Are you a Jackson homeowner who is moving out of Mississippi? If you decide not to sell your property but instead you want to rent it out, partnering with a Jackson property management company is essential. There’s a lot that can be managed from afar thanks to technology, artificial intelligence, and other impressive platforms. However, the rental business is still one built on relationships. You’ll need a real person to manage your tenant and protect your property. Not only will you need a real person – you’ll need an experienced expert who can make sure that nothing gets missed.
There are two essential things that out of state property owners must look for when they’re hiring a Jackson property management company: experience and technology.
- You need a property management partner experienced in working with investors who live outside of the immediate area.
- You also want to know that your property manager has invested heavily in technology so that you won’t have any problems keeping in touch with your management team and following the performance of your properties.
At Lucroy Residential, we work with investors from out of state and even homeowners who have moved of the country. We know exactly what you need to have a successful investment experience. If you’re an investor with properties in Jackson, or if you’re a homeowner who is relocating temporarily and you don’t want to give up your home, here’s what a professional Jackson property manager can do to maintain your assets.
Keeping Your Jackson Rental Occupied: Property Managers Avoid Vacancy and Reduce Turnover
Vacancies are always expensive, and they somehow seem more risky to owners who are not in town to keep an eye on their unoccupied asset.
Keeping a rental property occupied with good tenants is an absolute necessity for investors who expect to earn recurring and consistent income on their property. Vacancies not only cost money, they leave your property vulnerable to thieves, squatters, and vandals. You can have a leak begin and with no one there to detect it or report it, the small problem could turn into a large plumbing disaster pretty quickly.
Vacancies are expensive and frustrating. They’re also especially nerve-wracking for out-of-state investors. The vacancy period can seem even more threatening because you cannot be there physically to show the property, market it to prospective tenants, or encourage interest among your own local network. You don’t know if people are breaking in to steal your appliances or uninvited “tenants” are setting up a homestead in the garage.
These fears are unlikely to be realities, but they represent an excellent reason why your Jackson property management partner is so critical. You won’t have to worry about long vacancies. If there is a period of time where the stretch between tenants is longer than you’d like, at least you have someone who can check on the home and its condition.
Our experience and deep knowledge of the Jackson rental market allows us to rent your home quickly. We know that reducing and even eliminating vacancy depends on a few things:
- Pricing your rental property competitively to attract good tenants quickly.
- Marketing rental homes with professional photos and excellent listings that are widely syndicated to all the most popular rental sites.
- Responsive tenant showings that allow for pre-screening.
- Online application processes and fast, efficient tenant screening.
This is just one way we protect and maintain your assets when you’re not here to take care of them yourself.
Identifying, Placing, and Retaining Excellent Tenants
The leasing period can feel like a challenge once you move out of state because you don’t know the tenant pool, you don’t know how many competing properties are out there, and you can’t be available to show the home yourself. There’s a disconnect that can feel a bit unnerving.
Your team of property managers is here to make sure the marketing is set up to attract a large pool of well-qualified tenants. We’ll make sure your property is ready to rent, and we’ll give you an accurate price based on the data we collect from the work we do in this market every day.
When we talk about tenants, we also have to address rent collection.
- How can you reliably collect rent when you are so many miles from your rental home?
- What can you do to ensure those payments come in on time?
- What if you have to evict a tenant and you’re not here to go to court?
It comes down to your property management team. We’re here to protect you from late and unpaid rent. Your property manager should have a consistent rent collection process in place that ensures payments are made on time every month.
Rental payments will also be timely. You should expect to receive your rents electronically, and that’s really going to help when you’re out of state. Paper checks in the mail are unreasonable; you’ll need online access to your rental payments.
If you have a tenant in place who continues to pay late or leaves rent unpaid, make sure there’s a plan in place for collection and if necessary – eviction.
Your property manager will have the opportunity to establish a great relationship with your tenant and to provide an outstanding rental experience. This will lead to tenant retention, thus reducing the painful and expensive turnover costs.
Lease Enforcement and Tenant Accountability
Those excellent tenant relationships are important, especially for retention purposes, but we’ll also hold your tenants accountable to the lease and their responsibilities therein. Lease enforcement is another way we protect and maintain your asset. We conduct routine inspections, we communicate openly and transparently with tenants, and we give them plenty of opportunities to bring any problems or issues to our attention. We will immediately address any glaring lease violations and we’ll work with your residents to keep them compliant with your lease.
Sometimes, owners become concerned that their tenants will leave before the lease ends. Broken leases are expensive and frustrating. We protect you against expensive lease breaks by collecting an adequate security deposit, keeping your tenants happy, and enforcing your lease agreement.
Maintaining Your Jackson Asset and Avoiding Property Damage
Have you ever walked into your rental property after a tenant moved out and found more damage than you could have possibly anticipated?
We are prepared, and we have systems in place to avoid that unfortunate scenario.
While you’ll have to cover the cost of general wear and tear in your rental property after one tenant moves out and before another tenant moves in, damage is the tenant’s responsibility entirely. We hold those tenants accountable and we make lawful claims against their security deposit when necessary.
It can be unnerving when you’re not here to inspect the damage or gather quotes and estimates from vendors. You cannot go to the property and see the problems for yourself. Property damage often feels worse than it is when you’re not actually here. That’s why we provide inspection reports and constant communication. We’re not only protecting your property from tenant damage – we’re talking you through any potential problems that come up.
Inspections and Vendor Relationships Help Us Maintain Your Investment
To adequately protect the condition and value of your asset, you’ll need a reliable maintenance plan in place and a team of outstanding vendors and contractors. We have spent years cultivating relationships with the best vendors, contractors, and service providers in the Jackson area. They’ll be available when we need them. They’ll offer competitive pricing and they’ll deliver preventative services.
It’s not always easy to find good vendors. With Lucroy Residential as your Jackson property management partner, you’ll have a team already in place.
Technology and Communication Supports Us While Protecting and Maintaining Your Asset
All parties will need to rely on great technology in order to remain connected.
The online portals we provide will allow for rent to be paid online, maintenance requests tracked and documented, and information easily and immediately shared.
When you’re looking for a property management partner to manage your local property, you will want to make sure you can receive electronic rental payments through direct deposit. You’ll also want to make sure you can look at accounting statements and run reports online. Find out how you’ll be informed when a repair is needed, and how those invoices are paid.
Leverage our available technology to track income and expenses, communicate with your property management team, and stay up to date on lease renewals, marketing strategies, and lease negotiations. It’s critical that you have access to good technology when you’re investing in properties from another state or another country. Communication will be important, and you don’t want to feel even further away from your investments.
If you want to protect your rental property when you move out of the area, you absolutely must communicate frequently and transparently with your property managers.
We have a lot of experience with investors and owners who live out of state, and we welcome you to contact us at Lucroy Residential before you move. We can tell you how we’ll maintain and protect your investments.
