The Responsibilities of a Professional Property Manager

1. The Responsibilities of a Professional Property Manager

2. For real estate investors, good property management could be the key to success. This is because the property manager has a diverse role with many duties – all designed to maximize the investor’s ROI (return on investment). However, to get the highest ROI and reap the greatest benefits, your property manager must perform all of their duties efficiently. These duties include: managing the tenants, performing administration and risk management tasks, handling marketing and financial matters and managing physical property (i.e. condominiums or apartment buildings).

3. Managing the Tenants Managing tenants is one of the most important duties of a property manager. However, tenant management also involves understanding the needs of the residents. This includes, offering 24-hour customer service, prompt and emergency maintenance, timely, fair rent collection practices, property maintenance and lease management. Apartment and condominium management; however, also includes property maintenance and supervision of shared amenities.

4. Your property manager and company should also set regulations and policies for your properties, as well as consequences for violations (i.e. evictions and deposit forfeiture). Additionally, by performing background checks, they should ensure you’re only renting to high-quality tenants with excellent rental histories.

5. Performing Administration and Risk Management Tasks To be the most effective, property management must include a system for keeping records and files. This includes bookkeeping and maintaining accounting, employee, maintenance and tax records. Most importantly, this system should ensure you’re following tax regulations, especially those that apply to rent collection and reporting. Your system should also include records of any tenant-to-management interaction, including lease agreements, rental and maintenance receipts, policy violations, damage reports, eviction notices and general reports.

6. Good records maintenance will help you avoid or win liability lawsuits, which is something that every good property management team offers.

7. Handling Marketing and Finances Operating expenses and budgeting are a part of business ownership, even if that business is property ownership. In fact, they’re essential to successful real estate investment and ownership. Your property manager must have a handle on your finances, as it will help them set appropriate rental rates and budget for expenses. Rental rates must be balanced by the current market, or they’ll be too high or too low, especially if the manager has neglected to consider the surrounding area and comparable properties.

8. The manager should also offer regular financial reporting to the owner, so make sure your management team is providing monthly financial statements that include profit/loss margins and tax information. Pricing and location are sure to help you remain competitive, but marketing can help also. Effective marketing can help keep you stay ahead of the competition, but it’s the property manager’s job to ensure this happens. Marketing strategies, like rate drops for students and other special promotions can increase occupancy while raising brand awareness.

9. Managing Physical Property It’s the property manager’s job to take care of the physical property and outdoor space of the properties they’re managing. This includes hiring and supervising a maintenance crew. The maintenance crew repairs damaged property, appliances and building structures (e.g. walls, the roof, etc.). They also perform plumbing and electrical maintenance to ensure safety. A maintenance crew can include in-house contractors or contracts with outside professionals and repair services.

10. These relationships are especially important for commercial properties, which can remain uninhabited for many months or several years. Commercial property services like Group Three Property Management, Inc. can provide this maintenance service alongside excellent property management.