According to the latest ranking of the review website Niche, Columbia is the "Best City to Live and Raise a Family in Maryland."
With those "titles," the city will likely attract more people, and more people means more potential renters. That should be fantastic news if you own a rental property in Columbia, MD.
However, you can further simplify finding quality tenants with tenant placement and rental management services.
We'll tell you how these two services work and when to consider which, so read on.
What Is Tenant Placement?
Tenant placement is a suite of services aimed at helping landlords find qualified tenants. It starts with marketing and listing the property on rental real estate platforms. From there, the service provider communicates and coordinates showings with prospective renters.
Tenant placement also includes comprehensive tenant screening services. Included in the latter are the following processes:
- Identity, employment, and income verification
- Credit score and history check
- Evaluation of rental and eviction history
- Criminal background check
All those screening steps help tenant placement services gauge renter qualifications.
Suppose a criminal background check reveals an applicant is among the 77 million people in the U.S. with a criminal record. If so, the tenant placement service provider will further assess the applicant. If their findings show that the person may endanger your property and others, they'll move on to other applicants.
The service ends once they've successfully "placed" or moved a qualified tenant into your property.
What About Rental Management?
Rental management provides everything that tenant placement does. It's more comprehensive, though, with its services extending beyond the tenants' move-in dates. It's a longer-term contract that includes:
- Communicating with and responding to tenant inquiries and concerns
- Timely rent collection
- Scheduling routine property inspections
- Overseeing property maintenance and repairs
- Accounting and financial reporting
Since they'll be with you in the long run, you can expect reliable property managers to back their services with guarantees. An example is a guarantee that they'll find you a qualified tenant in 30 days (or less), and if they don't, you won't have to pay management fees for the month. They also provide plans to protect you from the hassle and costs of evictions in Columbia, MD.
When to Consider Which
If you'd like to be more hands-on with your rental business, tenant placement may be a better fit for you. With this, you'll have more control over your properties. You'll oversee everything except the tasks involved in finding and moving tenants in.
If your primary goal is effortless rental income optimization, go for rental management. With this, your property manager will handle most, if not everything, needed to run your business on your behalf.
Still Undecided?
Are you still unsure whether to choose tenant placement or rental management? If so, PMI Real Asset MGMT can help.
PMI Real Asset MGMT is a property management company serving landlords throughout Columbia, MD. We're part of PMI, a national franchise founded over 20 years ago and manages over $5 billion in real estate assets. We provide rental analyses (free!), tenant screening, rent collection, accounting, property maintenance, and more.
So, if you'd like to learn more about how full-service rental property management benefits landlords like you, call us today! We can help you choose between one-time tenant placement or rental management.
