The Pros and Cons of Remote Property Management
Updated: Sep 13, 2022
Property management software has made it easier for real estate investors to handle day-to-day tasks, such as rent collection, tracking leases, and staying on top of maintenance. The idea of remote managing really took off in 2020 as people began taking the work arrangement more seriously.
Many landlords have noticed a spike in efficiency, which is par for the course when it comes to remote working due to the use of reliable property management software. But before you take the big plunge, it’s important to know the pros and cons of managing their properties remotely.
The Pros of Remote Property Management
Saves Time and Money
Manually keeping track of everything is a huge waste of time. It is also costly since you might need to hire someone to maintain records and crawl through them. Property management software can help you keep track of finances and automate tedious tasks such as lengthy data entry.
Delegate Tasks
By working as a remote landlord, you can easily delegate your daily responsibilities to a property management company. As long as you have hired the right person for the job, you can enjoy all the benefits of being a landlord without dealing with any hassle. Things such as finding contractors to deal with minor maintenance issues, or advertising for a new tenant will no longer be a concern.
Gain Intelligent Insights
Most property managers will provide landlords with features such as data analytics which is important to learn more about the property. Insights such as tenant satisfaction and rental yields will allow landlords to identify areas of improvement.
Miscellaneous Benefits
In an ideal situation, remote management can make communication between you and your tenants more effective. Furthermore, the use of property management software can be used to resolve disputes, scale operations, improve data security, and improve data accuracy. It becomes easier to manage multiple properties over a single dashboard and avoid issues with property management.
The Cons of Remote Property Management
Emergency Maintenance Can be Difficult
This one really depends on your property manager. As a remote landlord, you will be expected to answer the phone in the middle of the night when there is a water leak or the air conditioner stops working. But what will you do about these problems when you’re out of town?
Can you really trust a contractor to reliably handle repairs when you’re not around? This is why you should consider hiring a property management company to handle these issues for you and your tenants.
The Distance Can Make it Difficult to Check Your Property
You will need to place a certain degree of trust in your property manager to keep tabs on things while you’re gone. Without a property manager in place, you’ll have to take a leap of faith that your property is being cared for – but doing so can be risky. It isn’t uncommon for remote landlords to find out that their property has been completely trashed.
This only becomes a problem if you have bad tenants and don’t have someone trustworthy to keep things in check.
It Could Take Too Much of Your Time
Just because you’re handling things remotely doesn’t mean you won’t spend countless hours dealing with problems. Traveling isn’t convenient either because it takes time to visit the property. These Jacksonville property managers are saying that you should know that being a landlord is a full time job and you should consider the pros and cons of buying the property before deciding to invest.
Rental Property Software is Not Free
Reliable apps will come at a cost, especially if you want to automate rental connections. However, the software will pay for itself over the months because you’ll need fewer support staff. Plus, it’s much more efficient.
To wrap up, remotely managing your property is a great option as long as you have your bases covered. For the most part, you should consider hiring a property manager along with rental property software to keep tabs on everything.