Should I Hire a Professional Property Manager in Arlington?

  • Author: Devin Henry
  • Last Updated: March 6, 2022
Table of Contents

Your Guide To Finding The Right Professional Property Manager in Arlington, VA

Smart investors know that hiring a professional property manager comes with a lot of benefits. For instance, property managers protect your investment and maintain its condition.

money

In a housing market like Arlington, professional management is especially critical because of the value of many local properties. With a high volume of investor activity in the Arlington housing market (especially with Amazon HQ2 coming to town in the near future!), the climate is rich with opportunity for property owners, and it is more important than ever to consider hiring a local property management company to find great tenants and fill rental vacancies quickly, ensure proper maintenance of the property’s condition to maintain and boost its value, and manage the day-to-day operations of the property so you’re free to spend your time scoping out more deals instead of responding to emergency work orders 24/7. 

Leasing to the Right Arlington Tenants

One of the best reasons to hire a property manager is to help you find the right tenants for your property. You want to make sure you get tenants to love and take care of your property as much as you do! A few things to look for in your tenants are people who:

  • Pay their rent on time 
  • Help you maintain your home
  • Follow the terms and requirements of your lease agreement
signing paper work

A good property manager will know how to market your property to ensure you attract the best possible renters. An Arlington professional property manager will have extensive experience and knowledge of the unique quirks of the Northern Virginia residential market, and will be able to pitch the unique strengths of the neighborhood to help fill a vacancy faster. Additionally, a local property management company will have a network in the area and will be able to leverage their local connections to find great tenants even faster. In addition, professional property managers understand screening best practices, recognize red flags, and follow all state, local, and federal fair housing laws. Strict adherence to tenant screening regulations is crucial to minimize liability for the property owner, and a reputable management agency will stay up to date on all new changes to Fair Housing Laws and will minimize your legal risk by ensuring consistent operating procedures.  

Rental Property Repairs and Maintenance 

Your rental property will eventually need repairs, even if it’s new or in excellent condition. General wear and tear happens, and times will arise when tenants need something fixed or replaced. 

It’s also possible that something unexpected and potentially dangerous will happen, like a fire or a water leak. Unless you’re prepared to be on-call 24 hours a day, you’re better off having a professional property manager handle the maintenance of your property. 

maintenance

A good management company will handle routine repairs like garbage disposal issues, broken appliances, slow drains, and other issues. A local management company in Arlington or DC will have strong relationships with the best local vendors, so you’ll never need to worry about finding the right contractor for the job. An agency’s vendor network will help you save money in two ways: 1) Ensuring repairs are done properly the first time, avoiding unnecessary repeat visits, and 2) Negotiating preferred rates and discounts on your behalf. 

A property manager can handle landscaping and pool or spa care too. They can also handle snow removal, gutter cleaning, and all other types of routine property maintenance that is crucial to maintaining the value and appearance of your home. During emergencies, we’ll have a trusted network of preferred vendors who can respond as we need them. 

Better yet, we’re able to negotiate better rates with vendors because of the volume of work we provide. We have a great relationship with local vendors who will prioritize our work requests and make sure the job gets done ASAP. 

Protecting Owners from Costly Mistakes

It’s easy to make a mistake as a landlord, even if you’re an experienced investor. Unfortunately, most of the mistakes involved in real estate and property management are expensive. 

If you accidentally violate a fair housing law by charging a pet deposit for a support animal, for example, you can face a fine of thousands of dollars. Incorrectly charging a security deposit for items that are normal wear and tear can also get you in trouble. 

law

Arlington County has specific housing code regulations that differ from the nearby jurisdictions in DC. Arlington even has different code requirements than Alexandria City just a few minutes away. Do you need a BBL to rent out your property? Does your 2 family rental need a Certificate of Occupancy in Arlington? A professional property manager with experience in Arlington will understand the nuances of these regulatory differences, and will help you avoid fines by ensuring your property meets specific Arlington County standards. 

Professional property managers mitigate your risk and protect you from liability. We can help you avoid costly errors and enjoy a pleasant, successful investment experience. 

Contact us at Nomadic Real Estate if you’d like to hear more about what we can do for you as your property managers. 

Share via Email
Share on Facebook
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Twitter
Get help from DC's top real estate team.
Founded in 2005, Nomadic is the go-to full service real estate firm in the DMV. We've helped thousands of landlords, investors, and residents and we would love to connect with you next.
Get in touch today!

Check out more of our blog posts below!

Or search for a different topic:
2018 Inc. 5000 List
Voted Best Property Manager in DC Badge
Top Company Cultures Award Best Company 2018
Equal Opportunity Housing

Navigate

Resources

Join Our Newsletter!

We promise we won’t spam you – you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact Us

Copyright © 2023 Nomadic Real Estate. Sitemap.

Facebook-f Instagram Twitter Youtube
Scroll to Top

Thinking of selling? Get an instant property value report:

Download Sales Comps

Enhanced Reporting

Your portal includes a selection of extremely useful reports. Reports are available in the “Reports” section, and are distinct from the financial statements. Unlike financial statements which are static records, Reports are dynamic real-time records that will update with current data every time you view them. 

Scroll down to learn more about Reports:

Navigate to the "Reports" module in your portal:

Owner Portal Reports
  • Keep in mind, these reports are dynamic records. They will refresh to display current information every time you view them. 

