2 minute read
Property Management Council
Selecting a Property Manager
By: Liz Berry, Associate Advisor, SVN | Commercial Advisory Group
Your clients have purchased their dream home in Florida but they cannot move in right away or they can only reside in the property part of the year, what do you do next? Recommend they hire a property manager of course. A property manager wears many hats and will become one of the most important elements of the financial rewards of your client’s investment. First and foremost, help them determine if they want to rent their property or only have it monitored while they are away. If they choose to rent their property, there are various options to the length of time they may choose to have it occupied.
SHORT AND LONG-TERM RENTALS
Rental properties in Florida are generally occupied for specific lengths of time: seasonally or annually; short-term or long-term. The most popular time for seasonal rentals is January to March which is when you will garner the highest rates and the slowest time of year is August to October. Annually is exactly as it sounds and involves securing a tenant for a year or longer. Short-term is any time period of six months or less and long-term is any time period over six months plus one day. Check with neighborhood, condominium, and homeowners’ associations; local municipalities; and state laws to confirm if there are any rental term requirements because, for example, some ordinances do not allow rental terms any shorter than six months. Most clients have a specific time period they like to rent their property based on their desired use.
NEED FOR A PROPERTY MANAGER
If your buyer plans to reside in their property seasonally but does not want to rent it, it is still a good idea to recommend hiring a property manager to oversee and care for their property while they are away. Florida can have hurricanes, extreme humidity, and crime, in addition to a variety of other situations, can occur when the owner is gone. There is nothing worse than selling a property to a client only to have them arrive six months later and open the door to their entire house covered in mold; because it sat empty with the air conditioner turned off after the final walk-through that their agent conducted. Occurrences such as this can be prevented by having their dwelling monitored when they are absent.
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT FIRMS
Once your client decides what their property management requirements are, locate at least three companies that have managers that specialize exclusively in their specific needs to refer them to. There are many firms in Sarasota and Manatee handle specific types of property management or an assortment of all of the above. These can be found online, through your brokerage’s in-house operations or RASM.
Some factors for your clientele to consider in hiring the right property manager include:
Experience and level of customer service Accounting and financial procedures Knowledge of local area Honesty and trustworthiness Frequency of communication Use of technology Tenant Screening Process Management Costs Hours of Availability •
