While many property owners lay awake at night thinking about what-ifs with their rental properties, the reality is that most of the crises are fairly mundane, usually related to a renter who can no longer pay rent and isn't moving out promptly. While other crises can certainly arise, the simple lack of rental income can be ruinous for property investors who need to keep that cash coming in to pay the property's bills.
Part of why rental property owners hire Hampton Roads property management is because we know what to do in the hardest rental situations. We have experience salvaging rental properties after a crisis. We also have seen enough lessons being learned to help you prevent crises from ever happening, chiefly through excellent rental applicant screening procedures.
Hiring a Property Manager is Preventative Maintenance For Future Crises
If you've thought about doing all your own maintenance and management, you may be telling yourself, "I'll hire Hampton Roads property management if something goes wrong that I don't know how to fix." While we can certainly do our best to help, we are also going to be able to have a much bigger impact if you hire our team before you run into a major challenge!
We are like preventative maintenance: when your car gets regular oil changes, you don't have as many major repairs to deal with. The same is true if you allow a property manager to help you put in place a strong lease, excellent renter communication, and other preventative steps to ensure you have the lowest possible risk of crisis.
Rent Collection Challenges Are Familiar Territory For Us
Even though we pride ourselves on using communication and renter screening procedures to find and retain excellent people, there will occasionally be challenges collecting the due rent. While as a property investor, you may be baffled and encountering a non-payment problem for the first time, we have definitely seen this before, and we've come up with steps to handle it.
Working with your Hampton Roads property management contact will give you a roadmap that helps you do what you can to get the rent paid promptly. If that cannot happen, we'll help you legally move forward with ending the lease and getting the rental ready for another renter in the future, even if that means legally pursuing eviction.
Procedures to Help Avoid and Lessen Financial Loss
However, before you reach the point of eviction, a property manager will help you evaluate your options. After all, eviction isn't just expensive and troublesome for your resident who isn't paying rent; it's expensive and time-consuming for you. That's why your Hampton Roads property management professional knows how to create a plan for communicating clearly with a renter. If they show reasons why this is a one-time issue rather than an ongoing one, your property manager may suggest an exception or a process change that allows for payment plans or other options, or they may see a pattern of behavior that says you need to stick to the protocol as usual.
All of that being said, the property manager will always have an eye to the bottom line, trying to see what choices you can make that will give you the best possible outcomes. They can offer you an analysis where they play out the potential risks and rewards of multiple paths or behavior choices, and you can make your decision on whether or not to evict based on the evidence you have and the context your property manager can provide. By working with a trusted team like Renters Warehouse Hampton Roads, you get wise counsel that will always prioritize avoiding financial loss whenever possible.
Property Managers Bring the Know-How to Handle Crises and Prevent the Next One
Property managers don't want to have to walk through the frustrating road of major crises in your rental properties, but they are ready to do so on the rare occasions when they happen. Part of working with a property manager from the start is that you will occasionally use their emergency management expertise. Still, most of the time, they'll be preventing such circumstances from happening in the first place. They keep careful records, set up a standard for behavior in the lease, stay in communication, and do a host of other actions that help them stay connected and avoid major issues with renters.
What's more, property managers will go to bat for you through thorough and careful screening to help you find the right applicant for your rental property. Finding a dependable long-term resident for your property is one of the best investments that you can make, and your property manager has been working with listings, photos, applications, and every element of the screening process. They can help you make the right call for who to bring into your property. Check out our guide today to learn more!
{{cta('6799c1ff-fb86-4bb0-b378-4c9e323edccf','justifycenter')}}
