Real Estate Agents and the Question: Can You Manage My Rental Property For Me?
Not so long ago, a new real estate agent, desperate to show his “full service” in order to win the listing of a property investor, agreed to take care of the property for his Florida-based client while it was vacant and awaiting a new tenant.
What a nice gesture!
Except for one thing. He was on a long weekend away when a sudden sub-zero freeze hit the area. The pipes burst. The house flooded. When he returned, all the hardwood floors and carpets were ruined. There was now mold growing inside the sheetrock, 24-inches of which had to be removed. The total repair bill was $11,600—plus the lost $2,300 rental income.
Guess who got sued? Guess whose E&O insurance did not cover property management services being done by a real estate agent, which meant the legal costs and award came out of his pocket?
I just took a CE course to earn credits for this year’s license renewal, and was amazed at the list of tasks professional property management companies (such as SureWay Property Management) provide for their clients. The CE Shop shows the following as just a sampling of the tasks below.
We all want to deliver superb customer service. But we also want to stay out of court. Whenever I have a client with a property he or she wants to rent, I refer them to SureWay Property Management at www.SureWayPM.com. They pay me a referral fee, my client thanks me for the referral because SureWay is the leader in their field—and I can get on with what I do best: selling and renting real estate!
Property managers can have wide-ranging duties, depending on size of the property they manage. Some basic tasks can include:
- Keeping up with state and federal regulations to maintain compliance and updated paperwork
- Marketing vacant properties
- Supplying rental applications and all other documents necessary to meet the state landlord/tenant laws
- Thoroughly screening all prospective tenants
- Fully accounting for all deposits
- Maintaining all collected rent and deposits in a client’s trust account (subject to periodic auditing by the state Real Estate Commission)
- Re-keying properties
- Changing air filters
- Handling tenant problems
- Obtaining repair bids and notifying owners prior to any excessive expenses regarding their property
- Ensuring all required maintenance is done in a timely manner
- Managing properties efficiently and cost-effectively with leading edge software
- Providing fully computerized and detailed monthly statements accounting for all income and disbursements
- Directly depositing monthly payments into owner’s bank account
- Disbursing all tenant deposit refunds and supplying required documentation
- Handling non-pays all the way through the eviction and lock-out process as necessary
(list courtesy of The CE Shop)
That’s why I point my clients to SureWay if they ask, “can you manage my rental property for me?”
If you’re interested in learning more about SureWay’s Partnership Program, which was designed to create a mutually beneficial relationship between real estate agents, their clients who own investment properties and SureWay, contact them today.