My name is Melissa Prandi, and I’m the president and CEO of PRANDI Property Management. We’re located in Marin County, just north of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. I’m here to talk about why you need to hire a professional property management, and to share a little bit about what we do for you.

The most important thing a professional manager does is to keep up on the market and the laws. We know the current laws, and we know what’s going on in the market today. A good property manager can look at your property and know what the market will bear, and what it would mean if the situation came up where you had to release your property.

Why Hire a Professional?

Often, at networking meetings, I’ll talk to someone who feels lucky because they’ve had the same tenant for five or six years, and they always pay their rent on time. When I ask the owners about the last time they have been inside the property, they pause. Since they get their rent on time every month, they don’t bother going into the property, and that’s not a good idea. A professional company will go through your property on an annual basis.

Annual Property Evaluations

We do an inside-the-property annual evaluation. We look to make sure the smoke detectors are up on the walls and working. We check the property’s condition, and make sure the tenant is taking care of the home. Before you go and sign another one year lease renewal, you might want to be sure your property is being maintained. Good tenants like to renew their leases. So, we have a team who goes through your property to check for the simplest things and the major things. You want to make sure the walls haven’t been painted blue or pink.

Rental Increases and Market Conditions

We are also really up on the market. If your tenant has been in place a long time, sometimes you don’t keep up with the market and raise the rent every year. You don’t have to raise it a lot, but look at the market and determine a fair annual rental increase. Don’t wait for five years and then raise it a large amount. It’s not fair to your tenant. We look at the market closely and check where you are in the rental market.

Managing Lease Renewals

A set of owners recently came into the office, and they have really good tenants we placed a year ago. The lease renewal is coming up, and the owners had just been inside the property. They were really happy with the way things looked. These owners hired us to do the renewal paperwork, which is a service we offer. Our team took care of the paperwork and suggested a small rental increase of $125 a month. That kept the tenants right under the market rate, so everyone was happy.

Collecting Rent and Making Payments

It’s important to know that your property manager is ensuring your tenants pay on time. With our properties, rent is due on the first of the month, and late at midnight on the fifth. On the sixth, we get on the phone to find out why they haven’t paid on time. We have a pretty stiff late fee, so they don’t want to be late.

These are just a few good reasons to hire a professional management company. We want to give you the return on your investment that you expect. Contact us at PRANDI Property Management for your needs and your leasing services. We put quality tenants in quality homes.