Property management is one of the most terribly underrated professions, and it’s why some landlords get a bad name for being freeloaders. Even people who just own their homes know how difficult decorating, maintenance, and paperwork management can get; now imagine getting to do this for multiple properties.
Sure, the field is incredibly lucrative, but in order to make it so, you have to manage your properties right. Otherwise, you’ll spend a fortune on maintenance, get a really bad reputation in the field, and have incredibly long vacancy periods.
With all of that in mind, here are a few ways you can improve property management efficiency without too much effort.
1. Set expectations and boundaries
As a property manager, you have many responsibilities, however, not as many as people assume. Some tenants can get really entitled and call you over minor issues in the middle of the night.
The key thing to make your job easier is to start by setting expectations and boundaries. Start by listing some of the most common problems that they should call you over and some problems that are not your job. Be up-front about it, and this will save everyone a lot of time. Will they stop bothering you over nonsense? Some of them will. It’s still better than nothing.
How you do it is more important than what you say, so make sure to be respectful. Saying, “Don’t ever call me in the middle of the night because…” is aggressive, and you are in the service industry. Reviews matter, and tenant relationships matter even more. Keep in mind that there’s a potential to outrage even some people who would otherwise treat your property right and make all the payments in time.
The worst part is that this is completely avoidable. There is a nicer (but still assertive) way to make these statements and send the message. This is, once again, a perfect example of why people skills matter in this industry.
2. Get some assistance
Another thing you need to understand is the importance of delegating tasks. Ironically, the first major challenge of task delegation lies in having someone to delegate the task to. You don’t have to get another property manager; you’ll do well just to get a virtual assistant for property management.
What you need is someone to help you run your schedule, assist you with market research and tenant screening, and potentially even help serving as a sort of customer service for minor tenant complaints.
Due to the increasing popularity of remote work and the rapid growth of this industry, there are a lot of virtual assistants who specialize in this industry.
Just keep in mind a few things.
First, you need to find someone who’s the right fit, not just for your company but for you personally. Remember that even if they have a ton of experience in this field, they’ve never worked for you, which is why you need to be patient and prepare adequate onboarding materials.
It’s also important that you focus on employee turnover and talent retention. As we’ve mentioned, skilled help is hard to come by, and the last thing you want is to drive them away too easily.
3. Pick the right software
Let’s be realistic and start by stating the fact that, in 2024, all property management is done via software. This is how you’re handling all the invoicing, tenant communications, contracts, maintenance schedules, and more.
Picking the right software is far from simple.
First, you want to compare features. The simplest way to do so is to go to a site specializing in software comparison. The thing is that comparing two lists of features is not as easy as comparing prices because you don’t have a chance to compare them side-to-side.
No platform will openly boast that it lacks a feature everyone else has, which means that the only way to tell the difference is to see that the other platform has it. Moreover, different platforms may have different names for the same feature, which makes things even more complex.
It’s not just about how much you pay; it’s about getting your money’s worth.
You also want to read reviews and ask other property managers what they think. If you’re a veteran property manager, you’ll have a pretty easy time figuring out which of these reviews were written by a marketer and not another manager.
4. Improve your tenant screening process
Most property management troubles can be avoided if you figure out a more efficient way to screen your tenants.
The first thing you want to do is establish clear criteria. While there’s nothing wrong with “having a bad feeling” about someone, the truth is that you want to leave your biases aside. You see, people are intuitive (especially people who are in a field like property management). This doesn’t just go for tenants but roofing contractors, plumbers, electricians, and every other type of specialist you might plan to bring in.
Still, you need to put more trust in objective factors like one’s credit score and rental history.
One of the most common issues with tenants is the ones involving rent being late, which means that by checking their credit score and verifying their employment, you can minimize the odds of this being a major issue.
During an interview, you can get a general sense of who they are, what kind of life they lead, and what their overall lifestyle habits are. Just keep in mind that you won’t be able to see all of them in an interview.
Most importantly, you want to run a background check and see if they have a police record. Sometimes there’s a platform that you can subscribe to in order to find this out. This is well worth the subscription.
Wrap up
No matter what you do, it’s easier with the right tools on your side. This is why it’s so important that you improve your property management business model. This involves learning how to stand up for yourself, hiring (and keeping) competent help, improving your digital arsenal, and boosting your tenant screening process. Every single one of these things has the potential to make a huge difference for your organization.
Photo by Antoni Shkraba: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-and-woman-sitting-at-the-table-5816286/
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