(cover image by Hossein Fotowat Khah)
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