As an owner of a real estate, you have many responsibilities to maintain your property in good condition. And chances are that these responsibilities become wider and even harder if you intend to rent your property. How’s that? Well, while renting your property can bring you significant incomes, it requires rigorous management either on your own or by hiring a property management company. In this blog post, we will explore the meaning of property management, its tasks, and the pros and cons of entrusting an external company to do them for you. But before we get there, let’s start by defining the concept of property management.
What is property management?
Property management is a range of day-to-day operations conducted to oversight real estate. Property management is available for all kinds of properties including residential ones (vacation rentals, apartments…), commercial properties (hotels, restaurants…), and even industrial ones (manufacturing factories, warehouses…). In this article, we will focus on property management of vacation rentals.
When it comes to property management, you have the choice to either do it yourself or delegate the whole process to a third party which requires fees but also saves you time and effort and increases your earnings.
The role and responsibilities of a property manager
If you decide to delegate the daily oversight to a professional, you need to have a clear idea of his or her responsibilities. Thus, here’s what property management services include :
- Identifying potential clients and reviewing the tenants’ profiles
- Managing the administrative part of the rental activities including preparing and renewing the leases
- Optimizing your rental revenues by providing you with captivating listings and attractive prices
- Mastering the guest experience and handling the issues encountered by tenants
- Rent collection
- Taking over the legal aspects such as new laws or restrictions
- Assuring repairs and maintenance operations of the property including clean-up and fixes before the tenant moves in and after he or she leaves
5 reasons why you should delegate your property management to a professional
Now that you have a better idea about property management services, you may be wondering if it is worth it to hire a professional instead of doing it yourself.
Well, here are the reasons why it’s profitable for you to delegate the services we mentioned above to a property manager.
The benefit of proven expertise
Hiring a professional property manager provides you with multiple years of experience, and a deep knowledge of the real estate market. This will help you find the right tenants and the best opportunities for optimal incomes. To reach such a level of expertise, you need to go through years of experience and make lots of mistakes that will cost you time and money.
Save time and effort
You know that screening for potential tenants and handling the administrative aspects, legal issues, and tenant relationships are very time-consuming tasks. They can become even more difficult if you don’t live in the same state where your property is located. Can you imagine dealing with all of it while being abroad? It may take you several hours per day! That’s why delegating these services to a professional will help you save time and effort.
Legal Compliance
A property management professional masters all the laws and regulations applicable in the country where your property is located. All these legal aspects you can hardly ever consider on your own. Thus, you can be sure that your property is always compliant with the state rules.
Optimal Guest Experience
A property manager’s priority is to satisfy the tenant with a property that fits his or her requirements and needs. A tenant needs someone who listens to his or her concerns all the time and that’s exactly what a professional does. You can be sure that you deliver the best guest experience for your tenants.
Effective property maintenance
If you hire a property manager, you won’t have to worry about the damages that may occur in your real estate because he or she will take over all the necessary repairs to maintain your property in the best conditions.
Challenges of managing short-term rental properties
It is undeniable that there are many challenges that property owners face when it comes to short-term or vacation rentals. Whether you are overseeing personally your property or entrusting it to a professional, here are the main hurdles you need to overcome for effective short-term rental management.
The first challenge is high vacancy rates since your property rental is based on seasonality. Imagine that you have a real estate that is just 5 minutes away from the beach. Chances are that you can rent it easily during summer but you can hardly find tenants during winter for example. Thus, this fluctuation in demand may affect your earnings over short-term rentals.
The second one is high turnover rates which means that you will have to deal with a great number of tenants who come from different countries with different cultures and needs and thus, variant expectations.
Then comes the challenge of maintenance and repair costs which are significant when you deal with several tenants over the year. Hence, you should estimate these costs and consider them while defining your rental price.
Finally, short-term rental means more guests compared to long-term rental. Having more guests is usually a synonym for more potential issues regarding their behavior with neighbors, their use of the facilities you provide inside the property, and the conditions in which they leave it.
5 tips to manage short-term rental effectively
If you have fears regarding managing your short-term rental property, we have below 5 tips to help you with the different tasks of property management.
Create an attractive listing
Attracting tenants requires a nice and accurate listing. Make sure you provide your property with a detailed description and professional photos to convince potential clients to choose your property over all the offers available in the market.
Focus on maintenance and cleanliness
When you choose short-term instead of long-term rentals, you have to deal with more check-ins and check-outs which requires that your property must be clean and in good shape every time a new tenant is about to move in. For this reason, you have to make sure you allow sufficient budget and time for maintenance and cleanliness all over the year.
Always ensure legal compliance
Short-term rentals have more legal restrictions than long-term ones, that’s why you need to make sure you respect the local regulations to avoid financial consequences that will affect your earnings and even your future rental business.
Provide the best guest’s experience
The competition is high for short-term rental, hence, you need to make sure your guests have a good experience while booking your property. You can do it by providing amenities and facilities such as TV subscriptions and high-quality home linen.
Take care of the different complaints
In the short-term rental business, complaints can come from tenants as well as from neighbors. Be ready to find a solution to each complaint whether this requires expenses or just good communication. For instance, neighbors may feel concerned when they see new people moving into the building all the time. In this case, make sure you communicate with them and help them understand that you are compromising neither their safety nor their well-being.
Property management by professionals: Bottom Line
The difference between self-managing your property and hiring a professional is quite visible in your day-to-day management. If you decide to do it on your own, it will cost you time and effort, and even more stress every day. Meanwhile, entrusting a company for your property management costs you money but gives you peace of mind and delivers a better guest experience for your tenants. In the end, the main challenge is to find a reliable property manager. That’s exactly where our team comes in, to help you find the right local property management agency in Turkey. Book an appointment now and let’s find the perfect professional for your property.
FAQ
How can I choose a reliable property manager in Turkey?
With Welcome Concierge, finding a reliable property manager in Turkey is quite simple. All you need to do is book an appointment, and we will connect you with one of our partners to provide you with the best local property manager.
What are the fees associated with a professional property manager?
The fees vary according to the region and the services provided. They generally range from 8% to 12% of the monthly rent value of the property. In Turkey, the fees vary from 15 % to 30 % per booking.
How do property managers handle maintenance and repairs?
Property managers handle maintenance and repairs through the services of professionals depending on the repairs needed (plumbing, electricity, and masonry…). They make sure the repairs are done promptly while optimizing the costs.
Why should I explain my needs to a property manager?
You must express your needs clearly from the beginning to avoid misunderstandings and confusion. You have to communicate the services you are expecting in detail including the way you would like the property manager to deal with the tenants, the administrative and juridic aspects, and so on. The clearer the things are, the better your experience will be with your property manager.
