With the events over the last year in the real estate market, more and more people have gone out of the real estate market entirely or have gone into foreclosure. Less buyers and more sellers is a reality of today’s market, and house values continue to drop; however, with the fall of house values, it could be a great time to  start property management. Rent rates have continuously stayed constant, and with more and more people fleeing the real estate market, then it could be a good time to purchase rental units at rock bottom prices.

What you Need to Know about being a Landlord

Being a landlord is a great way to position yourself to earn residual income as well as capital growth in the long term. Being a landlord should not be confused with a get rich quick scheme or something along that lines. It should be viewed as a viable long term income stream that you are willing to invest the time and effort to ensure that you are successful. If you are considering managing several properties or properties that are away from your home, then you may want to hire a property management firm. Property management firms will look after your property and collect the rent; however, this may reduce your overall incomes from the property.
The disadvantages of using a property management company or individual could be the following:

• High costs that could consume up to 25% of your rental income.
• The company may put less priority on marketing your rental property. This may cause an increased duration of time that your property is not rented.
• Substandard service to the rental property due to lack of time or resources from the property management firm.

If the property is some distance from where you live, then you should definitely hire a property management firm. This is because it is extremely difficult to manage a property from a distance. It is hard to maintain, hard to collect rent, hard to bring in perspective tenants. If you can manage the property yourself, then it may be in your best interests to become the landlord yourself.

In future articles, we will be providing you with all the knowledge that you need in order to manage properties on your own. From marketing to managing your tenants, we will provide you with all the knowledge you need.

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