Property management companies offer a full suite of services, but sometimes even those familiar with how they operate forget or misunderstand exactly what services and responsibilities a property manager handles for owners and investors. In this post, we’ll explain three of the primary activities property management companies do for their clients and one they don’t.
What Services Does a Property Management Company Provide
The three primary tasks property management companies in Columbus provide include leasing, rent collection and maintenance. Their job is to take care of the physical property itself as well as any needs of the residents who live there.
- Leasing – Anytime you have a vacant unit, the property manager will advertise the property for rent, show it to prospective tenants, vet those tenants, and then facilitate the lease agreement process.
- Rent collection – The property manager will collect the rent, deal with late fees and enforcement, and collect any utility payments as appropriate for a given property. Handling evictions is generally not within the scope of day-to-day services property management companies provide, but many (including us at RL Property Management) handle evictions for our clients and charge a one-time flat fee to process them.
- Maintenance – Your property management company will handle any type of maintenance issues that come up at the property. Often there is a pre-set maintenance approval limit, which means anything below that amount will be taken care of by the property manager. Anything above the specified amount will require a call to the owner for approval before the property manager engages a vendor to get the issue resolved. Another area that falls under the maintenance category is unit turnover between tenants. The property manager will take care of getting the unit ready to rent again and start over with the leasing process.
In addition to leasing, rent collection and maintenance, there are a lot of other things you may not realize a property manager is responsible for, such as accounting. To see a full list of those items, it’s important to review the terms of your property management agreement.
What Services Does a Property Management Company Not Provide
It’s clear that property management companies provide an extensive list of services for their clients, but when there are misunderstandings or false assumptions about their role, it can lead to frustration for both parties.
One area of service property managers do not provide is asset management.
Asset management is a strategic function. These companies help investors with forecasting, positioning, and branding a property rather than with managing the day-to-day operations of a given rental unit. For more on the difference between asset management and property management, be sure to read this post.
At RL Property Management, we strive to create an exceptional experience for our clients throughout Franklin County. If you have questions about what we can do for you, please get in touch with us today.
