Owning a rental property can be both a brilliant investment and a great source of income. But effectively managing those properties is a major undertaking that quickly gets overwhelming if you’re not prepared. From marketing vacancies and screening tenants to handling maintenance requests and tenant relations, there’s a lot to juggle as a landlord. Implementing some smart, cost-effective strategies can keep your rental business running smoothly and profitably.
Automate What You Can
Technology has made many aspects of property management more efficient and affordable than ever before. Take advantage of tools that can automate time-consuming tasks so you can focus your efforts on the bigger picture items.
For example, utilizing an online rent payment platform and automated late fee notifications streamlines your accounting processes. Listing vacancies and accepting applications through a landlord listing service expedites the marketing and tenant screening process. Even simple things like installing smart home technology can minimize in-person maintenance visits.
Determine which tedious tasks take up the biggest portions of your time and explore options to automate or digitize those processes. The initial setup requires some effort, but the long-term time savings pay dividends.
Maintain Proactive Communication
One major key to keeping tenants satisfied and renewing their leases is frequent, proactive communication. Make it easy for tenants to contact you through channels like email, text messaging and tenant portals, not just calling.
For phone calls specifically, consider leveraging a professional property management answering service like Apello to ensure every inquiry gets handled promptly by a friendly, live person – even when you’re unavailable. You can customize scripts for how to triage each call type, preventing frustrations from unanswered calls.
Whether it’s sharing community updates, reminding tenants about rent due dates, or checking in after repairs, frequent outreach goes a long way. You’ll spend less time dealing with complaints and more time maintaining great landlord-tenant relationships.
Prioritize Preventative Maintenance
It’s extremely expensive and disruptive to constantly have to run around putting out fires and handling emergency maintenance calls. In addition, neglecting routine upkeep drastically reduces your properties’ lifespan and desirability to tenants.
Instead, take a proactive approach by adhering to strict preventative maintenance schedules. Whether it’s changing HVAC air filters quarterly, replacing smoke detector batteries annually, or regularly inspecting things like roofs and plumbing, catching small issues early prevents major system failures down the road.
Not only does preventative maintenance protect your investment, but it also minimizes vacancies and resident turnover caused by sub-par living conditions. Budgeting for these planned maintenance costs should be a top priority.
Incentivize Long-Term Tenants
Does it cost more to re-tenant your rental units or do a little maintenance on a current resident? The obvious choice is retaining great tenants long-term whenever possible to minimize turnover costs. A few small incentives can go a long way:
- Offer annual renewal incentives like a rent credit or upgraded amenity.
- Implement a tenant referral program and reward good tenants who bring in more.
- Cover certain maintenance costs (like replacing air filters) for tenants who renew.
- Celebrate long-term tenancies with small gifts or thank you notes.
The costs of these basic perks pale in comparison to the savings of keeping quality, long-term tenants in place versus having to constantly re-list, repair, and re-tenant units after each move out.
Conclusion
At its core, cost-effective property management is about finding the right balance between minimizing your expenses and maintaining a high-quality product/service that retains tenants and maintains your reputation.
Leverage the latest technologies and services to streamline processes and communication. Prioritize preventative over reactive maintenance. And incentivize tenants to treat your properties as their long-term homes. With some strategic planning and resident-focused practices, you can maximize the profitability of your rental properties.
