Property Management Resources

Problems, disasters or accidents are unpredictable. With insurance, both landlords and renters can avoid financial loss and get peace of mind.

By hiring a professional property manager, you can add great value to your rental property investments, which is why so many experienced real estate investors agree that working with a good management company is the best thing. Here are some of the most important benefits that landlords who work with property management companies have: 1. High-quality tenants Tenant screening can be a complex process, and if you don’t have sufficient experience in the real estate industry, you might end up choosing a bad tenant. The main problem with bad tenants is that it can be quite difficult to make them leave your property. Good property management companies have a reliable and verified screening process that helps them select tenants who will: Rent long-term Pay rent on time Minimise the wear and tear of the property Cause fewer problems A property management company that has been in the business for a long time, has seen thousands of tenant applications. This will help them dig into facts about the potential tenants quicker and identify red flags. If you allow a management company to handle the tenant screening, you are also avoiding rental scams that are directed at property owners. Additionally, you also ensure that you won’t have to deal with time-consuming discrimination lawsuits. Avoiding bad tenants, lawsuits, and scams is by far one of the main benefits that come with hiring a professional property manager. 2. Less legal problems Experienced landlords are aware of the fact that a single bad tenant can cause a great deal of financial and legal headaches. A high-quality property management company is armed with a lot of knowledge and they can protect you from potential lawsuits and vulnerabilities. Each Australian state will have their own laws that can affect a landlord. Additionally, you also have the federal law that will cover the following aspects: Screening tenants Property conditions and safety Tenant evictions Unit inspections Signing and terminating leases Collecting and handling rent and security deposits If you avoid one lawsuit by hiring a specialist, the money that you save will be more than sufficient to pay the property management company’s fees, and you will also avoid wasting your time and energy. 3. Shorter periods of vacancy A professional property manager will help you handle the following tasks that prevent your properties from staying vacant for too long: - Prepare the properties for rent - A property management company will know exactly what cosmetic improvements must be done to the units in order to maximise your revenue. - Determine the optimal rent rate - Setting the rent too high and it might take too long to find tenants, too low and you might be losing money every month. It is crucial to determine the right price and doing it requires knowledge of the local real estate market, data on similar units, and access to professional rental rate tools. Marketing your property effectively - Skilled property managers have written numerous ads throughout their career and know what to say and where to advertise to get many candidates quickly. Because they handle many properties, they can probably negotiate cheaper rates for the ads both online and offline. Furthermore, they are familiar with sales and know how to close when they field calls from prospects and take them on showings and work with home rental companies and agencies. 4. Long-term tenants If tenants don’t rent your units for long periods of time, you will have to deal with a series of issues like lost rent, having to clean the property, change the locks, repaint walls, replace carpets, make small repairs, go through the tenant screening process and marketing campaigns again. These things take time and can be quite expensive, but can be avoided by keeping your tenants happy. A good property manager will have a tenant retention policy that is time-tested. These programs are essential and require a systematic and consistent approach, which is where a high-quality property management company will shine. A happy tenant is more likely to rent long-term than one who is not happy with the property or with the landlord. 5. More efficient rent collection Handling the collection of rent and late fees is an extremely important aspect of property management. To ensure consistent and reliable cash flow, rent must be collected on time every month, and it’s important that tenants understand that. By hiring a professional property manager, the landlord puts a buffer between themselves and tenants, allowing them to be the bad cop who has to listen to tenants’ excuses, collect rent, and handle evictions if necessary. Being too permissive, tenants may, walk over you. It should be made clear how important each clause in the lease is and if breach it there can be consequences. The eviction process is another important aspect that a property manager will handle. There are strict laws that regulate this process and doing it the wrong way can be a big mistake. A skilled professional knows the law and aims at making the best out of bad situations. Not having to handle a potential eviction yourself is a very compelling reason to hire a specialist. 6. Lower repair and maintenance costs Tenants are always happy if you offer them good maintenance, not to mention that by doing that you also preserve the value of your assets. By hiring a property manager you gain access to professional maintenance and a network of licensed, insured, and bonded contractors. These contractors are trustworthy and have been vetted for quality work and good pricing. This can save you a lot of money compared to hiring someone from the yellow pages. Additionally, a property management company will also be able to get discounts on account of their great volume of managed properties. 7. Increase and maintain the value of your rental property By identifying and repairing any maintenance issues early on, you avoid larger and more expensive problems. An experienced property manager will tell you that the key to maintaining and increasing the value of your property is preventive maintenance. This requires regular maintenance checks and inspections, a written maintenance schedule, and detailed documentation. An agency may also offer you valuable feedback and suggestions on upgrades and modifications that the tenants prefer. 8. Personal benefits - Less stress - By hiring a specialist, you won’t have to deal with late-night emergencies, evictions, chasing down rent, damages, paperwork, having to find contractors, and other tedious and time-consuming tasks. - More freedom - If you hire a property manager, you can travel anywhere you want without having to worry about your tenants and about the regular inspections. You can live wherever you want and you can invest in other properties. - More free time - For a property investor, time is money, and your time would be better spent doing other things than micromanaging a property. If you focus on asset management, then you are working on growing your business, if you manage the properties yourself, then you work in it. Not to mention that you will also have more time to spend with your family and friends.

