A Property Management Company Keeps Up the Curb Appeal

Many savvy investors snapped up homes that were foreclosed on during the recent economic upheaval and turned their new found homes into investment rentals. And when this type of investment is done correctly your return can be pretty good. The trick, as any good investor will tell you is all in your style of property management.

It is better to manage your investment properties from the same state that you reside in, and it's even better still to manage your investment properties from the same town that you reside in. And while you probably won't do a lot of the hands on work to maintain your properties physically, it is vital that you have a management company working under you that will and that you can be in the area occasionally to oversee your properties and ensure they are being maintained properly by both you and your tenants. Towards your goal of maintaining your property, don't forget why you liked the home in the first place. Curb appeal is everything. You know that, or you wouldn't be where you are today, sitting on properties that you have managed to slowly and suavely acquire towards the goal of building your real estate empire.

You bought the real estate that you currently own, in part based on the curb appeal as you drove up for the first time and the ensuing impression that first look had on you.
You may have been impressed that the bark mulch was freshly applied, or that the lawns were mowed and neatly maintained or that the shrubbery was tastefully designed and trimmed.

You may have turned down similar properties because the property management that made your real estate purchase so appealing was lacking at other sites. And that same curb side appeal is what brings in potential tenants who make it all of your dreams possible — or turns them away because the place looks unkempt.

Unless you have a green thumb and lots of spare time on your hands, it is better to dictate some of the responsibility for your growing real estate empire to a firm that can take care of maintaining the curb appeal and the other small but vital details that make your properties appealing to potential tenants.

Before you hand the reins over to just any property management company, though, make sure you have a clear understanding about what they can do and how often they plan to do those things, especially if you're a long distance owner.

You don't want to lose your curb appeal because you assumed your property management company would shovel snow, for example, and find out after the big one hits that they don't do that. This is especially an important consideration if you do live outside the city or state your investment properties are in because what you can't see can cost you tenants.