When I was in college, I was renting a small studio type apartment along with other university students. The whole building consisted of 4 floors, each having 10 rooms. It was really hard work for the building manager, having to run after all of us for our rent. But that was more than a decade ago, and things have changed. There’s property management now.

It’s not as daunting as it sounds, it’s just having someone manage your property so you didn’t have to concern yourself with the day to day activities of collecting rent, looking for tenants and fixing broken faucets. All you have to do is sit down, relax and watch the money roll in. Of course, as with service oriented business, commissions are involved – usually 10% to 20% of the monthly rent. The services of property management firms usually include rent collection, maintenance, upkeep and repair of properties, advertising for tenants and interviewing potential occupants. These agencies will also handle litigations (if any arise), insurance concerns and other legal matters.

A lot of firms are handled by Brokers or Realtors who are licensed to handle real estate issues. But some areas do not require these Property Management agencies to have a license, just a valid Business permit.