What is property management?

The management of commercial and/or residential property is called property management and is similar to all other forms of business management. There are many firms and companies that specialize in property management where their emphasis lies in the liaison between the landlord and tenant of a property.

The other duties of property management includes collecting rent, handling maintenance issues, advertising about landlord’s real estate and conducting background checks on probable tenants.

All this is for a fee, where the property management company expects a percentage (3-10%) of the gross rent collected per month. lease commissions too are added in their charge and some property managers also charge repair costs if this point is managed in the management agreement.

The development, repair, construction and maintenance of a property are also managed by the property managers. It can be said that these property managers work as a buffer between the landlord and tenants so that the landlord is distanced from the tenant constituency.

There is more to property management than all this. The extra responsibilities of these managers include conduction of litigation with tenants, insurance agencies and contractors. Usually the managers hire trained attorneys for the litigation division of property management.

If you are choosing a property management company to handle landlord and tenant law based problems, or evictions, non-payment, harassment and public nuisance matters, make sure you choose a company that is competent in handling such matters. Though this is what property managers are famous for, you get your money’s worth of services if you hire professionals who are up to date with the applicable county, municipal and state law and practices.

Just like all sphere of life are affected by the computer, property management companies increasingly use computer aided facility management software for added services and satisfaction to their clients in their property management.