In order for your rental property endeavors to be successful, you need to implement operational systems for yourself. When you have these systems in place, you’ll have time to focus on improving your properties or expanding your portfolio. Without these systems, your investments can fail to produce the profits you seek. The following are a brief set of ideas to guide you in setting up proven property management systems.
Due Diligence
In order for your property management activities to be efficient, you need to accomplish certain tasks at certain times. An example might include completing a thorough credit and background check on a potential tenant at the time of application. Time spent here can pay off many times over when it helps to avoid situations involving notices and evictions further down the line. Thoughtfully analyze the biggest consumptions of your time and ensure you have processes in place to protect it!
Take Advantage of Technology
It’s time that you use the technology available to you!
Use property management software to organize the details of the properties you manage, the tenants who rent them, and the contractors who service them. If you use cloud-based software, you'll be able to access these details on the go as well, providing you instant answers to questions tenants or prospects might have or a list of contractors when you're on site with a problem at hand.
One step further, property management software can help you forecast your future budgets. Be sure to take advantage of the reports that highlight your financial trends and regularly occurring problems. This information can help you budget for future expenses as well as highlight issues that may need urgent solutions.
When you can, use the web to automate your management systems. Pay your monthly invoices automatically, and set up systems to remind tenants to pay their rent electronically. You will certainly still need to manage these systems. However, building the systems and allowing technology to work for you will greatly reduce the demands on your daily time.
Finally, use the web to encompass your rent payments and tenant communications. This will help you connect with your current tenants and future prospects. This not only saves time for both you and your customers, but it drastically improves your cash flow! All in all, allowing you to be more efficient and profitable.
As in all occupations, the name of the property management game is to optimize your personal productivity. Be sure to take advantage of technology to do just that!
Learn From Your Missteps
As you improve your operational systems, you’ll be tempted to focus solely on your successes. Be sure, though, to make an attempt to understand any failures. We all make mistakes. Most often, those mistakes are how we improve ourselves. In order to reach that improvement, you have to reflect on the past. Implement measurements in your operational systems to gauge your level of success. As an example, if you place an advertisement for a vacant unit, perhaps you would measure the volume of calls. Better still, measure the volume of acceptable applicants. Keep the idea of measuring success in mind when rolling out your new operational systems.
At Plennes Property Management, LLC, our goal is to help you become a more profitable property manager. We are excited to help you learn from our own experiences, but also delighted to take the reins if that is what you decide. Give us a call at 414-899-2223, email us at tim.plennes@gmail.com, or visit us at www.PlennesPropertyManagement.com to discuss our a la carte style of property management options!