Your Property Manager is the Strongest Member of your Investing Team – at Every stage of the Commercial Property Investing Cycle.

When you learn how to use all of your Property Managers skills and talents you will see that they are so much more than a Manager of your Property. They are the main “Heavy Lifter” on your Investing Team.

We have always recommended that you do not manage your own Commercial Properties.

For three reasons…

1) You can afford to outsource to a real Pro. One of the major benefits of Commercial Real Estate is that Cash Flow is generous enough to support Professional Property Management. While you may have to manage your own rental properties if they are single-family residential … Apartment Complexes, Retail, Office and Industrial Properties produce enough Cash Flow to be Professionally Managed. What a relief!

2) You are an Investor not a Property Manager. Being a Commercial Real Estate Investor and being a Property Manager are actually two completely different jobs, two different knowledge bases, two different skill sets, and two completely different sets of day-to-day activities. This is a simple question of Focus. You cannot be at your best as a Commercial Property Investor if you are distracted by the day-to-day activities of Property Management.

3) Your Property Manager is WAY more than just a Manager of your Property. In many cases, Property Managers are completely underutilized. What most Investors don’t understand is all the different ways your Property Manager can help your business. They are the expert in Your property niche, in Your market- They can tell you histories about specific properties- They can give you estimates of operating expenses you can reasonably expect as an owner – And they can perform a huge number of tasks that will improve your decision-making at all stages of the investing cycle.

So, step number one in building your Commercial Investing Team…Is to find a quality Property Manager you can trust BEFORE you begin looking at properties.

Here are a few examples of how you can bring their expertise at every step in the Investing Cycle.

a) Lead Evaluation: Show your Property Manager any promising deals before you even put in an LOI.

1. They may have actually managed this property before

2. They may understand the property’s reputation and what has caused previous investors to fail here.

3. They will understand operating expenses you can expect, because they already operate similar properties in the same market. This information will help you build an accurate Investors Proforma immediately

4. They’ll have an understanding of previous sales of similar properties and give you an idea on whether the pricing is right

b) In Due Diligence: The reports they generate with these activities can make or break your Due Diligence performance. They will even be able to produce a Budget Forecast to make your Investors Proforma as accurate as humanly possible prior to actually taking over ownership. And a quality property manager will provide these services to you at no charge during Due Diligence for a very good reason… it helps them understand the property from the bottom up, before they are asked to take over management activities. The relationship they build with you in Due Diligence ensures a successful long term working relationship as your Property Manager.

c) While You’re an Owner: your Property Manager creates the “Sense of Community” that maximizes your profit in this investment. They provide both – The financial reporting to you, – And the systems and people skills at the Property that will keep the performance of the property in line with – or even above – market averages.

d) At the Sale: The quality of your Property Managers records allows you to document your Asking Price unequivocally.

As you can see, your Property Manager does so much more than just Manage your Property. We believe they are the Number One and strongest member of your Commercial Property Investing Team. Get your Property Manager on board early and use them wisely at Every Stage of the Investing Cycle.

Ask your Property Manager to perform a site walk-through – An Inspection – A Lease Audit – And interview the current management team and a sample of the tenants.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/real-estate-investing-team-you-only-efficient-your-property-gupta/