What Every Property Management Professional Should Know!

For the inaugural post to this first property management blog on North Carolina law I drew from my decade of experience in property management and landlord/tenant law to find the most important piece of information I could impart.

By far the most important thing I can tell you is to learn everything possible about this business, and there is a lot to learn. The more knowledge you have, the less costly mistakes you will make, and the more likely you will have a good (profitable) experience.

How do you do this though?

First, it is necessary to surround yourself with knowledgeable people. You will ideally want your professional support (accountants, attorneys, realtors, and contractors) to have property management experience. If you pay attention you will learn a lot from these people. If they are doing something you don't understand ask them, it may save you some money the next time.

Next (or possibly first if you are not already a property owner) you should join a real estate organization that focuses, at least in part, on property management issues. There is a lot you can get out of these organizations, and for the price they are a great value.

Now that you have joined a property management organization, you will be surrounded by people dealing with the same problems you are, and hopefully a few that have already dealt with those problems. Also, many landlord organizations have frequent educational opportunities and offer monthly publications on both fundamental and cutting edge issues. Some of these organizations in central North Carolina are the Triangle Apartment Owner's Association (a division of the National Apartment Association), the Wake County Apartment Association, and the Triangle Real Estate Investors Association (a division of the National Real Estate Investors Association). Usually these groups have monthly meetings most of the year, and often they will have sub-groups depending on your property types or goals. In addition to the educational opportunities there will also frequently be investing opportunities and vendor discounts will be worth the price of your membership.

These groups may be contacted as follows: Triangle Apartment Association- http://www.triangleaptassn.org/; Triangle Real Estate Investors Association- http://treia.com/; and Wake County Apartment Association- http://www.thewcaa.com.

In future posts we will deal with the entire range of issues and developments affecting property management in North Carolina, from the most basic issues to the most advanced. I hope to hear from you regarding questions you may have or things that have happened to you that you think other readers will benefit from.