Reasons Why Owner-Managers Should Pay Themselves

If you manage your own property, you probably make sure pay day comes for the vendor who mows the lawn and the bank that services the loan. Yet you may be neglecting to pay the most important person on your team - you. Do It Yourself types who manage their own rentals may not see the point in collecting a salary for the work they do. After all, don't they already benefit from the profit their rentals generate?  

Things a competent property manager does or should do: 

• Save you time( taking calls, showing rentals, screening tenants, doing walk throughs, explaining documents and fees to tenants, etc.)
•  Provide a buffer between you and the tenant
•  Be available to handle emergencies when you are away
• Pay bills on your behalf and create financial reports for your review
•  Find and hire licensed, competent vendors when maintenance issues arise and oversees repairs
•  Ensures your property meets government housing standards  prior to annual inspections and that landlord/tenant laws are followed
•  Perform mandatory inspections required by City and County ordinances
• Determines market rent to be competitive in the rental market

Now if you are going to juggle all these tasks - and do them well- you should get paid for your efforts. Here's two reasons why you should:

You Are A Professional Communicator and Crisis Manager

A good PM can communicate on different levels with all kinds of people; You negotiate the cost of a drywall job with the local contractor as well as calmly explain to an upset tenant why his late fees carried over into the next month. You prevent code violations by practicing preventative maintenance and can smell the stink of a bad tenant with just a five minute scan of his credit report. Why shouldn't this particular skill set be well-compensated?

Getting Paid For The Work You Do Makes You Feel Good

Monetary compensation for the work you do provides an ego boost. It says you bring value to the marketplace. Only interns looking to land a job work for free. But don't confuse this with volunteering for a personal cause which is rewarding in itself. Property management is hard work and can be challenging at times. When you work a difficult job without pay, it eventually becomes a chore. And life's too short for that.

One More Reason

Someday, you'll want to travel, or spend more time with family. After you accumulate your second or third property, like some investors, you will want to use your time buying properties instead of training tenants to pay the rent on time. Then you'll have to hire a professional property manager anyway. If you pay yourself now, those management and leasing fees won't hurt so much and guess what, you will have already budgeted for it.

Owner-managers, do you pay yourself for the work you do?