Real estate companies have long known the importance of managing their properties and buyers even after the sale. This is why property management is indeed an important aspect of the industry. Many property management companies have tried and succeeded, but still some have failed due to costly mistakes. If you want to help your organization thrive in the face of fierce competition, here are 6 things you should avoid with great care.
Lack of Proper Tenant Screening
Yes, it costs money to screen tenants, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the investment. In fact, it is more cost efficient to take time weeding through the applicants than replacing them multiple times. By screening the applicants more thoroughly, you’ll have a better chance of getting long-term, quality tenants.
Lack of Hiring Skilled Workers
Managing maintenance requests is one of the most important services of property management. The way you handle these requests can directly affect your tenant so you have to choose skilled maintenance workers to avoid disappointed customers. Avoid the temptation of hiring based on cheap offers alone. Experience and dependability will cost more, but the good results will be worth it.
Letting Residents Doing Their Their Own Maintenance Work
There are times that your tenant will voluntarily do their own maintenance work but this will cause a lot of potential risks and liability. Always make sure to advise them to request maintenance service from the property management. It is better to stick with skilled workers to avoid future problems.
Lack of Routine Checks
If you want to succeed in property management, inspection should always be a part of your function. Routine checks will help you know, adjust and correct any issues as they occur and before they have a chance to develop and worsen.
Lack of Communication
Property management entails a lot of tasks throughout the day but don’t forget to personally check on your team and residents. Focusing on that ever-growing to-do list can make it easy to neglect the simple yet highly critical act of communication – with your team, your residents and your customers. Constant communication with your team and residents is very effective, even if it’s just a quick chat or call.
Not Upgrading Technology Wise
Tracking your schedule and tasks can be challenging, especially if your business is growing. Whether it’s managing maintenance requests, keeping track of payments, running reports – you name it – it’s probably on your to-do list. Take advantage of technology and use the software that is designed specifically for property management to be more present.
Property management is definitely a challenging industry with a lot of factors to always take into consideration in your everyday work. Knowing these six common mistakes, now you can improve the chances of your property management firm in growing and remaining in the industry for many years.
What challenges your team are still facing and need to overcome? Please share in the comments below.