Review site Niche.com has named Columbia, MD, one of America's best cities to live and raise a family for 2024. The site also gave the city a high overall grade of A+, accounting for its excellent public schools, job opportunities, diversity, and affordability, among other factors. While the median rent here of $1,895 is higher than the national ($1,268), it remains an excellent place for renters and landlords.
So, if you're considering investing in a rental property in Columbia, you must first learn the best real estate asset management practices to help maximize your income. Our team at PMI Mason Dixon shares strategies to help you get started, so read on.
Always Conduct Property Analyses
A thorough property analysis is a crucial real estate asset management strategy that involves a comprehensive look into:
- Investment property costs, including buying prices and operating expenses
- Investment property risks, such as structural problems and poor construction
- Historical and current performance of comparable properties
- Potential long-term property value
With a property analysis, you can better distinguish properties that will likely be money pits from those that could generate high income. It can help give you insights into excellent additions to your property portfolio.
Perform Fair but Comprehensive Tenant Screening
According to the Public Justice Center, Maryland saw 18,399 evictions during 2023's first ten months. Non-payment of rent is one of, if not the leading, causes of evictions in the state. Lease violations are also common and, in some cases, criminal activities.
Protect yourself from the expensive, time-consuming process of evictions in Columbia, MD, with comprehensive tenant background checks. You can better gauge prospective renters' qualifications and eligibility with these checks, as they let you look into their:
- Credit scores and histories
- Income sources
- Employment status
- Rental and eviction histories
- Criminal convictions
Just as important is to remember that renter background checks must abide by federal, state, and local fair housing laws. To minimize your risks of violations, consider outsourcing the tenant screening process to professional property managers.
Hire a Property Management Company
A property management company in Columbia, MD, can help you achieve financial growth in real estate by:
- Assisting you in making wise investment property choices
- Providing placement services for highly qualified tenants
- Delivering full-service property management and oversight of your real estate investment property
With the help of a full-service property manager, you can enjoy all the benefits of being a landlord (i.e., earn excellent rental income) without doing all the hard work. You'll have more free time to do what you do best, such as investing in more assets to expand your investment portfolio.
Leave Real Estate Asset Management to the Pros
Effective real estate asset management is a very involved task that requires you to commit a lot of your time and resources. So, if you want to generate passive investment property income with little hands-on involvement, your best bet is to hire a property manager.
Let PMI Mason Dixon be your partner.
We're a fully licensed, full-service property management company serving Columbia and Howard County, MD. Our innovative technologies and systems can help boost your portfolio and rental income. We're also proud to be part of PMI, a larger national company managing over $5 billion of real estate assets.
Call us today, and we'll happily give you a free, non-obligatory property analysis!