When was the last time you conducted a tenant satisfaction survey? The beginning or end of the year are the most popular times to send surveys, but you can send one any time of the year. And don’t feel limited to just one survey per calendar year: you can make it a bi-annual touchpoint, which will help you capture the opinion of both new and established tenants. Purpose of tenant satisfaction surveys Surveys are used to gauge the tenant experience as well as your team’s relationship with tenants. When you make informed decisions based on direct feedback, you can increase tenant retention, improve communication and find new marketing avenues based on your strengths and positive reviews. What should property managers ask their tenants? Tenant satisfaction survey questions should focus on common pain points. These generally come down to maintenance quality and efficiency, impressions of the property and interactions with your front office. The goal is to get genuine feedback, not to overwhelm your tenants with endless options. If your survey is too long, the results can become unwieldy and difficult to make actionable. Here are some questions you can use for your next survey. 1. How would you rate the following areas of the property? Tenants won’t always contact you about problems, but they’ll appreciate it when you ask first. Here are a few aspects of the rental your tenant satisfaction survey may want to focus on: Interior walls, flooring and all other surfaces Exterior walls and roofing Appliances and utilities Locks and other safety features Appearance and cleanliness of grounds and common areas Availability of parking, laundry facilities, etc. 2. Is there a feature or amenity that would be worth a small increase in rent? Some tenants are quick to ask you for things they want. Others won’t say a word unless you ask. By providing space for a short answer, you give tenants a chance to provide original feedback. Even if you can’t get what they’re asking for, it will mean something that you took the time to ask. Pay close attention to similar rental perks that people in different age groups are looking for. For example, millennials and baby boomers have a lot in common. Both age groups may be interested in a swimming pool, new locker room, eco-friendly amenities, yoga studio, etc. 3. Are maintenance requests handled to your satisfaction? You can always start with a yes/no response and include an optional space for short answer. If they say something positive, you can follow up and ask permission to post their review online. If they have constructive feedback or have negative experiences to shares, a short answer space will be crucial. It gives them an opportunity to address their concerns, and you’ll be able to see exactly what’s going on. 4. Is it easy to access your tenant portal & pay rent each month? Property management software makes rent collection fast and easy. If you use it, this question should be an easy win. Tenants should not encounter many issues, but if they do, you’ll be able to help them out quickly. 5. Is our staff friendly & accommodating? This question will give you a sense of how your team is being received by your tenants. Consider a rating system (e.g., always, mostly, sometimes, rarely, never) for the following: Someone is available to take your call We respond quickly to your requests Our communications are professional and courteous We resolve issues in a timely manner 6. Does your tenant portal meet expectations? Property management software is a critical part of the modern rental industry. And while the technology is primarily intended to make work easier for property managers, part of that means catering to tenants. If there’s any aspect of the tech that isn’t serving your community or being implemented properly, you definitely need to know. Likewise, you’ll want to know what’s going well so you can promote that feature to prospects and current renters alike. Was it easy to apply or renew your lease? Is it easy to log in and pay rent via RentCafe (or other portal at your business)? Is it easy to submit and track maintenance requests? How would you rate the portal’s user interface? How easy is it to communicate with our office? Do you prefer text or email when communicating with our office? 7. Are there any issues that have not been addressed in the past six months/year? This question provides an opportunity to check back in with returning tenants to see how well you’ve lived up to your commitments. Some people will simply fill out their tenant satisfaction survey as quickly as possible. Imagine getting lukewarm feedback with no idea why. It’s possible that the questions you asked don’t provide an opportunity to discuss their problem(s). If you see the same or similar responses to this question, you’ll have a better sense of where to focus your community and relationship-building efforts. 8. Would you like to explain any of your responses in more detail? This question is intentionally worded to be neutral. There might be something great about your customer service that tenants want to brag about. There might be something less stellar as well (similar to the previous question). Feedback needs to be authentic for tenant satisfaction surveys to work, so it’s important to provide opportunities for tenants to reply honestly. 9. What’s been your favorite part of living in this community? Now that you’ve given tenants an opportunity to be constructive or even critical, try to end on a positive note. Help them remember why they love renting from you. If you discover people are enjoying the similar aspects or amenities in your community, you’ll gain a stronger sense of your strengths. Share everything with your team. Help them provide better service and — just as important — celebrate their wins! Take action first, then ask for reviews The best time to ask for feedback is after you’ve earned a positive review. Did your team go above and beyond taking care of a maintenance request? Did someone send you an email to say how much they appreciate you? Those are great opportunities to ask for reviews, but you can’t passively rely on people to come to you. Be proactive! Once you’ve collected and evaluated feedback, it’s time to make an action plan. Wait until after you’ve taken steps to address tenant feedback to ask for an online review. Of course, if you’re getting five-star responses, you can certainly reach out to thank them and ask for a review. Just be mindful of how much you’re asking of tenants and how often you’re asking. Don’t shy away from incentives If you’re looking to increase response rates, there are many ways to provide survey incentives. Find something that’s in your budget and encourages a higher response rate. Raffle off gift cards, offer a pair of movie tickets for anyone who responds or have one big prize like a TV. That might seem like a lot, but if it’s the difference between tenants renewing their leases or moving on, those gifts will pay for themselves.