4 Property Manager Tips to End Hectic Days

It's Monday morning at your property management office. You open your email, and you're already overwhelmed. Then the phone rings. It's a tenant, wondering why you haven't scheduled that plumbing repair they've needed for a week. The next call is your plumber, explaining that they haven't received payment for the last job and they need a check right now if they're going to work on a new one. Your email is full of new tenant applications, questions about whether you can take on another property, and much more.

Do you have a headache yet? Here's how you can make your week headache-free.

1. Get on Top of Maintenance

On a hectic day, your email inbox is full of notes about leaky faucets and lawns that need to be cut. You try to arrange repairs with contractors, but they're all too busy or they don't follow up with you for weeks. It's no wonder that "the average time a property manager will stay in a job is nine months," according to RPM online. As a property manager, if you're not organized, you receive the blame from landlords, tenants, and contractors.

What can you do? Develop an ongoing maintenance and inspection schedule that helps you stay on top of maintenance concerns and deal with repairs before they become a problem. Create an ongoing connection with maintenance companies and track what needs to be done and when so that you can apply your resources where and when they're needed.

2. Track Your Invoices and Payments

What about that plumber's call? If you forget to pay an invoice, your vendors aren't going to be pleased to work with you in the future. According to the New Jersey Cooperator, as a property manager, you must wear "many professional hats: human resources pro, administrator, mediator, organizer, social director, project manager, sounding board - sometimes even therapist." Make the financial hat easier: manage your invoices more easily with property management software that allows you to file your invoices digitally. Choose property management software that synchronizes with your budgeting software so that you can merge your accounting processes with your outgoing invoices.

Every property manager needs to know that tenants are paying on time. Getting tenants to pay on time is one of the foundations of a successful property management business since it ensures that you have enough cash flow to fund your ongoing maintenance and pay the salary of those who work at your business. It's also one of those property management tasks that are easy to automate: with an online payment system, your tenants can pay at any time of the day or night, and checks don't get lost in the mail. It's also easy for a property manager to track payments when they're completed online.

3. Respond to Communication Through a Tenant and Owner Portal

Tenant and owner portals are must-haves for a rental property management company that wants to communicate efficiently. Your tenants and owners expect you to track their communications and respond to their needs. With a portal, they can track payments, note scheduled visits or maintenance, and see any changes you've made. They can also ask questions directly through the portal, which allows you to track threads of conversation more easily.

4. Accept Applications Online

When countless prospects are interested in your properties online, it can be both exciting and overwhelming. Instead of replying to all of these individual emails, create an online application process that also involves simple tenant screening. You'll receive those applicants who are pre-approved by your system, making it easier for you to manage the tenant onboarding process efficiently.

If your property management business could benefit from a boost in efficiency, turn to property management software. Propertyware is the way to satisfy owners, tenants, vendors, and employees. Bring your rental property management business to the next level of service: view a free tour of Propertyware today.