Few careers are growing faster or offer more exciting opportunities than residential property management. High numbers of renters and new single-family rental house investors have created an increasing demand for professional property management services. Across the nation, new opportunities in property management business ownership have enabled motivated entrepreneurs to not just build a fulfilling career, but to build a successful business as well. For these reasons, anyone looking for a career that fits for your energy and skills, or anyone who has dreamed of owning your own business, should take a closer look at residential property management.

Residential Property Management

In many ways, residential property management combines the benefits of a career in real estate without many of the drawbacks. For example, property management income is stable. It does not experience the level of fluctuation from season to season or depend solely on one revenue stream. For those with good communication skills and who like tackling new challenges every day, residential property management offers plenty of opportunities to do both. There is also nearly unlimited growth potential in residential property management. Unlike the more fickle aspects of the housing market, like home sales, a certain percentage of the population will always need to rent. This means that no matter what the economy does, the need to manage rental properties will remain constant. With such consistency combined with continued growth, motivated individuals can find great success in residential property management.

What Does a Property Manager Do?

It sounds appealing, but what does a property manager actually do? In the residential rental market, property managers oversee the entire leasing and maintenance process, from start to finish. Some of the main responsibilities of a property manager include tasks such as:

•       Advertising rental properties
•       Collecting applications and screening potential tenants
•       Preparing and completing lease documents, addenda, deposit receipts, and other necessary paperwork
•       Communicating effectively with both tenants and property owners
•       Handling tenant requests
•       Hiring and managing maintenance and repair contractors or staff
•       Overseeing the proper maintenance and repair of the property, inside and out
•       Ensuring that rental payments are collected on time and in full
•       Following up on late payments or other violations of the lease agreement

The easiest way to describe a property manager’s role is that they have a relationship with the investor, helping them preserve their rental assets, and a relationship with the resident, assisting them in finding and maintaining a safe and desirable place to live. No two days tend to be exactly the same when working as a property manager.

How to Get Started

How to get started as a property manager depends on several variables. For example, it’s important to research your state’s licensing requirements to ensure that you have the proper education and experience. If not, that is a good place to start. You will then need to decide whether you want to work for someone else or own your own business. If the latter, then you’ll need to figure out where your office will be located, what type of property management services you will offer, what kind of legal structure you will need for your business, and whether you will go it alone or hire a staff to help you. This sounds like a lot of work, and it is.

Joining a Property Management Franchise

But there is a faster route to becoming a property manager, and that is buying a property management franchise. There are many benefits to doing so. For example, a Real Property Management franchise opportunity provides new franchisees with in-depth training, turn-key business systems, and ongoing expert support. Many of the most difficult business decisions are made for you, helping you to get your business up and running much faster and easier than if you tried to go it alone. Interested in learning more? Please view our Become an Owner page for more information.