Should You Be a Landlord?
If you are considering a career in investment property ownership (being a landlord), make sure your personality, strengths, and passions match the daily expectations and challenges you will encounter.
Landlords need to have the right set of skills, knowledge, and interpersonal abilities to be successful in this role. It is no secret that property management is more about managing people than properties.
Here are some of the basic skills, knowledge, and interests you should have to be a success and meet your goals.
People Skills
We mentioned already that property management is more about managing people than properties. You must have a passion, intuition, and a keen sense of fairness tempered with diplomacy to manage people and their properties professionally.
Property managers are constantly on the phone solving problems for owners and tenants, attending property showings, making presentations at Realtor offices, and providing customer service. Helping people solve problems must be your passion. If you do not have the skills to manage people, they will manage you, and you will have an unsatisfying job.
Organizational Skills
Property management is all about multi-tasking. When you are not on the phone with clients, tenants, or your lawyer, you are collecting rent, researching and approving applications, documenting complaints from tenants, dealing with homeowners associations and local laws, and replacing batteries in smoke detectors.
When an owner or tenant summons you to court, or when you are in court evicting tenants, you must be able to immediately put your hand on any document. Bookkeeping is not for the faint of heart either. If not done correctly or in a timely manner, you can open yourself to liability, lawsuits, and big losses. If you are not well organized, you lose credibility, lose clients, and lose money.
Entrepreneurial Knack and Business Skills
Some people have it and are successful; they are business professionals. You must be smart and careful with other people’s money, property, and trust. You must make the right decisions based on business needs, your customers’ needs, and your local, state, and federal laws, all while trying to ensure you are profitable.
Your business will only be successful if you manage your relationships with other businesses that support yours: the plumber, electrician, lawn care professionals, painters, and carpenters. You will interact with these people every week, and your reputation is only as good as the last job you did.
Real Property Management Excellence is the nation’s leading property management business. We know how to find qualified and responsible tenants for your property. We know how to care for your property and guide you in selecting the best tradespeople for the job.
