10 Tips For Successful Property Management

Property Management is a job that requires many hands to say the least. It can feel a bit like you’re spinning plates and multitasking is probably something you’ve mastered in your career. You may also be wondering how to become a property manager, in which case, these ten tips are going to give you the headstart you need to break into the job market! 

You have to wear many professional hats. From investor satisfaction to keeping tenants happy, keeping track of invoices and legal documents, it’s all systems go in the life of a property manager. Fundamentally, successful property management requires impeccable organizational skills, but there are some key tips you can follow to make sure you keep up in the competitive property industry.

Undergo advanced education and training

You can’t put a price on the right education and advancing your knowledge is a vital part of becoming a successful property manager. The more you know, the more confident you’ll be in your understanding of the industry as a whole. 

Even when you’re at the top of your game, continuous learning is what will ultimately set you apart from the competition. Sure, you need the basic skills of a property manager, but insight into property market trends, legal processes, and the ability to deal with people in several capacities will elevate you in your property management career.

Find the right tenants

Finding tenants to occupy the properties on your books may sound easy. But without a proper vetting process, anyone can move in. Let’s be honest, you probably don’t want just anyone to move into a property under your supervision. This applies whether you’re managing a property on a third party’s behalf or your own. 

Treat finding tenants like an interview process. Ask the right questions to gauge how reliable they are, whether they seem like responsible and respectful people, and whether or not they fit the property owner’s criteria. When you get to know prospective tenants as much as possible, the likelihood of damage and legal run-ins such as evictions and contract breaches significantly decreases, making your life easier, and the owners happier.

Take up a service-oriented approach

A service-orientated approach will lead to satisfaction on all fronts. When you give property owners, investors, and tenants the impression that their requirements are your priority, they instill trust in you which will ultimately nurture better business relationships.

Be a consistent and effective communicator

The ability to nurture and grow business relationships lies in your ability as a property manager to communicate effectively. Make it your priority to respond to queries as soon as possible after you receive them. This makes colleagues, owners, tenants, and superiors feel heard and valued.

Keep in mind that quick responses mean nothing unless the message you send is crystal clear. Leave nothing open to interpretation, state the facts of a situation, and always try to be honest. The property market is just as much about people as it is about the property, so being consistent is key. 

Use the best property management tools

Whether you’re just starting or contemplating how to start a property management business, good tools are essential to your success as a property manager. Hospiria is one of the best tools out there as it takes the pressure of property administration away, leaving you to do your job to your fullest potential. 

The Hospiria property management tool handles the marketing of your properties, ensuring they appear on all the right property platforms, meaning you don’t have to worry about creating individual adverts and handling queries from various sites. The tool also assists with professional revenue management, so you can spend more time with your clients and tenants, and less time behind the desk.

Make maintenance a priority

Ensuring the properties in your portfolio undergo regular maintenance and checks will save you, the owners, and the tenants a lot of time, effort, and money. You’ll already have a lot to juggle as a property manager, and being inundated with phone calls and emails surrounding problems in the home will take up too much of your time and mental capacity. 

When you make maintenance a priority, it will leave more time for you to progress in your career as a successful property manager. 

Think like an investor

When you put yourself in the shoes of property investors, you’ll make sure you’re ahead of the game when adding new properties to your portfolio. Investors will always buy property in popular areas with heaps of demand, or in areas that have high growth potential. Getting into this mindset will put you in an advisory position, meaning you will be able to market the properties more effectively and build trust with your network. 

Adapt to seasonal changes

Going with the seasons is an especially effective strategy when it comes to the short-term rentals you may have on your books. For example, beach properties will probably be more popular in the summer months than in winter. You may want to consider adjusting the pricing to suit the season, which will ensure you get the most monetary value out of a given property.

Once you gain the ability to make these seasonal adaptations, you will build up your reputation with property investors and homeowners as someone who can not only manage their property properly but as someone who has valuable insights to make them more money. 

Maintain a professional network

It’s vital to maintain good relationships with colleagues, property investors, owners, and tenants. It’s equally important to build your network and make new professional connections wherever possible. As we said, property management is about people. People own the properties in your portfolio, and people live in them. If you want to ensure you’re never short on business, a diverse, sizable network will help solidify business and keep those paychecks rolling in. 

Hold yourself accountable

In property management, things can go wrong at any point as you’re relying on other people to pay rent and ensure the property is in good condition. However, holding yourself accountable will help mitigate the number of things that can go wrong, because it means you are in control. 

When stakeholders see you as someone they can trust, because you take accountability, it makes handling potentially difficult situations a lot easier.