Life can get busy when you are trying to build a career, stay fit and healthy, and maintain the important relationships in your life. Many young professionals find themselves in an adequate financial position to buy a property but hesitate, not sure of where they will find the time to manage it.
If it’s your first property, it always helps to have some guidance and support to help you navigate the tricky parts and to take care of problems if things go wrong. Having your investment property tenanted and under management means you can reap the benefits of being in the property market, without having to commit too much extra time to looking after it or too much financial strain in most cases.
Of course if you’ve never owned an investment property before, you won’t really know what kind of things need to be taken care of. There are day to day things like repairs, rent collection and responding to questions and requests from tenants, but there are also some legal requirements that can be time consuming and confusing if you don’t keep on top of them.
These include anything from preparing the lease or tenancy agreement and processing the bond, to changing record keeping procedures as legislation changes are implemented. A property manager will be informed about your legal responsibilities as a landlord and update you as things change – which is a much more precise strategy than trying to do it yourself.
Marketing the property to the rental market, opening it for inspections and taking care of the tenants is only half the property manager’s job. They are also responsible for taking care of your investment. A good property manager will monitor the ongoing value of your property, advise you when a rental increase might be in order and update you on changes to the local area that may be relevant. They will also be able to advise you on when things might need to be replaced or updated to add value, especially since they are regularly inspecting the property on your behalf!
If you are ready to start investing in your future, property is a great way to maximise your return. It’s generally a stable investment over the long term and the property market is pretty easy to understand and keep track of, so you stay engaged with how your investment is performing. It’s also the kind of investment that is easy to build upon, plus if you decide to add more properties to your portfolio you already have a property manager in place to take care of everything for you!
Download our Property Management Guide