Managing your property

The positive aspects of renting property are as follows; a lot of these apply whether you hire a property management company or not:

1. You own your own business.
2. You save the fees charged by a property management professional.
3. Technology has made self-managing your properties easier than in the past.
4. It’s a people business.
5. It can be fun and challenging.
6. You may enjoy it enough to make it your career and even manage property owned by others.
7. After everything is set up properly, it’s not a lot of work.
8. You can see and touch your investment.
9. The business provides continual income rather than the one-time income from a sale.
10. With creativity, you can purchase with little cash.
11. You can keep a home you may want to move back to later.
12. Renting properties is usually profitable.
13. Renting property provides current or future lodging for your children.
14. Buying your first property starts you on your way to purchasing more.
15. Property values usually appreciate.
16. You diversify your investments.
17. There are great tax advantages.
18. It can be a second income.
19. It can be a part of your retirement.
20. It can be a long-term business.

Cons of Managing Rental Property

You may have days when you question why you purchased rental property and became a landlord. But then, when you arrange an appraisal and find that your property value has gone up, you’re probably pleased with the gain in value. The time, money, and effort suddenly are all worthwhile, and you realize that hard work really does pay off.

1. It takes a lot of time in the beginning to set things up.
2. There are many details you need to learn and understand.
3. The initial outlay may be greater than with other investments.
4. Your property may have a negative cash flow, especially at first.
5. Technology is hard to keep up with and takes time.
6. Reporting income and expenses on your tax return requires additional time and knowledge.
7. Like anything, there is always a risk involved.
8. The hours are not 9 to 5.
9. It is like having a second job, often without vacations.
10. Dropping everything to respond to an emergency isn’t fun.
11. Finding and dealing with contractors can be tricky.
12. It is a people business, which means you have to enjoy talking to people.
    You listen to many complaints.
13. You can always hire a professional to rent and/or manage your property. This way you don’t have to deal with the emergency call in the middle of the night or all the problems that arise from dealing with different types of people. You let them take on the time-consuming tasks while you receive the income.