Are you involved with a condominium association or a homeowner's association (HOA)? If so, then you might be wondering about the benefits of using a property management company.

A great property management company can help to improve the quality of a community, and can help with a host of various elements, such as collection of dues. These types of management companies are helpful for individual homeowners as well, and can offer a wealth of different benefits.

What Can a Property Management Company Do for the HOA?

Property management companies are able to handle many of the day-to-day responsibilities of running a community. High quality management companies can provide help with the following:

• Collection of dues from homeowners
• Assessment of late fees
• Documentation of payment
• Communication with homeowners who are delinquent in payments
• Provision of statements
• Preparation of annual budget
• Choose and supervise maintenance and repair of common areas
• Enforcement of policies and rules

The management companies can ensure that the community continues to run smoothly, and that all of the residents abide by certain rules and regulations. It reduces the struggles that self-managed communities face, and will be able to help with issues large and small alike. Larger management companies will typically have the connections and the resources needed to help the HOA run smoothly. Whenever a community association gets to the point that it is too large and unwieldy to handle, working with a property management company can help.

Helping Apartment Complexes, Private Landlords, and More

A quality property management company can do more than merely help homeowner's associations. They can also help with apartment complexes and landlords who want to rent out their property.

Let's take a look at some of the benefits of using a property management company:

Finding the Best Tenants

One of the biggest problems when it comes to renting out property is making sure that you find the best tenants. Having a bad tenant can be a nightmare, and it can be extremely difficult to get them to leave once they are in the units at the complex or in the house you are renting. Working with a property management company makes it easier to find high quality tenants though, and that's partially due to the fact that they can employ a real screening.

This will make sure that you are choosing tenants who are able to pay the rent on time, and those who are looking for a long-term housing solution. Having a long-term tenant with less turnover means less time without tenants in the unit. In addition, a screening process can help to find tenants who are not problem causers and who will take better care of the unit.

Property management companies that have experience will be able to do screenings that ensure you have the information needed when it comes to renters. The screening process is also consistent, which is highly important when trying to find the right tenants. If you do not apply the screening to everyone equally, it could result in a discrimination lawsuit, and that's the last thing you need. Working with a quality company can help you avoid bad tenants, as well as lawsuits.

Keeping the Units at capacity

Having empty units means loss of money. A property management team will be able to reduce the time between tenants, which will reduce the money loss. They can do this in a number of different ways.

• Get the unit ready to rent by making sure it looks great
• Help to determine the best rental rate for the area – too high, and you will not rent the unit quickly, too low, and you could lose money
• Market the property to get more attention for it

Better Rent Collection

In order to have a consistent cash flow, it is important to collect the rent on time every month. By having a property manager take care of the rent, it adds a buffer layer between the property owner and the tenant. The manager can take care of the rules and policies of rent collection and will be able to enforce those rules. This improves the rent collection process, and it alleviates the owners of the responsibility. Property management can also help with eviction if that becomes a necessity.

Knowledge of the Rules and Regulations

A property management company will know all of the laws and regulations in the state, and they will ensure that the property lives up to them. This ensures that you are not open to lawsuits and other trouble with the tenants. They can help when it comes to evictions, safety inspections of the property, termination of leases, rent collection, and more.

Repair and Maintenance

Since property management companies often have a number of different properties that they care for, they have connections with a number of different professionals who may be necessary for repair and for maintaining properties. These could be plumbers, carpenters, pest control companies, landscaping services, and others. In some cases, it may be possible for the management company to receive volume discounts since they provide so much business to these companies. This can translate to savings for the property owners. They also know that they will be getting quality workmanship.

Even More Benefits from Property Management Companies

In addition, the owners of the properties will find that they have quite a bit more peace of mind when it comes to their units. They will not have to worry about any emergency repairs, trying to hound the tenants for rent, or deal with tenants who destroy the property. The management companies can take care of all of those issues and more. This also provides the owner with more freedom since they will not have to spend their days dealing with problems from tenants. They will have more time to do the things that they want to do.

However, you need to make sure that you are working with a high quality company when it comes to property management. They need to be able to provide you with all of the different services you need, and they need to do so at a price that's right for you.

If you have questions, let us know.