Enhanced Rent Roll Report:

Enhanced Rent Roll Report
  • The Enhanced Rent Roll Report will show the rent amount, last payment date, move-in date, lease expiration date, and security deposit amount for each of your tenants. 
  • It will also show a portfolio summary with occupancy percentage, vacancy loss, and more!

Unit Comparison Report:

Unit Comparison Report
  • If you own multiple units (or buildings) with Nomadic, you’ll get access to the Unit Comparison Report. 
  • This report enables you to quickly compare financial performance between your units at a glance without toggling between individual reports. 

Income Statement Month-Over-Month:

Income Statement by Month Report
  • The Income Statement Detail – Monthly Report serves as a month-over-month record of portfolio performance. You’ll see itemized income and expense categories and can track monthly. This report will update with fresh data every time you view it. 

Financial Statements

Financial statements will be published to your portal on a monthly basis. The statements are found in your Documents library, and provide a historical record of all financial performance. The statements serve as a snapshot of financial performance over a given period, and are static documents (unlike Reports, the statements do not update/change in real-time). 

Scroll down for more info about the Financial Statements in your Documents library:

The Documents area contains monthly financial statements:

Owner Portal Documents
  • The statements in the Documents are are static documents. They are posted to the portal once a month to serve as a historical record of financial performance. 

Download a statement to see month and YTD financials:

Owner Portal Property Statement

You'll also find a month-over-month operating statement:

Month over Month Statement

Portal Communication Tool

You can use your owner portal to communicate with our team. Any messages you send through the portal will go straight to your Account Manager. When we reply, you’ll get an email notification and you’ll also see the message in your portal next time you log in. 

Here’s an overview of using the communication platform:

Click "Communications" and navigate to "Conversations":

Commincation Dashboard Screenshot
  • The communications module will contain a record of all messages that you create through the portal. 

Click the "New Message" button and send your message:

Owner Portal New Message Screenshot

Responses will show up in the conversation ticket:

Portal Conversation Response Screenshot
  • You’ll get an email notification whenever you get a response, and you’ll also see the message in your portal next time you log in. 

You can reply in-line using the comment box:

Owner Portal Comment

Each conversation will be logged in its entirety:

Portal Conversation Snapshot

Understanding the Ledger

Your portal includes a ledger with all transactions. The ledger is populated with data in real-time as transactions flow through our accounting software. Much of this information is also available in the Reports area, as well as the Statements in your Documents library, but the ledger is the most comprehensive resource for diving into the details. 

Please scroll through the sections below to get a better understanding of how to interpret the ledger. 

By default, transactions are sorted chronologically:

Owner Ledger Dates
  • The date reflected in the lefthand column is the actual transaction date, not the “bill date”. This is the date the transaction was actually processed. 

If you have multiple properties with Nomadic, you'll see the address for each transaction in the "Location" column:

Ledger Property Column
  • You can filter the ledger to look at just one property, all properties, or specific sets of properties. 
  • If you only have one property with us, you’ll just see the ledger for that property. 

The Description column displays the transaction type:

Owner Ledger Description Column
  • BILL: this is an expense transaction, such as for repair costs or management fees.
  • CHARGE: this is a transaction  billed to the tenant, most typically a rent payment. 
  • NACHA EXPORT: this is a credit we processed to your distribution account. This type of transaction is how you get paid! 

The Amount column shows the dollar value of each transaction:

Owner Ledger Amount Column
  • Positive Amounts: if an amount is positive, it reflects a transaction that is payable to you. Typically, this will be a rent payment that we collected from your tenants. On occasion, a positive number could also signify a journal entry or credit adjustment. 
  • Negative Amounts:  if an amount is negative, this is a transaction that is either payable to Nomadic or is an amount that has already been paid to you. Typically this will be for repair costs or management/leasing fees. Owner draws (net distributions into your checking/savings account) also reflect as negative amounts, since they have already been paid to you. 

The Account Balance column shows a sum of positive/negative transactions at a given point in time:

Owner Ledger Account Balance Column
  • Account Balance should always equal zero after a net distribution has been processed. When the balance is zero, this means that all expenses have been paid and you’ve received the remainder as net operating income, leaving a balance of zero (meaning: no one is due any money, as all funds have been distributed appropriately). 

Navigating the Propertyware Owner Portal

Your portal includes some extremely useful features that help you understand your property’s financial performance at a new level, with real-time transparency into every transaction.

Scroll through the snapshots below for an overview of portal navigation! If you need more help or have specific questions about using the portal, you can reach out to your Account Manager any time for a screen share. 

You can filter all info by date range or property:

PW Portal Filters

View a snapshot of income and expenses on your dashboard:

PW Owner Dashboard View

See every transaction in real-time on your ledger:

Owner Portal Ledger View

Statements and forms will be posted to your documents library:

Owner Portal Document Library

View a suite of real-time financial reports:

Portal Reports View

See a running list of all bills, and drill down for more detail:

Owner Portal Bills View

Under Bill Details, you'll find dates/descriptions/amounts and more:

Portal Bill Details

You can also communicate with your Account Manager through the portal:

Owner Portal Communication Tools

How do net distributions work?

Net distributions keep your accounting clean and simple. Each month we’ll collect rent from the tenants, deduct any repair expenses for the previous month and any management/leasing fees for the current month, and credit the remaining net operating income to your account. 

Net Distribution

You’ll receive a statement via email each time a net distribution is processed, and can view all transaction details in your Propertyware owner portal.