It has become fashionable in recent times to think in terms of very limited hour work weeks, and the concept of outsourcing virtually all of your business life so that you can make the profits without doing much of the work. Everything which this concept involves is possible at least to some degree, and real estate is one area where it is definitely possible. There are specialist management companies who can take on the role of administering your rental properties and income, allowing you all of the free time you need for the other projects in your life.
The entire idea of outsourcing your whole business life does have its limits, and one inherent weakness. That is simply that you cannot outsource or duplicate yourself. Even though you may reach the stage where all of your routine work is handled by other people, someone has to oversee the operation. The idea is that you appoint a manager to oversee it, but who oversees the manager? Adding a manager at this level also definitely means an extra expense, and a significant one at that. In the end, you have to take on some kind of supervisory role, or else your business is totally at the mercy of other people.
In the world of real estate, everything is so much simpler. The business lends itself perfectly to outside management, because of the great similarity of one project to the next. Although there is obviously going to be a significant fee to be paid for this management, it really can save you money as well. Even an innocent mistake, such as forgetting to clear trash cans away, can negatively affect the impression which prospective tenants receive, which can in turn cost you money. Of course, management companies are not infallible, but they are highly trained and will make fewer mistakes than you, as a rookie manager, could expect to make.
There are some management companies who are so confident in what they can do that they even say they will only charge you when the property actually has a paying tenant. This is the type of promise you cannot make unless you are totally confident in your own ability, and this instils huge confidence into property owners. The management company will want its fee, of course, but if they are going to allow you to concentrate on sourcing more properties and developing them this will be paid off many times over.
As the right management team can take your business to a completely new level, it is worth taking the time to make sure that you find the best one possible. Use local Internet search and local media to find as many possibilities as you can, get referrals if you know anyone who has used any of these sources. Make sure you know in advance what the charges are, and that there are no hidden clauses which could be applied. It is worth consulting a lawyer here, because if you can get the right management company, it will be worth their weight in gold to you.