Homeowners today are more and more often making the choice to rent their home rather than sell due to the decreasing property values in todays economy. This has made it even more important to the landlord to find a reputable, experienced property manager to help them through the process. In the past, a property manager would focus mainly on home maintenance, rent collection, and vendor management, but the new environment has made it very important for the property manager to also find suitable tenants quickly. This is not always an easy task, particularly with higher end homes.
The trend for high end homeowners to lease their home long term or on a rent to own option rather than as a short term vacation rental is causing the increased concern over tenant quality. This type of situation is much riskier for the homeowner both on a financial and an emotional level than just selling the home would be.
Any Homeowner or person considering renting a higher end home should look at the following criteria when choosing a property management company:
1. Licensing. Many property management companies in Colorado are not licensed with the Colorado Real Estate Commission, because its not required unless the company manages a certain number of properties. A licensed company must abide by the laws of the Commission and is legally accountable to both the homeowner and tenant. Without proper licensing, consumers can easily be subject to fraud and identity theft with no recourse.
2. Tenant Screening. A reputable property management company will take the time to pre-screen all tenants with a background check, including the tenants credit report, prior rental history and criminal history. This goes a long way to minimizing the homeowners risk as well as saving time and energy up front for all parties.
3. Real Estate Experience. Experience matters in this housing market. Property management companies with real estate experience, in building, selling, and managing understand the needs of buyers and sellers and can efficiently navigate the landscape.
4. Cooperative Relationships in Community. Its important that the company has established positive relationships within the real estate community. Many for-sale properties are turning into rentals and a solid network of brokers means a bigger inventory of homes as well as real time insight into various neighborhoods and the market as a whole.
Our Denver Based property management company, Denver Rent a Home has focused on streamlining the tenant placement process and taking the hassle out of the hands of the homeowners. We have recently launched an online tenant pre-approval service, where prospective tenants can fill out simple forms to get pre-qualified for any of the available listings. We also run all applicants though a thorough confidential background check and spend a lot of time up-front getting to know our clients and their properties.
Regardless of whether you are an owner or a prospective tenant, be sure to choose your property management company well. Be extra cautious of managers who cannot show you the proper licensing for your state, arent able to show you examples of their experience or cannot explain to you their process for managing your home effectively. This may seem elementary, but licensing requirements can be confusing, and people often take short cuts because they are unaware of the risks this type of transaction can pose without proper representation by a quality manager. It would also be wise to ask to speak to existing customers of your prospective manager in order to hear firsthand how their experience went.
It should be the goal of a great property manager to fully appreciate their clients needs and the property they are managing. A quality management company never loses sight of the fact that their customers are relying on them to get reputable tenants for their homes, and they take that responsibility seriously.