Property management requires handling various jobs in one. These range from contract negotiations, tenant issues, and janitorial services, to name a few. To be the best and most-preferred property manager, you need to make sure that you keep everything running smoothly. But that’s easier said than done.
So, if you are one of those wondering how to become a better, if not the best, property manager. Don’t worry. Here we have a discussion of some of the best residential property management tips to help you out.
Communicate
You may have heard the adage, ‘Communication is the key.’ And a property manager’s job hugely depends upon clear communication. You will be communicating with only two parties, the landlords and tenants. However, you need to ensure that you have set policies and protocols to eliminate miscommunications and other problems.
An excellent way to enhance communication is to have everything agreed upon by both parties in writing during lease signing. This eliminates any miscommunication in verbal form and helps with property management.
Choose Wisely
Offer excellent properties for rent. Nasty, unworthy properties will attract nasty, unworthy tenants. This, in turn, will make property management difficult and give you headaches. On the other hand, offering great, valuable, and attractive properties will attract similar customers. Undoubtedly, these properties will be easy to manage.
You will find good, reliable, understanding owners and tenants. Communication, agreement, and other activities related to property management will be a cakewalk. You will face minimal to zero issues with property management if you choose your properties wisely.
Use A Property Management Software
A property management software
is your biggest ally. It provides numerous benefits that help in various aspects of property management. Some benefits of using software for property management include:
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Maintenance Management and Tracking
Maintenance management and tracking tools ensure that you can stick to your schedules and be aware of upcoming tasks beforehand.
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Tenant Applications and Screening
Tenant screening features include reference verifications, background checks, and renter history helps find high-quality renters.
The online payment feature helps streamline the payment process. It also provides convenience for the renter.
Contact management helps organize your contacts. As such, you don’t have to waste time searching for emails and phone numbers to do a simple follow-up.
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Advertising and Marketing
Social media integration helps advertise and market properties to a broader audience.
Financial management helps maximize your profits and reduce the amount of money spent.
Keep Yourself Updated
To become a good property manager and make property management easy, you need to keep yourself updated with various things. This includes real-estate market trends, marketing tips, local laws, state and federal regulations, among others.
This will benefit you in two significant ways:
- You will be able to make quicker and better deals as you already have all the required knowledge.
- Clients, both tenants and owners, are likely to trust you more than others based on your knowledge about real estate. You will have more clients than your competitors, resulting in business growth.
Carry Out Regular Inspections
As a property manager, the property is your client, not owners and tenants. Thus, the better you maintain the properties, the more quickly it will go on rent/sale. Make sure that you carry out regular inspections to keep the property in top condition.
Regularly check the electrical connections, plumbing fittings, paint, and other critical areas. If there is any damage, get it repaired quickly. This will show the tenants that you are serious about your work. It will also increase tenant retention and keep them happy. But most importantly, it will ease the property management task.
Outsource Redundant Tasks
As a business owner, you must accept that you can’t do everything yourself. If you keep doing everything yourself, you won’t have time to grow. Handling everything yourself will also make property management more tedious and time-consuming. Thus, outsource the redundant tasks to make your job easy.
For example, you can hire a virtual assistant to take over administrative tasks. They can handle repetitive and mundane tasks like website listings, reply to customer emails, or answer inbound calls. Similarly, you can also hire a bookkeeper for financial paperwork. This will help free up the time you can spend on essential tasks.
Set Goals
Setting short-term and long-term goals can help with property management to a large extent. However, you need to evaluate your current situation before you set goals. This will give you clarity regarding your future.
Some of the goals that you can set are:
- Performance Goals – Set growth plans for the next month, upcoming quarter, year, and five years.
- Hiring Goals – The number of employees you plan to hire based on your growth.
- Financial Goals – Picture where you want to see your business financially in the future.
You will then need to create plans and strategies to help you achieve your goals.
Have Fixed Working Hours
This may seem to be the simplest tip in this list. But, in reality, it is not. A property manager usually works round-the-clock without any fixed working hours. This usually creates difficulties with property management due to a lack of time management.
Thus, having fixed working hours lets you carry out various tasks at proper times. This can help make property management manageable. For example, established business hours help you schedule your tenant visiting hours, property inspection hours, and hours allocated for administrative tasks.
Ask For Feedback
Asking for feedback from your clients can help streamline the property management process. It can help identify any shortcomings in your work. You can then improve on these processes by taking the necessary steps. This will ease property management.
For example, after resolving a maintenance issue, ask the tenant to give their feedback. Based on it, you can improve the process to help resolve the issue more quickly and easily in the future.
Conclusion
For the unprepared, property management can seem like a never-ending hill climb. However, armed with the right tools and strategies, you can easily navigate your daily property management tasks. Technology, too, can prove to help make the job easier.
We hope that the tips mentioned in this blog will help with property management and make it easy for you. Do you have any other tips of your own that have helped you? Do let us know.
