Whether or not you’re a property manager working for a large real estate or a private individual owning several assets, maintenance and property management is a part of a set of crucial processes as part of real estate investment, and as mentioned in our previous blog, is something that should not be neglected, should you wish to be successful in your real estate investment ventures aside from the fact that mandatory compliance guidelines such as fire safety should always be prioritize for obvious reasons. Nobody will want to buy a run-down property that’s lacking these important safety features and thus, will greatly affect your property’s value and sales.
And since we’ve already pretty much covered most of the basics in our guide to Starting Your Real Estate Investment Journey, we’re going to head right away to the importance of property maintenance and management.
As the saying “time is gold” goes, organizing an appropriate schedule to run your maintenance and management routine is imperative if you want to be truly efficient with your real estate investment venture. While being able to focus and dedicate an apt amount of time and effort for this at a steady rate is admirable, it becomes counter-productive if you’re running out of time for other important things such as other businesses, family, and worse, even yourself.
Properly conduct and schedule tenant screening or briefings
As a real estate investor that leases/rents his or her properties, it’s always definitely an exciting moment to have that message coming from a potential customer – It also makes things easier if we would just skip to the details and let them rent the place right away. …Or is it?
As responsible property managers and owners, we must always conduct a proper background check for any potential tenant and clients for the sake of security and safety of you and your other tenants, and your property itself. A briefing also ensures that they understand the things you allow at your place, what’s off-limits, and where’s the right place to grill for barbecue weekends.
A good potential client or tenant will have the following qualities:
- A good credit score
- A proper employment or at least a reliable and steady source of income
- No criminal records
- No prior eviction records
These qualities are important because according to a survey by TransUnion, 84% of landlords claim that failure to pay and/or on time is their primary concern regarding new tenants.
Managing amenities and utilities
The COVID-19 Pandemic changed the way how common areas are being used. For instance, dormitories and apartments are now taking better effort and measures with disinfection and sanitation of such areas like lounges, gyms and pantries. And depending on the number of amenities or common areas your property might have, this can become time-consuming. Another important thing to always keep in mind is the regular replacement of consumables regularly used on these amenities such as soap, beverages, and other supplies. Keeping an organizer or planner handy should help you sort things out. Nothing fancy needed as long as you’re able to effectively note and plan schedules for advanced reservations and when or how much supplies are in need of replenishing.
Always listen to your tenants and feedbacks
Improving and maintaining amiable relationships with your occupants are important to keep your real estate business running smoothly. You are the ‘face’ of your establishments and a grumpy landlord or property manager wouldn’t be very encouraging sight. On the other hand, listening to complaints and learning to accept constructive criticism lets you manage things better as they always provide a different perspective on things; What the customer or tenant experiences is not always correlated to you, as a landlord or property manager sees after all and being able to proactively address reasonable complaints and issues contributes to the overall desirable community that you can provide which in turn, leads to satisfied tenants, which ultimately equates to satisfied revenues and more potential clients.
Proper documentation
Keeping a proper record of pretty much everything regarding your property is essential. It helps you and property managers save time on succeeding actions and management as well as formulating your next course of action or plan to increase reach or acquire more occupants.
An inventory and liquidation report of even the smaller details such as toiletries, consumables and other necessities helps you better allocate budget and this practice is even matters more with things that involve occupational health & safety compliance policies.
Needless to say, proper documentation of almost everything should be second-nature to property owners and managers.
Maintaining a safe environment for everyone
Lastly but not the least, prioritizing the safety of everyone. And to ensure safety, a number of safety compliance procedures and criteria must always and regularly be met. These includes regular inspections of fire safety equipment such as fire extinguishers and smoke alarms, proper installation of the mentioned equipment, providing your tenants with sufficient information regarding fire exits, escape plans and location of these safety equipment, and addressing security and privacy concerns. You are not only doing this for their safety, but yours and your properties and the community in general as well.