In this article, we’ll help you decide if it’s worth it to hire property management in Billings, MT. Whether you’re a multi-family landlord or a commercial landlord, the topics in this article will help with your decision:
- What are your needs as a property owner?
- What does a property manager do?
- Is the cost associated with hiring a property management company worth the benefits?
- How can you find the best property manager for your properties?
First, evaluate your needs as a property owner
When you decided to become a landlord, what were your key motivating factors? Were you hoping to turn it from a side hustle to something you do full-time? Do you just love business and genuinely enjoy the work associated with being a landlord? Were you hoping to generate passive income to earn more time freedom?
Whatever your motivations, you’ve likely come to understand how much work it takes to manage a property and tenants well. Most of the properties we manage belong to clients who are looking for more time freedom and less work in their lives. Outsourcing your properties to the right management company can help keep your stream of income flowing without doing any of the heavy lifting.
Additionally, consider how much time your specific property requires. Some locations are simpler to manage than others. Do you find yourself visiting your property for routine checks and payment collecting every month, or do you have a property system that is generally hands-off and self-sustaining?
With this in mind, it’s important to evaluate what your needs are as a property manager. If you’re happy with the income coming in and the amount of work required to make it happen, you might not be ready for a property manager just yet. However, if you’re running in circles trying to keep up with all of your properties — or your full-time job in addition to being a landlord — it may be time to hire property management.
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What does a property manager do?
First, let’s specify the difference between hiring a property manager as your employee versus hiring a property management company.
If you’re looking to hire a solo employee property manager, you’d need to start a legal business entity, file employee taxes, train your employee, and essentially manage your property manager.
On the other hand, what we’re tackling in this article is that hiring a property management company looks entirely different. In this case, the property managers are the experts you can rely on to handle all the details.
So what does property management do? This will vary depending on which company you choose, but here is a general list based on our procedures at Blackarc Property Management:
- Your property is taken through an extensive rental analysis to find competitive rates in order to maximize your profit
- A marketing plan is implemented to find the best possible tenants
- Your tenants are screened and interviewed
- The team performs a move-in and move out inspection
- In the case of eviction or changes, your property manager will coordinate all the details. (They’ll also help you through any legal issues if needed.)
- Your property gets an annual comprehensive inspection with photos
- All maintenance for the property is handled by the property managers
- The property managers perform routine check-ups of the property so you don’t have to worry about it
- All payments and transactions are handled for you
- You’ll likely be set up with an online portal so you can keep an eye on things if you want
- Your tax documents are also organized by the property management company
Is hiring property management worth the cost?
Again, this will depend on the company you choose to hire. It will also depend on the income your property is capable of generating.
According to recent data collected by All Property Management, property management companies charge between 8 – 12% of rent. Or, they may charge a flat fee per month depending on the value of your property.
We believe in “no payment, no charge,” meaning that you don’t get charged a penny until your property’s rent starts coming in. This protects you from getting charged for vacant months. It also protects you from getting flaky tenants placed at your property.
You’ll also want to consider what you’re currently making from your rental property. If you’re renting out your basement to make some easy income, it’s pretty obvious that you won’t want to hire a property management company. However, if you’re managing multi-family homes or multiple commercial spaces, it’s worth the added cost because you’re generating a fair amount of income. You can also increase profitability if your property manager is knowledgeable about the local market.
Finding the best property management in Billings, MT
We’re a property management company that helps you make the best decision to meet your needs – not the other way around. We strive to be the best property management in Billings, MT.
We take on multi-family homes and commercial properties. Our heart is to treat your property like it’s our own. Schedule a call today to see if we can help free up your time, maximize your profit, and give you a hands-off landlord experience.