Renter expectations rise with the increased communication on social media
The internet is today’s most powerful tool from the bedroom to the boardroom. People are using the internet for everything from fruit buying tips to finding the lowest home mortgage rates. The whole world is at our fingertips, from economic statistics to opinion blog posts. It’s no surprise that the internet would also have an impact on second home investments. Here’s a look at some of the ways the internet impacts today’s market and why it becomes crucial to utilize services like phoenix property management to ensure your rental property stays in business.
Owning a Second Home and the Internet
Before people used the internet as an information gathering tool, real property management was very limited for the second home buyer. Most people bought second homes near their current home so they could keep up with repairs and maintenance, cleaning, and rent collections. Most second homes were a mom-and-pop operation that required a lot of grunt work. People who bought a second home expected a high level of hands-on work. They also didn’t expect to have to be competitive with other rental properties. They relied on signs, newspaper advertisements or word-of-mouth to find renters. They didn’t try to remodel their investment every time a new tenant came through. Their rental units weren’t held to as high as standard as today. If a tenant didn’t like a rental unit, who could they complain to? It wasn’t as if the unhappy tenant was going to place an advertisement in the local newspaper declaiming the rental. So second homes were more work, but there were fewer tenant expectations.
The Power of the Internet
Now introduce the internet. The internet has loads of advice on rentals, their upkeep, management and legal requirements. The internet has made every Joe Smith tenant an expert on renter’s rights and state landlord tenant laws. Now second home owners are faced with the problem that they can no longer run a mom-and-pop operation because tenants expect a professional experience regardless of property size or operation. This has increased the acceptable performance level and response time of property management. These expectations are a burden that most second home owners are not able to meet .
The Need for Property Managers
The internet has made it nearly impossible for a person to be the landlord and run a rental property. Tenant expectations have increased dramatically, and there are too many legal ramifications in today’s world for unhappy tenants. You don’t want unhappy tenants in any case; because this means that you have a high turnover rate and an unpredictable income.
The only way to effectively manage a property is to retain the services of a professional property management service. Phoenix property management guarantees to take care of the legal responsibilities of the landlord. The responsibility for quality management of a rental property is taken off the home owner’s shoulders. When a tenant files a complaint or request maintenance, phoenix property management guarantees quality maintenance work. Property managers have professional relationships with local, reputable repair companies and tradesmen. They know who to call and can often get services done at discounted wholesale prices. All the evidence shows that our society is moving away from mom-and-pop rental operations; the real property market has become too competitive and too internet savvy to do anything but rely on professional property management.