Free Property Management, Especially Valuable for People Stuck with Double Mortgage Payments

In today’s real estate market, more and more “accidental landlords” are emerging, as people end up with vacant homes that they can’t sell for the prices they want. Sometimes people try for months and months to get the homes sold, leaving them vacant and often with insurance lapsing, and other times they choose to rent them out.

Always looking to learn more about property management, and also looking for books to recommend to friends and clients, I just picked up a copy of The ABC’s of Property Management, by Ken McElroy.

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If there were ever a book to convince you not to try to manage an extra home yourself, this is it! Full of stories of things that happen to people when they haven’t mastered the business of property management.

I discovered long ago that property management works fine if you treat it like the business that it is, but not so well if you treat it like a hobby or an afterthought. (Yes, I learned that the hard way.) Here are some handy references for those who choose to do it themselves.

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And if you do it yourself, be sure to learn the Maryland state laws, as well as those of the county and city where your property is located.

Of course, it often pays to bring on a specialist. For those who’d like to team up with a professional property manager, I can make some recommendations in the Annapolis area. You need to be prepared to compensate them somehow, typically by paying a percentage of the rent.  Sometimes you can negotiate a guaranteed rental payment, regardless of vacancy.

Oh, you want to know how to get it free? Some will do it for a portion of the future increase in your property’s value. Let me know if you’d like further details.

P.S.  Call me today for all your Annapolis real estate needs.