Property is a popular investment option that can yield consistent returns and high appreciation. To ensure you maximise your investment, it is important to weigh up the pros and cons between self-management and using a professional property manager. Self-management has benefits but the real benefits are leaving the hard work to a property manager.

Finding the right tenant is imperative and can underpin the success of your investment. Finding a suitable tenant, however, can be a time consuming task. An array of processes is involved in sourcing a tenant: from the marketing of the property, to the interviews and background checks required.

Utilising the skills of a property manager can help free your time and, in many instances, ensure a high calibre tenant is chosen. Property managers have access to a variety of tools to help with the screening process.

Costly Exercise

The legalities of owning a property can be confusing, and if not dealt with in the appropriate manner, can be a costly exercise. One troublesome tenant can cause significant legal and financial problems. A property manager will have the required knowledge of landlord and tenant laws to ensure you are not placing yourself in a compromising position. Various areas of New Zealand have different laws, which can be hard to follow when self-managing.

The maintenance of your property is another area which needs to be considered. Managing the maintenance of your property can be completed by yourself, and you can save a significant sum of money in the long run, especially if you complete the maintenance yourself.

This can, however, be an incredibly time consuming task, which is often not worth the money saved. The benefit of using a property manager is they have access to a large network of repairs people, who will often complete high quality work at a reasonable price.

Keeping Track

It is clear that property investment comes with a lot of hard work. If you decide to self-manage it’s important to ensure you can fulfil the required work so you can make the most out of your investment. Look for tools to help you do this, such as a simple software package to keep track of the tenants and accounting.

That said, it is always worth investigating whether a property manager may be more suitable for you.

Hiring a property manager will cost you money but could ultimately save you more money, time and stress in the long run, so consider both options carefully.