What Do Real Estate Managers Do? Why Is It Important?

What Do Real Estate Managers Do

Welcome to the Topic “What Do Real Estate Managers Do? Why Is It Important?”

If you own an investment property, one option available to you is to hire a property manager to take care of the everyday management of the property as well as the process of finding tenants. This will relieve you of the obligation of worrying about either of these two aspects of your investment property ownership.

For a charge, a property manager or property management firm might take care of the majority of the responsibilities associated with your investment property.

Who Is a Property Manager and What Do They Do?

Through the effective management of these four functional aspects of property responsibility, the property manager serves as the owner’s partner in achieving the goal of maximizing the return on investment generated by the property.

Maintaining the property, keeping it filled with renters, collecting rents, budgeting for renovations, and maintaining records are all responsibilities that fall within the domain of the property management business, which represents the best interests of the owner.

In exchange for their services, property managers get a fee. How much you pay and how you pay it are both determined by the business model of property management.

There are some managers that charge a fixed fee in addition to expenditures, but the arrangement that is used the most often is one in which they get a percentage of the gross monthly rent collected from the unit.

A Property Manager’s Duties and Responsibilities

Property managers, or the companies they work for, have four main areas of responsibility when it comes to the management of real estate facilities.

  • Financial and Marketing Responsibilities 
  • Occupancy and Tenant Management 
  • Facility Administration 
  • Risk Management 
What Do Real Estate Managers Do
What Do Real Estate Managers Do

Financial and Marketing Responsibilities 

Understanding operational costs and creating an appropriate budget are essential components of real estate property management. Using this information, suitable rental rates are determined, taking into account the existing market and the level of rentals that it is willing to sustain.

It is important that you have a solid understanding of the neighborhood and the rental properties that are in competition with you.

Read More: What is rental marketing?

It is necessary to provide the owners with regular financial reports. The property manager should have a strong grasp of the concepts of financial statements, profit and loss, budgeting, and income taxes.

Additional responsibilities of property managers may include the development of both an annual and a long-range financial plan.

Occupancy and Tenant Management 

The first step in a property manager’s involvement with renters is the review of lease applications and the screening of prospective tenants. It is necessary for this role to have a good understanding of the requirements imposed by the renters. Simply convincing them to relocate is only the first step.

The property manager must be responsive of the tenants’ requests, monitor the tenants’ activities with regard to the requirements of the lease, collect rent in a timely manner, and continually assess the tenants’ level of satisfaction with regard to the property’s amenities in comparison to those of other rental properties in the area that are competing for their business.

Furthermore: Common issues faced by tenants

In addition, this job includes the unpleasant responsibility of evicting tenants who have violated the lease or who have not paid their rent.

Facility Administration

In property management, the term “physical management” refers to the administration of the buildings and the grounds. The term “physical property” encompasses a wide range of components, including but not limited to the roof, walls, appliances, and landscaping.

The property manager is in charge of establishing and maintaining relationships with contractors and repair firms, planning capital expenditures, and ensuring the quality of all maintenance and repairs.

This job is connected to the financial aspect, since some enhancements will need considerable expenditures of capital and the creation of a budget for such expenditures.

It is related to the management of tenants and occupancy since having well-maintained premises is essential to increasing the likelihood of retaining tenants.

Facility Administration
What Do Real Estate Managers Do

Risk Management 

The role of managing files and records is included in the property management process. Real estate property management operations are within the purview of many levels of government, including the federal, state, and municipal levels. Every single one of them has to comply with certain reporting standards. Keeping meticulous records for the purposes of accounting and taxes is an absolute need.

All activities and interactions between tenants are required to be documented and kept for a certain amount of time due to the potential for legal repercussions. Although it is also connected to financial activities, the management of monies received by renters and intended for distribution to owners is subject to very stringent restrictions in the majority of states.

Even in the selection of repair providers, you run the risk of owners accusing you of demonstrating prejudice that drives up their maintenance expenses and causes them to lodge a complaint with you.

Why Is It Important to Have Good Property Management?

It is crucial to ensure that possible property management has the same aims as you while you are doing the screening process for them. When it comes to locating and placing renters as well as performing repairs, are they more interested in using a “churn-and-burn” approach? Or do they want a renter that is happy, requires little upkeep, and remains for the long term?

The primary objective of property management is to secure the continued occupancy of the building. Cash flow might be severely hindered by tenant churn.

The importance of keeping up with property maintenance cannot be overstated when it comes to maintaining renters. Don’t be miserly, but also don’t let yourself be taken advantage of…

The Significance of Effective Property Management

If a real estate investor or owner has acquired a property and hired a good property manager or a management business, then the first and one of the most significant things that the manager or the company removes is the investment of time by the owner or investor which he or she has to dedicate in the administration of the property.

If the investor or owner of the property has employed a competent property manager or management firm. The owner won’t have to worry about issues like these if they hire a reputable property manager or firm to handle the management of the property.

Secondly, a renter owner who wants to rent his or her property to renters who are able to pay long-term rent on time, are decent in behavior and does not create many issues on the property is not simple to find.

This is where a good property manager comes into the picture. Because of the manager’s close relationship with both the tenant and the property owner, the manager will be in a prime position to collect rent and remit payment.

This brings up the problem of vetting prospective renters to see if they are a suitable fit for the property, which is frequently overlooked when the owner also acts as the landlord. 

The Significance of Effective Property Management
What Do Real Estate Managers Do

Having a professional property management business or manager might assist the owner in this circumstance since they have likely seen many applications from potential renters and can therefore use their skills and knowledge to evict problem tenants and protect themselves from legal action and rent fraud.

In addition, having a good property management company or the manager helps the owner as they have seen many tenant applications, so they know how to avoid them.

Now, the third and most essential advantage of working with a property management business is that they are familiar with how to deal with or prevent the possibility of being sued. Maintenance is one of the difficulties for owners, which is also addressed by property managers or management businesses as they handle all of the issues that develop on the property.

The property manager or company will ensure effective tenant screening and also take care of and offer assurance for the safety of a property.

The last step in the process is for the property manager to provide financial reports for the owners. Most of the time, all of these works are performed by the owners themselves. However, it requires serious consideration of time and focus, which most owners either do not have or do not want, so they hire good property managers or companies instead.

These are some of the major tasks that are carried out by the property manager or management company.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we are able to say that property management is a profession that entails a lot of difficulty due to the fact that it is such a broad phrase. It is difficult to carry out real estate responsibilities without the assistance of a property manager because of the fact that a property manager is responsible for supporting, maintaining, and securing the property of someone who has earned that property through hard work and money that they have worked very hard to earn. 

Therefore, a property manager, more specifically a residential manager, needs to have good skills and knowledge about leasing property and tenant management in addition to being good at convincing people, For commercial property, a property manager needs to have good skills and knowledge.

Philadelphia Property Management has got all this and much more. Visit our website and let us know how we can help you manage your property. We would love to assist you!

Have any questions regarding the topic “What Do Real Estate Managers Do? Why Is It Important?” feel free to comment below.

Also Read: What Are The 3 Components of Property Management?

Author:

Joe White

Joe White is a Philadelphia Property Manager and Real Estate Broker. He is the owner of Grow Property Management and has been involved in the management, sales and purchases of Philadelphia area rental investment properties since 2008. He is an author and works as a real estate investment consultant and construction manager.

View all posts by Joe White