How Important Is Hiring A Professional? Very!

As I get ready to start the week ahead, something that has come to mind is the importance of hiring a professional property manager.

This past week, on two separate occasions, real estate agents from other companies called me in a panic. Although they both normally just assist with buying and selling homes, they decided to help clients by managing property for them.

The first rented a very upscale property to a couple from out of town. Trusting their income statements and the truthfulness of their application, they allowed them to move in and live in the house for six months. Now the couple has disappeared and left the home with thousands of dollars of damage. When they called me and asked if I would look over the application, I quickly realized that much of what this couple had written down was totally untrue. I felt it was likely they had targeted this house because they knew a full background check would not be completed which would have shown that they have done this multiple times before across the country. Now this owner is out close to $10,000 simply because they hired an amateur who thought property management was as easy as it looks. In many ways it is easy but you have to know what you were doing.

The second agent called me because they have both a client/owner and tenant who are threatening litigation over a maintenance issue. This was an issue that would’ve easily been resolved if a move-in inspection would have been completed. However, this agent neglected to do this very basic and simple step and now one or both parties will be responsible for costs that may or may not be their fault. Another example of an amateur property manager making a simple but crucial mistake.

Despite having hundreds of properties I manage, I never had these issues because I do things the right way every time.

This is why it is so important to hire a professional like myself to ensure that you don’t have these issues down the road and that things will always be documented and done the right way. It can save thousands of dollars.