Protip: How to be a Successful Property Manager

Property inspections, property reports, new managements, new tenancies, rental payments, vacating tenants, early terminations, invoices, phone calls, emails… and the seemingly endless list of tasks goes on. You know a day in the life of a Property Manager could easily make one lose their sanity! But it shouldn’t!! I’m sure you aspire to be a Successful Property Manager who wants to accomplish it all.

With the day-to-day tasks being thrown at Property Managers, it pays to know how to effectively monitor your property management business. It also requires a continuous upgrade in your property management skills to be able to succeed, along with the implementation of purpose-designed systems and workflows.

Here in this article, we share with you some secrets to success coming from Successful Property Managers themselves:

Tip #1: Property Management means streamlining your communication process

One of the keys to effective communication when it comes to property management is creating your own templates. Do you need to call the tenant when rent is late? Of course not, systemize your communication so it is automated. Free the property manager up from doing this task. Late is late, there is no excuse for late payment of rent.  It’s an automated task that the administrative support team can manage.

In addition, it is of paramount importance to also forge genuine connections with the rental property owners and tenants. As a middleman between both parties, a Property Manager should be dependable, friendly, and approachable. Not bogged down in administrative tasks, instead, they should be proactively calling and engaging with current, past, and prospective clients.

Tip #2: A Good Property Deserves a Good Tenant

While it is but tempting to get properties rented to inquiring prospective tenants as quickly as possible, a good Property Manager knows that it is of utmost importance to avoid any rental property owner-tenant issues.

Developing a system in screening quality tenants should never be out of a Property Manager’s to-do list. There should be comprehensive screening to seek, source, and secure a quality tenant.

Whilst time is of the essence when it comes to processing and finalizing tenancy applications, haste and shortcuts create potential risk and liability and a whole lot of wasted time if the wrong tenant is placed in the property. The tenancy application system should be automated for processes like security deposits or bond payments, background checks, and related paperwork. After all, property management is actually about people management and property care.

Tip #3: Keep a Proactive Stance in Any Maintenance Updates

A high-performing Property Manager knows how to keep a proactive stance when it comes to property management maintenance. Regular inspections and preventive maintenance will give you the advantage to be able to avoid emergency repairs that could and may break the bank.

Unmanaged maintenance is also a potential for injury to residents and potential unnecessary damage and expensive repair costs to the property. A rental property owner who cares for their property will most likely attract a tenant who equally cares for the property.

Tip #4: Be Knowledgeable of the Property You Manage

Each property you manage has its own unique qualities that could match the taste of your potential renters. Just like a good salesperson, a property manager should know every minute and major detail about the property being managed.

Aside from the property itself, it pays to know the general area where the property is located as well. The establishments nearby could be the deciding factor of your prospective clients. It could be restaurants, shopping malls, freeway access, and the like. However, it’s best to avoid mentioning topics like racial population, school districts, churches, and crime rates in the area because talking about these topics is considered illegal steering.

Tip #5: Setting Long-Term Strategies and Goals 

You may think that this goes without saying, but you’d be surprised that a lot of Property Managers tend to forget to have their own long-term strategies and goals–or sometimes, they just couldn’t care less.

This is when it becomes dangerous. One could easily get demotivated should obstacles arise. But if you know how to set actionable, attainable, and achievable goals, you can refocus and won’t get short-sighted.

To set a long-term strategy here’s a checklist you can refer to:

• Are your rental property owners and tenants satisfied with the property management services you are offering?
• How efficient are you in delivering your property management services?
• Are you regularly acquiring new clients?
• How has your property management business been performing in terms of tenant retention?

Tip #6 Teamwork makes the dream work… seriously

We’ve all heard of this trite, however, that doesn’t make it any less true. A Property Manager could try to do all things at once. We know how good a multitasker you are, but let’s not forget that Superman is no more than a fictional character.

Let’s face it: Property Management means your weekdays bleed into the weekends because of all the day-to-day tasks that could bog one down. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way because qualified external sources are available, and they are called Virtual Assistants. They exist to help you free your time, reduce costs, and grow your property management business.

60 percent of all Property Manager’s tasks are administrative. More often than not, these are the non-dollar tasks that are time-consuming, stressful, and holding you back from growing your rent roll.

Fortunately, you can allocate these non-client-facing tasks to Virtual Assistants.

You’d be surprised to know how much time, money, and sanity you can save by having the best team–especially in hiring Virtual Assistants. 

Remember: you can do anything, but you can’t do everything.