Are you wondering to yourself “How do I become a better property manager?”
Becoming a better property manager is possible when you know which skills to hone and realize the importance of continued learning. We aren’t saying it’s an easy career choice, as good property management can be quite demanding. With property owners, tenants, and other employees, there are a lot of different responsibilities you need to juggle and maintaining that balance is key.
From time-saving tips for property management to people skills to being tech-savvy, there’s a lot to cover. Here are some of the best property management tips:
Tip #1: Communication Is Key
Our first property management tip is all about communication. The two main groups you’ll be communicating with are the landlords and tenants. You need to be available and respond (in a timely manner) to any inquiries either side might have. The best way to streamline communication is to set up templates or a portal on your company’s website in which anyone who needs you can easily reach you. Having an organized portal also makes it easier for you to receive and respond to any requests/complaints.
Tip #2: Stay Positive
Being a property manager means dealing with people- a lot of people. And not all your encounters will be great. But our property management tip is to maintain a positive attitude even when things get rough or overwhelming. Residential property management is bound to require dealing with landlord-tenant disputes. It’s important, as a third party, to be the voice of reason, as these disputes could get out of hand. You also need to realize that, when working with real estate investments, market trends could one day be with you, and the next against you. Property managers need to remember that this is a normal part of the industry and keep a positive yet realistic outlook.
Tip #3: Keep Yourself Updated
If you’re here reading about property management tips, you’re already on the right track. Becoming a better property manager means staying updated on everything- whether that’s marketing tips and tricks, emerging real estate market trends, or any changes to local rules and regulations. This will show your clients that they can trust you with their investment properties.
One of the best ways to stay up to date is to read the top blogs for property managers.
Tip #4: Don’t Just Focus on the “Now”
Thinking about your long-term strategies and goals is one way of how to become a better property manager. Yes, dealing with everything in the present day is already a lot. But it’s important for property managers to also think about what’s to come for their business in the future. What are you working towards? Think about your current strategies and performance and evaluate what you can do to generate better results.
Some property management tips are to ask yourself these questions. Can you cut down on expenses? Do you have satisfied tenants? Is there any way for you to operate more efficiently? Answering these will help you choose the right strategy to move forward with.
Tip #5: Don’t Ignore Necessary Property Inspections
Out of all our rental property management tips, this one is pretty obvious. As a property manager, you aren’t just responsible for dealing with tenants and landlords, you’re also in charge of maintaining the value of the properties you’re managing. Thorough and routine property inspections will help you identify problem areas in the investment properties. Being on top of any repairs or maintenance will show tenants that you’re serious about your job, therefore increasing tenant retention, and keeping clients happy.
Tip #6: Learn From Yourself and Others
The amount of knowledge you can gain just by networking and learning from the experience of others in the real estate industry is unimaginable. You’ll always get the best property management tips from other property managers. The more you ask questions and try to learn, the better you’ll work as a property manager. We’re not saying pick up the studies and become an expert in everything related to real estate. But having some basic knowledge about things like accounting and digital marketing will help you boost your property management career. If you’re thinking about trying a new strategy but are hesitant, reach out to local managers or even try asking about it online. See how this worked out for another property manager.
Tip #7: Keep Your Thoughts and Your Tasks Organized
This property management tip is to make organizational skills a core competency. A good way to increase efficiency through organization is to create templates or playbooks. What do we mean? There are a lot of tasks that tend to be repetitive in your day-to-day operations. So property managers should set up standardized processes for routine things to save time and make sure other employees are on the same page as to how to handle a common situation.
Start off by having a database storing all the important information. Then set up playbooks for things like inspection checklists and rent collection. Depending on your property management company and the way you operate, you can have playbooks for different things. They will maintain consistency in your business operations and keep everything well-organized and documented.
Tip #8: Outsource the Redundant Tasks
You can’t be doing everything in your business. Sometimes you just don’t have the time to deal with tedious tasks. While some states prohibit the outsourcing of certain property management tasks, most give you free-reign. When it comes to tasks that don’t require detailed training and difficult decision making, outsourcing them could save you time and money. For example, you can hire a virtual assistant team to update your website listings, answer any rental requests, or chat with your website visitors about your services.
Tip #9: Try New Marketing Strategies
If you haven’t been generating as many leads as you’d hoped, you might need to change your approach. Using creative and digital marketing is one of the best property management tips we could give you. For your business to grow, you need to be working on getting new clients. There are so many ways to draw property owners to your services. All they want to see is that you have the ability to find them quality tenants and can take on the responsibility of managing their rentals. Look into digital marketing, as this is where it’s all at.
Tip #10: Technology Is There, Use It!
Results from a study done by Buildium show that 81 percent of property owners thought that property managers should use technology. So as the industry changes, you need to as well. A vast set of digital property management tools can be found which assist managers in:
- Evaluating a Property’s Market Value
- Finding Qualified Leads
- Matching Property Buyers to the Right Investment Property
- Screening Tenants
Using real estate tech for these tasks can save you time and paperwork. If you’re looking for one of the best tools for property managers to use, check out the Mashboard. It not only provides the right investing tools you’ll need, but it gives you access to valuable traditional and Airbnb data.