Virginia Landlord- To Hire or Not to Hire a Property Manager?

Dear Ritu, as you know we are planning to rent out our home in Virginia due to job relocation. From the comps you have provided we will be taking negative cash flow every month. We are debating whether to hire a property manager or not to save up some money. What is your professional suggestion/opinion?

Answer: After previewing your home I know over all condition of your home is excellent. Depending on your comfort zone you can make a decision. Here is experience of one of my client:

I have a client who was relocated to Seattle Washington. He has a town home in the Northern area. Instead of hiring a property management company he bought a home warranty. The tenant was provided with home warranty's toll free number access to contact if there is any issue including any emergency or non-emergency issues and required to email/call him about the issue. The tenant is responsible for the deductible. He also has a contractor/licensed handyman service that checked on the property condition twice a year on his behalf and send out a report along with the pictures of the home to my client. This arrangement was part of agreement in the deed of lease that the handyman will inspect the property twice a year and tenant being responsible for deductible charged for every service call to home warranty. For rental he had set up a direct deposit so no mailing of the check and lastly hired me as his Realtor to find a tenant.

Basically he has his team in place. Instead of paying every month for the property manager he saves up that money. His thoughts were worst case this did not work out he can always hire a property management company. This setup has worked out perfectly for him since he was tight on his budget to spend on property manager and take a large negative cash flow.

However the biggest peace of mind you will get from hiring a property manager is the manger knows the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. This may help you to protect your interest in case of any law suit is filed against you or your home.

Apart from that property manager more becomes a point of contact for the tenant if any issues comes up and needs to be address.

Hiring a property management company can be a task itself. Do understand and read the terms and coverage service they will provide. Few companies have different level of services.  I know few companies they may charge low monthly fee but all they do is collect the rent, cut their commission and deposit the balance for you. Everything else is added cost to you. On the flip side I know quite a few great property managers who work very hard and will keep you updated on the property & tenants. My recommendation would be check the current property manager's references before you hire them.

Hope this helps you in making a decision.