No matter where you go, it can be difficult trying to understand real estate management. Los Angeles is no exception. How should you check out tenants before you rent to them? If you rent a house and decide to sell it, do you have to notify the tenants in writing or can you just tell them? What should you do about court costs if you have to evict a tenant? Can you really do all the maintenance alone?

And the most important question of all – where do you find time to learn what you need to know, be at your properties as often as you need to be, and still have a life?

Truth is, you could spend hours and days trying to figure out all there is to know about real estate management. Los Angeles is a large area, and your properties could easily be scattered all over. If this is the case, then you could find that your time is spent more at your properties and figuring out what you should do than with your own family. This isn't a good way for anyone to be trying to enjoy their life.

You don't have to do it all alone in real estate management. Los Angeles has many property management companies that you can choose from who would be happy to take the task of managing all of your properties off of your hands. This means that you would turn over your administrative tasks such as background checking tenants and hiring maintenance crews to the manager you hire. All you would need to do is check in, give your final approval on new tenants, and enjoy being a rental property owner. You won't even have to find new tenants on your own – the management company will do that for you.

You should consider the things that you want out of your management company. For example, consider how the company you are considering handles maintenance issues. Many property management companies use their own in-house maintenance services. This can actually be a bad thing for the proper owner because it often means that the property owner will actually pay more than he or she needs to. If you have your own maintenance crew that you have been using then you might want to consider using a property management company that will let you keep using them. At the very least, consider using a management company that uses third party services for maintenance, as this will reduce your cost.

Another thing you should consider when you are deciding on a property management company is how they handle your tenants. Some companies will take care of everything. They will do all of the background, employment, and credit checks on each new tenant. They will follow up with former landlords and even give the potential new tenant a tour of the property and handle giving out keys. The only thing you need to do is to give your final approval of the tenant. Some companies will even advertise for you when there is a vacancy. This saves you from having to remember to do the advertising and can even give you peace of mind since you won't have to worry about having empty properties.

If you like to do inspections, many management companies will handle this for you as well, saving you even more time to do the things you really want to do. Management companies will always do inspections when asked, but they will also do them automatically every year. Some of them will even inspect your properties every week if they are vacant and inspect them before a tenant leaves in order to be sure that there is not a large amount of damage done.

Best of all, some companies will offer you a lot of peace of mind by handling any court costs that might come up when an eviction occurs. You may have to take a tenant to court in order to evict them, and if this is the case, you could pay a lot of money in court costs, lawyer fees, and attorney fees. Look at what the management company you are considering is offering – some will pay those fees for you and even take care of handling evictions.

You don't have to understand anything about property management if you go with a management company, so it's the easiest and most convenient way to handle your rental properties.