How You Should Handle Maintenance Issues in Your Los Angeles Rental Property

There are three scenarios you encounter with maintenance when you’re performing property management in Los Angeles. Today, we’re talking about the best ways to handle them.

Emergency Maintenance

Sometimes, there will be emergency maintenance calls. It might be 2:00 in the morning, with pouring rain coming in through the roof. When your tenant calls, you need to get a roofer or someone over to tarp your property immediately. So, you need to have a reliable list of vendors and contractors who can respond to these emergency needs.

Ongoing Maintenance

These are typical tasks that require the help of a plumber, electrician, handyman, or other professional. They will make all necessary repairs in a timely manner and service your systems to make sure everything continues to run without problems. Stay on top of preventative maintenance items so you can minimize the risk of small problems becoming larger and more expensive.

Capital Improvements

When you need to put on a new roof or install new piping, you have to have the right vendors taking care of that work, and you want to make sure they understand the local city laws and the requirements so they can get the proper permits.

Choosing Vendors

Any time you’re working with vendors, you want to make sure they are licensed, experienced, and reputable. They need to know how to interact with you and with your tenants. Repairs need to be taken care of immediately, because tenants can create a lot of problems if their maintenance requests aren’t responded to or addressed properly. Everything from code enforcement to city inspections to

mold issues need to be handled expertly and quickly. This is usually when property managers are brought in; so the owner can begin to recover and the tenants can get back to a habitable house and start paying rent again.

If you have any questions about Los Angeles property management or your rental property maintenance needs, please contact us at EGL Properties.

How Much Does Professional Property Management Cost in Los Angeles?

We are often asked about the cost of property management in Los Angeles. Of course, there is no fixed cost or industry standard, and what you’ll pay depends on your property and the company that you choose to hire. Most Los Angeles property management companies charge either a fixed amount or a percentage, or there’s a combination of both, based on the rental income.

Management Fees

The most common cost is the property management fee, which is what you pay to your management company every month. This covers the cost of managing your tenant, taking care of your property, and responding to any requests, emergencies, or other situations on your behalf. Most management companies will deduct this fee from your rental income, and you’ll see it reflected on your financial statement every month.

Leasing Commissions

If you use your property management company to lease your rental property in Los Angeles, you’ll also have to pay a commission. This covers the cost of advertising, screening, and placing a qualified tenant in your property.

Additional Fees

There will also be other charges that are not included in the management fee or leasing commission. These might include maintenance fees, charges for office expenses, or project management fees when larger projects need to be managed.

Value and Service

Often, these management fees more than pay for themselves. A Los Angeles property manager can increase income at your property, and reduce expenses. You also want to take a look at what services are being offered. With a full-service company, you’re getting a lot of hours from a professional who

is interacting with your tenants and handling a variety of issues. This is a detail-oriented business with professionals who are taking care of what could be your largest investment.

If you have any questions about property management in Los Angeles or property management fees, please contact us at EGL Properties.

Questions You Should Ask Your Los Angeles Property Management Company

When you’re hiring a Los Angeles property manager, you’ll want to ask a few key questions about their experience, their credentials, and their process for managing what might be one of your largest assets.

Licensure

Ask if they are licensed. The state of California requires all real estate property management companies to have a broker’s license. This is an issue we encounter quite a bit. We’ll take over a property for a client who was working with someone who didn’t have a license. No license means no credentials and no protection for you from the state. There needs to be a broker’s license, not just a real estate license. Real estate agents have exceptional sales skills, but effectively managing a property requires more than that.

Trust Accounts

Make sure the manager is operating a trust account. These trust accounts are audited regularly by the Bureau of Real Estate. They are really the key to management because they protect your investment and your funds, so make sure you’re working with a Los Angeles property management company that has those accounts set up properly.

Maintenance

Questions always come up about maintenance and how it’s handled. A good property management company will have parameters about how much they can spend before they have your written approval. You want to know their structure so maintenance isn’t a runaway train and you have control over it. No one wants surprises on your financial statement at end of month.

Communication

Clear communication and access to your manager through cell phones, email, and text is critical. Your relationship with your property manager depends on communication. You need to understand what’s happening at your property, so find out how a manager you’re going to work with will communicate.

Insurance

Every property owner needs to have the right insurance in place, and you should expect no less from your property management company. Every manager should have liability insurance, errors and omissions insurance, and worker’s compensation insurance. Make sure they can show you copies of those so you and your rental property in Los Angeles are protected.

Vendor Relationships

A property management company will work with a variety of vendors from insurance agents to maintenance contractors, so understand the relationships they have with those professionals. Ask if there is a financial stake in those companies, because you want transparency in those relationships. It’s okay for a management company to have an affiliated maintenance company, but you don’t want to feel taken advantage of, so ask the questions.

Technology

Your property manager should be up to date with technology. They should have an online presence, and make sure your tenants can pay rent online. Online portals are also valuable so you can view your

financials 24/7. You may also want to ask who will be assigned to your property. Find out how much experience they have with your type of property and in your local market.

All these are important questions and good to ask when you’re hiring a property management company. If you have any questions about property management in Los Angeles, please contact us at EGL Properties.

Why Work with EGL Properties for Los Angeles Property Management?

EGL Properties provides property management in Los Angeles, and as a second-generation member of this team, I feel like I’ve been doing it before I was born. We manage a variety of properties, everything from single family homes to condos and apartment buildings, HOAs, retail spaces and commercial properties. We handle areas all throughout Los Angeles, from Orange County through the San Fernando Valley, east Los Angeles, the L.A. basin, Santa Monica, and Hollywood.

Los Angeles Property Management Services

As your Los Angeles property manager, we do everything that a landlord would normally do. This includes taking care of rent collection, leasing apartments, advertising, handling maintenance, and managing tenant relationships. We handle all the day-to-day challenges that can come with owning a rental property in Los Angeles. There are often more complicated things to pay attention to as well, such as evicting a difficult tenant, taking care of code enforcement, and other matters.

Providing Peace of Mind to Landlords and Investors

Our goal at EGL Properties is to give you peace of mind so you can pursue a new job opportunity out of the city or retire or focus on your other businesses. This property should be an investment for you, and like any investment, you will get a disbursement and we produce a financial report for you at the end of the month. You don’t have to worry about tracking your income and expenses or responding to tenant questions and problems.

Value and Service in Los Angeles Property Management

The question, then, is not why should you choose us – but why wouldn’t you? Hiring us pays for itself because of our depth of expertise and resources. We have access to so many excellent, qualified vendors, and we work with amazing employees who have many years of experience working in property management.

We hope you’ll give us the opportunity to show you how we can care for your property. If you have any questions, please contact us at EGL Properties.