Owning and renting a property sounds like a pretty great deal. You get a renter, they pay you money, and it’s smooth sailing from there. It’s a like a second paycheck you don’t have to really work for.
Except there’s a lot more to it than that.
While some are able to balance the landlord life with their other work, many find themselves overwhelmed. There are a number of things that can pop up and cause problems, but these are some of the most common difficulties you will face as a landlord:
Finding Renters
Your property is mostly just a money vacuum until you have tenants. Finding “someone” to rent it isn’t too difficult. Finding a qualified, trust worthy tenant on the other hand, takes some work. You’ll need to take pictures of your property, figure out a fair price based on the market, post listings, respond to inquiries, meet with prospects, tour the property, run a background check, issue leases, and gather signatures.
Trust us when we say it’s a fair amount of work for the unexperienced, especially if you have a normal day job.
Get the wrong tenants, and your property could suffer damages and/or you could have troubles with them paying you on time. That may result in you having to evict someone, which is not enjoyable.
Maintenance and Repair
Things will go wrong with any home. A water heater goes out. The fridge stops working. It’ll be up to you to respond to the maintenance request, schedule a repair, and get it fixed.
Even if nothing breaks, homes need regular upkeep. If you don’t have vinyl siding, the house will need to be painted. Roofs need to be replace. Gutters need to be cleaned. You may be able to have your tenants agree to mow the lawn, but they probably aren’t going to do much in the way of landscaping.
Unless you want your property to slowly turn into a set piece from a post-apocalyptic movie, you’ll need to check-in on it.
Managing Financials, Taxes, and More
How are your accounting skills? You be doing some financial managing when it comes to being a landlord. From collecting rent to deducting expenses and filing your taxes properly, there’s a lot of paper work to be done.
Staying Current with the Market
The housing market is always on the move. The rental prices in your area could change. It could shift into a buyers’ market, making it much harder to find and keep renters. There may come a point where it makes a lot more sense selling the property and buying a new one elsewhere than continuing to rent it.
Will you keep up with that?
There is a Simpler Solution
For those who want to own property but don’t want to be burdened with excess work, a property manager is the best solution. With a property manager, you pay a relatively small fee to have the large majority of the hassle handled for you.
Because properties managers have the experience, resources, and availability, the difficulties of a landlord are actually pretty simple for them. It’s what they do. And they’ll gladly do it for you.
You’ll still have to figure out your taxes, and of course, you’ll still pay for the repairs, but they’ll do the leg work. At Metro San Diego Realty, we’ll actually cover the cost upfront so the repairs happen faster, then just send you the bill when the work is done.
And should a situation need eviction, we can help sort out the messy details. Of course, with our extensive client screening process, it rarely comes to that.
If you’re in need of San Diego property management, we’re here for you. Contact us today!
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