If you own a rental business, you know how complex management can be.
Addressing resident problems and screening new tenants while attending to the financial aspects of your investments is no easy task.
Fortunately, you don’t have to do it alone. Even if you manage your rental units independently, you can still access resources to help you maximize income and minimize stress.
Here are five tricks for managing your rental properties more efficiently.
#1 Hire Expertise
No one person is an expert on everything, especially when it comes to real estate. Your properties have a variety of needs in several different areas: financial, legal, maintenance, design, marketing, etc.
A smart landlord knows they can’t tackle all these responsibilities at once. Instead, focus on what you know, and hire an expert when a task falls outside your level of knowledge.
When hiring employees or contractors for your rentals, consider the quality of investment you are making. For instance, a cheap company might be more financially attractive, but the quality of service it provides might not meet you or your tenants’ standards. You might even have to hire another person to fix another contractor’s mistakes.
High-quality contractors might cost more, but you can be sure your tenants won’t complain and that you won’t have to spend more resources correcting mistakes.
It’s true that you get what you pay for, especially when it comes to the quality of your rentals.
#2 Use a Tenant Scoring System
Whether you’re a rookie landlord or a seasoned pro, having clear standards and guidelines for tenant screening is a well-founded rental policy.
That’s why tenant scoring systems are so effective. A tenant scoring system is a weighted point system for evaluating rental applicants fairly and objectively. You can find examples of tenant scoring systems online, or you can create your own by assigning values to your rental criteria.
Tenant scoring systems keep screening as fair as possible and help you avoid a discrimination lawsuit. They also make it easier to compare two similar applicants and decide objectively.
#3 Go Paperless
Paper documents are scarce in today’s workplaces, and for good reason. Digitalization has many benefits for business owners of all types:
- Never lose copies of important documents
- Organize files without a heavy filing cabinet
- Carry your documents with you on your laptop or mobile device
- Easily duplicate documents for people who need them
Landlords who have adopted online leasing reap these same benefits. Not only are digital leases easy to navigate and find, but they tend to be safer and more secure as well. This is because the validity of eSignatures can be tracked with IP addresses and user tracking, unlike traditional pen-and-paper signatures.
Going paperless is one of the simplest ways to optimize your rental business.
#4 Use Plain Language Leases
Here’s another trick many landlords gloss over: using plain language in lease agreements.
Plain language leases are written in direct, accessible language. They avoid the baffling legal speak, or “legalese,” that many lease templates employ. Legalese and other abstract, verbose language is difficult for tenants to parse and understand. This may lead to misunderstandings or cause your tenants not to read the lease at all.
Instead, use terms you know your tenants will read and understand. Don’t hide important details like rent rates, fees, and policies in a block of dense text or nebulous language, but state them as directly as possible.
The best way to avoid lease breaches and ensure your tenants are clear about all your policies is to use plain language in your rental agreements.
#5 Use Property Management Software
Lastly, there’s no better way to optimize your rental management than by using property management software.
Software offers a simple way to access all your daily landlord tools: rental advertising, online rent collection, comprehensive tenant screening and more.
You can also manage your accounting, syndicate your listings, and review applications on your software account.
Property management software is a one-stop shop for any of the daily rental demands you might face.
Conclusion
No matter what kind of properties you manage, understanding these five simple tricks will propel your rental business into optimal efficiency.
