What separates the most successful landlords from those drowning in the day-to-day problems of managing properties? Is it sheer luck, a talent for staying organized, or mystery option number three?
It's the latter. This guide will give you the lowdown on managing your rental property. We'll also reveal how professional rental management can become the secret to your success as a property owner.
Getting Started With Rental Management
When you enter the real estate world for the first time, your initial task is to get to know the local real estate market. It will help you understand where your property sits within the broader market.
From that, you can assess the pros and cons of your property and what sort of management it needs.
For example, you may have a building needing upgrades and repair. And you may be dealing with a target market of tenants who prefer high-spec properties in pristine condition.
This research will also help you set the correct price for your property. You'll also need to familiarise yourself with the law, including tenancy laws and local building regulations.
At this stage, you'll also want to consider whether to enlist the help of professional rental services.
What Are Rental Management Services?
As a landlord, rental management services offer a way to make the everyday challenges of property ownership easier. It means you get the support of a property manager.
It can also provide a more streamlined way of managing your portfolio if you own multiple properties. What services you get will depend on your rental package, but rental management encompasses many things.
It can include the marketing side of property management, like advertising a property and arranging tours. It can also have more practical elements like signing leases, tenant screening, and rental collection.
Some rental services will also provide legal support, like eviction proceedings. For landlords new to rental management, it offers access to valuable expertise and a way of handling the day-to-day.
Rental Management: a Typical Day
Most rental managers find their day quite varied, but it's mainly about keeping things running smoothly for the landlord. They might field new routine maintenance requests from the tenant.
They will then speak to a team of contractors and begin scheduling the repair.
That ongoing conversation with tenants and contractors means the landlord doesn't have to get involved or take phones about the minutiae of property management.
The landlord may only get involved if there is an expense they need to approve or as part of ongoing reporting from the rental management company.
Often, a rental manager may also give strategic advice to the landlord. For example, they may review market rates for similar properties and advise on future rent rises.
They'll also have budgetary responsibility for the property, collecting rent and managing costs like building repairs.
Rental Management: the Benefits
Using an external provider for rental management has several advantages. Here are some of the main benefits.
Access to Expertise
When you hire a professional, you are paying for expertise that will come in handy with your property rental. That includes a team that can run background checks on potential tenants.
You'll also get support from real estate marketing specialists. They will know the best way to get your property advertised. It speeds things up and reduces some of the risks of rental management, like picking the wrong tenant.
You'll Get to Optimize Your Rental Rates
Rental managers know how to set the most competitive rates for properties. That can find that all-important balance between a rate that encourages demand and one that makes a profit for landlords.
They'll use their market expertise and ongoing research to get the best rate for your rental.
It's Useful for Compliance
As a landlord, you'll need to comply with many laws. Navigating these and keeping up with regulatory changes can be challenging. It takes time and research.
Using a rental management company lets you work with a team that knows this in depth. They have the time and resources to oversee compliance issues and keep your investment safe.
It's More Efficient
You want to avoid spending a busy day taking calls from tenants, calling subcontractors, and trying to fit repair dates into multiple calendars.
It's a lot of coordination. A rental management team can oversee this for you. As they will manage a more extensive set of properties, they have a more efficient way of working.
They'll also have established relationships with trusted contractors. A more efficiently managed property also keeps its value.
You can sort minor repairs quickly before they snowball into more significant (and expensive) problems.
You'll Get Financial Management
Financial management for rental properties extends beyond rent collection. It's also about allocating your budget effectively and spending on essential or emergency repairs.
A rental company can help manage and track your budget, sending you regular reports of your financial situation. It means you can avoid nasty surprises regarding the money side of rental investments.
Common Challenges of Rental Management
When you begin life as a landlord, it's vital to understand some of the common challenges you'll face.
The most pressing concern for landlords is high tenant turnover and extended gaps between tenancies. It costs you money because you aren't collecting rent during those gaps.
Always speak to a prospective rental management company about how they can help you to mitigate this. Most of the solution is about maintaining good relationships with the tenant.
That means having effective methods of communication and resolving issues swiftly. Tenant screening is also essential, as it will help avoid complications like missed or late rent payments from unreliable tenants.
A rental management company can also put easy rent collection processes in place for you, such as convenient online payment systems.
Maintenance is another challenge, consuming lots of time and money if you don't get it right. The best way to handle maintenance is to have a clear system for tenants to report problems and schedule and track fixes.
Having an online reporting system for tenants also helps to reduce phone calls and keeps tenants satisfied. They can track repairs without having to raise complaints about delays.
Lastly, always contact your rental management company with any legal questions. Say you worry about compliance issues like your property's fire safety features.
In that case, your rental company can provide practical and professional advice. It will help you avoid problems like fines or litigation.
Building Positive Relationships With Your Tenants
Your core priority as a landlord is creating a positive owner-tenant relationship. It means you'll have loyal, reliable tenants looking after your property.
Start with having a communications plan. If you use rental management services, find out about their approach. For example, you can set time goals for responding to a tenant complaint or query.
You should also seek feedback from the tenant. It will make them feel heard. Send an online survey so they have a chance of raising potential niggles and worries about the property. It's often an excellent way to get ahead of future issues.
If you have multiple properties in one location, you could also. Think about creating a community atmosphere. Run an event for your residents, for example, so they can get to know each other.
Finally, be fair but firm about any disputes. Keeping rules in writing will help ensure everyone is on the same page.
But always listen to what tenants have to say. You can resolve many emerging issues like late rent with a quick conversation. It means you won't have to go down more formal routes like legal action.
Rental Management and the Importance of Modern Technology
In the modern rental management world, software tools play a vital role. Take payments, for example. Tenants used to be in the position of paying by cash or check.
In more recent years, that moved to bank transfers. Nowadays, there is new technology to pay online. The latter benefits tenants who want to track their payments and have more autonomy.
Another good use of technology is for property maintenance. Some tools will oversee and manage maintenance and repairs.
It means landlords, tenants, and rental managers all have visibility of the same dashboard; in an instance, they can see what issues are ongoing, which are resolved, and the timescales.
It cuts down on much of the admin for managing these issues.
Accounting software is also popular for rental managers. They can use this to track incoming finances like rent payments and monitor outgoings, like property upgrades.
It also means the landlord can see the financial picture in one system instead of waiting for the rental manager to provide the relevant information.
Some software is even moving to mobile apps.
That means landlords, tenants, and rental managers can oversee property even when traveling. This real-time data prevents delays to critical problems, like resolving an urgent flooding issue.
Rental Management: Getting Professional Support
Rental management is more than collecting rent. So don't go it alone. There are professionals with the expertise and skills to make your property ownership more smooth sailing.
Take the next step by discovering the rental management services available at Bottom Line Property Management. You'll see our unique guarantees and why the most successful landlords in Charlottesville depend on our support.
