Leasing Your Investment Property

You have purchased an investment property and now wish to lease it and thereby generate income. If you choose to have a property management company locate a tenant and handle the signing of a lease, you will relinquish much of the burden of being a landlord. If you really don't have the time, knack or desire to be someone's direct landlord, the property management route makes a lot of sense. I have personally done this with investment properties and have learned a few things along the way. Hopefully my experience over the last two decades will be of help to you.

1.	Find a professional and reputable management company. This is easier said than done. Ask other landlords who they use. Ask people in the real estate industry who they would recommend and why.
2.	Good property management companies send out monthly and end of year financial statements to their clients detailing rental income received and expenses going out. This is important to have if you want to keep track of how your investment is faring.
3.	Insist that your management company thoroughly check out a prospective tenant's credit and past rental history. You would think this would be automatic but sometimes it's overlooked or not performed properly. Taking on the wrong tenant can cost you money as I have found myself with a few properties. Many times, the damage caused by a tenant is not nearly offset by the security deposit and trying to collect the difference after the fact can take forever and there are no guarantees you ever will collect.
4.	You will want to employ a management company that knows how to communicate. If you make a phone call to your management company, it shouldn't take two days for a reply. If it is hard getting timely call backs, you may have a problem.
5.	Last but not least, make sure anyone managing your property is fully versed in local landlord/tenant law. This is important because localities can differ greatly in the rights they assign to tenants and landlords. This includes the areas of annual rental increases, eviction, notices given to the tenant if you sell your property and laws pertaining to tenant's rights based on age. You may have thought that these laws are fairly uniform but they're not. They can vary greatly from city to city. Before you or your management company signs up a tenant, make certain you are fully aware of your rights and obligations as a landlord.