Managing rental properties manually is time-consuming, and hiring a resident manager or property management company can be expensive and make you feel detached from your properties and tenants.
In the age of the internet, there’s another option: property management software. Property management software provides landlords with several tools to help save time and money on business operations.
Here are the ways you can streamline rental management by using software.
Online Rent Collection
One of the biggest reasons landlords switch to software for managing rental properties is online rent collection. Because of the need to coordinate schedules and make extra trips to the bank, collecting rent in-person via cash or check can be very inconvenient.
Online rent collection allows your tenants to pay with debit cards, credit cards, or ACH payments—whatever option works best for them. They also have the ability to enroll in autopay, which decreases the likelihood that you’ll receive late payments. Another nice feature of online rent collection is automated late fees, which eliminates the need to enforce late fees yourself. Essentially, when you use property management software, you don’t have to put any time or effort into receiving your rent payments.
Tenant Screening
As a landlord, you probably know the importance of leasing to great tenants. To run a smooth business, you need tenants who pay rent on time, respect your property, and don’t disturb neighbors. The only way you can avoid bad tenants to find the ones you want is to screen them.
Property management software gives you all the tools you need to conduct thorough tenant screening. With software, you get access to credit reports, eviction histories, and criminal records, all of which contain essential information in deciding whether an applicant is qualified. Good software will also allow you to request personalized information from your tenants, such as proof of income.
Digital Lease Signing
One of the most time-consuming tasks you can have as a landlord is lease management. Getting physical leases signed can take days or even weeks when coordinating schedules and printing/mailing hardcopy documents.
Electronic signatures exponentially cut down on lease turnaround. As soon as you upload your lease to the platform and make it available to your tenant, they can begin reviewing and signing the document digitally. You can finalize your lease in minutes, which saves you money by filling your unit faster. Furthermore, all your leases are easy to view and manage online, which saves you the inconvenience of printing and storing physical documents.
Maintenance Management
Maintenance is one of the most difficult property manager duties you’ll have. Unfortunately, there’s no getting around maintenance requests. Property management software makes maintenance as easy as possible for everyone involved.
On your property management platform, your tenants can easily submit maintenance tickets with pictures and descriptions when they run into a maintenance issue. You’ll receive a notification, and from there, you can assess the problem and reach out to whatever specialist is needed. Great software offers multi-user maintenance, which allows you to give maintenance personnel and other hired staff access to the in-platform management tools they need.
Tenant Communication
One of the most underappreciated aspects of software for landlords is how much it improves tenant communication. One of the best ways to show your tenants you care is to prioritize great communication. When your tenants see that you care about them, they’re more likely to reciprocate with you and your property.
Property management software allows you to set up customized, automated reminders to go out whenever a rent payment is due, when late fees are piling up, or when maintenance tickets have been resolved. Many platforms also offer a messaging system that allows you and your tenants to maintain a constant stream of communication without sharing personal phone numbers.
Conclusion
Property management software is designed specifically for landlords to save you time, money, and energy on all your management responsibilities. With features like online rent collection, tenant screening, digital lease signing, maintenance management, and tenant communication, you can drastically increase your business’s efficiency at little or no cost. If you’re still managing your rental properties manually or hiring somebody else to do so, it’s time to consider making the switch to software.