How to Find Value in Ordinary Places

The idea of property management in real estate is usually surrounded by images of large apartment buildings, or a smaller management operation taking care of individual properties. What is often overlooked is how good property managers can help you make sense (and money) from investments that many others might overlook.

Ordinary places could be any kind of real estate that falls outside of the realm of what most investors look for. Mainstream types of properties include single family homes, small multi-units, and of course apartments. For these kinds of properties, property managers are fairly abundant and would include many realtors, hungry for a little extra business in a tough economy.

What about properties that fall outside the mainstream? Places like the following come to mind:nn· Storage facilitiesn· Vacation rentalsn· Mobile home parksn· Strip mallsn· Office buildingsn· RV parks

These types of real estate may not raise your eyebrows that much, but have you seriously considered them as investments? Part of the issue with these facilities is that they are not subject to the standard lease agreements and standard types of tenants that are more commonly seen in residential real estate. Sure, there are some similarities, but also enough differences to keep many investors away from them.

The trick to finding opportunity in some of the ordinary places out there is to think out of the box, from the standpoint of property management. Is a residential property manager going to instantly be able to transition to managing commercial tenants, vacationers, or storage spaces? Maybe yes, but maybe no. Never assume that property managers can accommodate every kind of real estate.

While your property management team may not have direct experience with all the different kinds of real estate you may explore, a good company can be trained to handle a property that is a little different. Part of your interview process needs to include the handling of non-traditional properties, so you can assess their overall willingness to work with you.

Another factor to consider is the value of an onsite manager. These people are not ideal for all types of real estate, but can be extremely valuable for larger apartments, mobile home or RV parks, and storage facilities. An onsite manager can be an effective and often less expensive way to manage a property than an exte
al management firm, so be sure to consider all of your options and those ordinary properties out there may be more valuable than you first think.