A competent property manager can add significant value to your investment, which is why many seasoned real estate investors will tell you that a good management company is worth their weight in gold. Here are a few ways that Ottawa Property Managers earns their keep:

Higher Quality Tenants

It is certainly possible to get a bad tenant out of your home once they are in, but it’s a real hassle and you are so much better off never accepting them in the first place. A thorough screening process results in reliable tenants that:

• Pay on time

• Put less wear and tear on the unit

• Rent longer

• Generally cause less problems

At Ottawa Property Managers, we have processed thousands of applications and we know how to quickly dig for the real facts about candidates and analyze the information for warning signs.

Fewer costly and time consuming legal problems

Veteran landlords know it only takes one troublesome tenant to cause significant legal and financial headaches. At Ottawa Property Managers, we constantly keep up with the latest landlord-tenant laws and will ensure that you are not leaving yourself vulnerable to a potential law suit. All these aspects of managing tenants have different laws and regulations:

• Tenant screening

• Safety and property conditions of the property

• Evictions

• Inspections

• Lease addendums

• Terminating leases

• Rent collection

• Handling 1st and last month collection deposit

Avoiding a single law suit can more than pay for the property management fees, and spare you time and frustration.

Shorter vacancy cycles

At Ottawa Property Managers, we can help you perform three critical tasks that affect how long it takes to fill your vacancies:

• Improve and prepare the property for rent - A property manager will suggest and oversee cosmetic improvements that maximize revenue.

• Determine the best rent rate - Too high and you are stuck waiting, to low and you’re losing money every month the tenant is in the unit. Determining the optimal price requires knowledge of the local market, data on recently sold comparables, and access to rental rate tools.

• Effectively market your property – We have written hundreds of ads and understands what to say and where advertise in order to get a larger pool of candidates in a shorter period of time. We have professional accounts with paying sites to give additional exposure. Lastly, we know how to filter calls from prospects and pre-screen potential tenants before taking them on showings.

Better tenant retention

The turnover can be expensive and time consuming, it can involve a thorough cleaning, changing the locks, painting the walls and possibly new carpet or small repairs, not to mention all the effort associated with marketing, showing , screening and settling in a new tenant.

This can often be averted by keeping tenants happy and well cared for. We have a time-tested tenant retention policy that ensures happy tenants with lengthy stays in your properties. These kinds of programs require a consistent, systematic approach, which is where will shine at Ottawa Property Managers.

Tighter rent collection process

The way you handle rent collection and late payments can be the difference between success and failure as a landlord. Collecting rent on time every month is the only way to maintain consistent cash-flow, and your tenants need to understand this is not negotiable. By hiring Ottawa Property Managers, you put a buffer between yourself and the tenant, and allow us to be the bad guy who has to listen to excuses, chase down rent, and when necessary, evict the person living in your property.

Regarding evictions, there are strict laws concerning the eviction process, and doing it wrong, or trying to evict a "professional tenant" can be a MAJOR fiasco. We understand the laws around it and have a good process for obtaining the best possible outcome given the circumstances. Never having to handle another eviction in the future is possibility the best reason to hire Ottawa Property Managers.

Assistance with taxes

Everyone was a different financial situation but we can help you understand which deductions you can claim, as well as organize the necessary forms and documentation to make those claims.

Additionally, the property management fees themselves are also tax deductible.

Lower maintenance and repair costs

By hiring Ottawa Property Managers, you gain access to both our in-house maintenance staff, as well as our network of licensed, bonded and insured contractors who have already been vetted for good pricing and quality work. This can translate into significant savings compared to going through google searches and hiring a handyman yourself. We also get volume discounts on the work, that get you lower prices on jobs that needs to be done on your property.

Increase the value of the investment

Preventative maintenance is achieved through putting systems in place that catch and deal with maintenance and repair issues early on, before they grow into larger more costly problems. We have a written maintenance check program, detailed maintenance documentation and regular maintenance visits. We can also offer you suggestions and feedback on upgrades and modifications, both how they will affect the rent you can charge, as well as their impact on maintenance and insurance.

Best of all - Personal benefits for you

• Less stress - Avoid having to deal with middle of the night emergencies, chasing down rent, evicting tenants from your property, tenants who wreck your property, rental scams, lousy vendors, piles of paperwork.

• More freedom - Live and invest wherever you want with the constraint of needing to be near your properties. Additionally you can live and travel without the requirement of always being available in the event that your tenants have a need you have to tend to.

• Free up more of your time - Time is money, and for many investors, their time can be more profitably spent in areas other than servicing their properties. Additionally you have more time to spend with family or friends doing things you enjoy.