Managing Rental Properties In 2024: Tips And Best Practices

Managing rental properties is a complex undertaking. From building solid tenant relationships to addressing maintenance issues to mastering the nuances of financial management, the to-do list seems infinite. We broke up the most common responsibilities into the three following categories to help you understand better all that is required.

Properties

• Marketing rental properties: Every day that a property sits empty is another day of missed opportunity for generating revenue. To make sure properties are always full, property managers are tasked with advertising available properties to attract potential tenants. This includes creating engaging listings with high-quality photos and promoting those listings on various channels, such as online advertising platforms, print media and professional networks.
• Property inspections: Property managers are tasked with completing regular inspections to check for potential maintenance issues and to ensure the property is being well cared for by tenants. Identifying any issues that may need addressing quickly will help maintain the property’s value.
• Property maintenance and repairs: This involves coordinating routine maintenance and addressing any needed repairs to ensure the property remains safe and appealing. Managers deal with service companies, contractors and technicians to execute work promptly and correctly.
• Emergency response management: Property managers need to be prepared to respond to any emergencies related to the properties under their management quickly. This might include responding to severe property damage from natural disasters, such as fire or storms or urgent maintenance issues, such as plumbing leaks or electrical faults. It is the manager’s responsibility to schedule repairs as quickly as possible to minimize inconvenience to the tenants and possible damage to the property.

Tenants

• Screening tenants: Getting good tenants is key to a property’s revenue. To do so, property managers must thoroughly screen prospective tenants before approving their applications. The screening process includes verifying rental history, credit scores and income to assess the tenant’s ability to meet financial rental obligations and to minimize problematic behavior.
• Lease management: Managers must prepare lease agreements that detail the rights and responsibilities of both parties. This involves setting lease terms, establishing the monthly rental price including prices and ensuring all agreements comply with local and national laws.
• Rent collection: Property managers are responsible for collecting rent every month. This process requires setting clearly defined policies about payment schedules, late fees and potential evictions for continual late payments.
• Conflict resolution: Property managers are also required to handle conflicts between tenants or between tenants and management.
• Handling evictions: In worst-case scenarios, property managers are responsible for overseeing the eviction process. This must be conducted strictly in accordance with legal guidelines.

Finances

• Budget management: Property managers are responsible for setting, managing and adhering to a budget for the property. Typical budget items include potential repair costs, property taxes, pest control, landscaping, insurance and regular maintenance.
• Financial reporting: In addition to budgeting, managers are responsible for maintaining the property’s financial records. They provide periodic financial statements to property owners, detailing income, expenses and any budget variations.
• Vendor payment: Property managers must also manage bills, invoices and payments to third-party vendors for services, such as landscaping, pest control, maintenance and cleaning. They should ensure these payments are made timely and accurately.

Mastering the management of rental properties is the cornerstone of a profitable rental business. Here are five tried and true practices that will help you manage your real estate portfolio:

• Screen tenants carefully: Be thorough with background checks. Choosing the right tenants is crucial as they can be the key to a hassle-free management experience or a source of ongoing problems.
• Automate where possible: Use property management software and online tools to automate processes, such as rent collection, maintenance requests and even advertising vacant units.
• Understand laws and regulations: Be familiar with local and regional property laws. Legal knowledge helps to prevent litigation and protects both tenant rights and your interests.
• Build strong landlord-tenant relationships: Clear and open communication with your tenants can help establish stronger relationships and often results in longer renting periods.
• Perform regular property maintenance: Regular inspections and maintenance ensure the property remains in good condition, which prevents situations that could lead to costly repairs later on.

Entering the field of property management may seem intimidating for first-timers, but there’s a wealth of resources available to guide you along the way. In our modern digital era, you have access to an extensive range of apps, software platforms and other resources created to simplify property management tasks:

• Property management software: Property management software can help you streamline your property management operations. From basic software that focuses primarily on factors that include storing tenant information securely, handling leases and tracking a small number of property portfolios to a more feature-rich comprehensive solution that in addition to the basics also provides additional systems that allow for efficient daily operations management across a much larger scale.
• Online advertising platforms: Real Estate sites, such as Zillow, Craigslist and Realtor.com, help managers effectively market their rental properties to a wide audience.
• Accounting software: Look for accounting software that automates rent collection, accounting tasks and financial tracking for rental properties.
• Property management financial software: This software will automatically
  tracks your property portfolio’s expenses and income, creates tax-ready statements and calculates net cash flow statements.
• Legal service providers: Services specialized in assisting rental property owners and managers to ensure all activities comply with local and national laws, as well as handling tenant-landlord disputes and eviction processes.
• Marketing platforms: Online marketing platforms, such as social media, email marketing software, website builders and digital ad builders, support property managers to effectively market rental properties to a wide audience.
• Tenant screening services: As the adage says, you can’t judge a book by its cover. The same is true with tenant screening. A potential tenant might seem like a great fit, but it is imperative that you do a comprehensive background search on their credit, rental history and criminal history. There are several tenant screening platforms available that will complete credit checks, rental history and other background information.

Managing rental properties in 2024 offers a mix of lucrative opportunities and demanding challenges. Success requires a well-rounded grasp of several core responsibilities, such as effective tenant relations, maintenance capabilities and financial management. To truly excel in property management it is important to embrace the industry’s best practices, such as tenant vetting, process automation and cultivating landlord-tenant relationships. Luckily in today’s digital era, there are innovative software platforms that can streamline many of these responsibilities to help you thrive in today’s dynamic real estate market.