Property Management

Have you ever thought about being a landlord?  Do you want to get in the rental market and start buying homes?  Do you want to take on all the calls from your tenants?  If you answer yes and no then keep reading.

Being a landlord takes on a lot of responsibility.  First off you need to treat the home as it's not yours don't be totally invested into it.  You need to make sure you have money to pay the mortgage if your tenant is late or the property is vacant.  You can't rely on the monthly rent as things come up.  You need to be held accountable to pay your bills too. 

Are you ready to handle taking applications, showing the property and then once it is rented take calls at all hours because of issues with the home?  If not, then a property manager is the right way to go.  Property managers take all the work away from you.  We handle advertising the home to get it rented.  We provide applications and do background checks.  We move the tenant in, handle move in and move outs and from then take all the calls for maintenance issues, collect the rents, and much more.

Did you know that once you hire a management company rental tax goes into effect?  Or if you own more than 3 properties rental tax is required?  You have to get a license with the AZ Department of Revenue.  Did you know that if you are out of state you need a statutory agent in AZ?  Most of the time it would be your mgmt company or someone here locally in case something happens with your home, ie. a fire.  The police or fire department or city needs to be able to contact someone here locally for any issues. 

Being a landlord is more work than thinking it's easy money.  When a tenant moves out be prepared for the worse.  You will probably have to repaint each time a tenant moves out.  Shampoo carpet or possibly replace it.  Tenants can do damage so you have to get things fixed and that can be more money than you thought you were going to have to spend.   Not every tenant is going to be the perfect tenant are you prepared for this?

I don't want to scare you as owning investment property is great in the long run, I just want you to be aware of what all goes into being a landlord.

As always I'm here to help you with your real estate needs.  

Marci Greenberg Cox   www.movinwithmarci.com  480-695-9683