Are you a landlord currently making do with trying to manage your business without software geared towards property management? Well, the truth is you are likely making your life much harder for little to no saving.
Property management software is aimed at helping you with all the tasks and paperwork you need to complete, so let’s look at the benefits and how you could save yourself a heap of admin.
Advertising and marketing
Your search for a tenant begins by robustly advertising your property on as many popular sites as possible. Property management software allows you to create the advert one time only. By using rental listing syndication, the software will enable you to click just one button and for your advert to seamlessly appear on several sites. The advert is also stored for later use. This can save you even more time the next time the property comes back on the market by simply updating a previous ad.
Tenant Screening
Your property management software can supply you with a large pool of tenants by getting your advert on lots of rental sites. But screening tenants is so important as well. Anyone can have a squatter move in, after all! It’s finding paying tenants that will respect your property and the neighbours; that’s the tricky part.
The right property management software will allow tenants to apply quickly and easily. It will also allow you to screen tenants legally without discriminating or breaking data protection laws with the information you hold.
Maintenance management
As you know, it’s vital that you stay on top of maintenance to keep your tenants and your property safe. Seasonal checks such as checking on pipes and guttering after winter are one thing, but can you remember when your annual gas certificates and PAT testing are due? This becomes an even more difficult task the more properties you have.
If an accident were to occur due to your lack of compliance, it is absolutely no defence to say you were confused with when each of your properties was due to be checked.
Aside from regular compliance checks, the software is a convenient way for tenants to easily register a maintenance or repair request at whatever time is suitable for them. It’s also a good way for you to monitor repairs. For example, you might see that you have had a boiler or another appliance repaired three times in the last year. With engineer notes from the repairs and costs to hand for each property, you can more easily ascertain if you should replace that item if it breaks again.
Online payments
Gone are the days when the landlord called to collect rent every month. Paying by cash and cheque is the past, and tenants pay more reliably with online payments that are automatically sent. Property management software can allow tenants to pay with a debit or credit card if they are not paying via direct debit or standing order.
The software also pulls up unpaid overdue rental invoices, so you can prioritize your time chasing those rather than making endless trips to your properties and the bank to collect and pay in money.
Contact management
Being a landlord is similar to lots of businesses. Keeping your tenants happy by responding to their contact is a way to make them feel important while dealing with issues effectively.
With many properties, however, you could find yourself chasing your tail with messages from tenants. Property management software can help you manage each property as a separate account, and you will have all previous messages, emails, and contacts within that account. You can even leave notes for yourself to help you remember snippets of information about your tenants. This might be a hobby or something they like that allows you to bring a little rapport to the relationship. The happier your tenant is, the less likely they are to move on, ultimately saving you time and money.
Financial management
Do you love accounting? Didn’t think so. Even if you are very confident with figures and bookkeeping, running a property business can be arduous. You may have to enter transactions two or three times to make your accounts make sense.
At the same time, employing an accountant is both costly and unnecessary with robust property management software specifically geared to the task. The software will allow you to edit, review, and print ledgers for each tenant, property, and bank account used to manage your business. All of this can help you assess the success and profitability of each aspect of your business and prepare reports for the taxman.
Lease and file management
Running a property business requires compliance and a hefty amount of paperwork. Property management software will allow you to store documents such as lease agreements, tenancy screening documents such as pay slips and passports, as well as compliance documents such as energy performance and annual gas certificates.
The software can also allow tenants to sign documents electronically, saving you and them time. It also allows you to store information compliantly in accordance with data protection laws.
What are the benefits of property management software?: Things to Remember
As you can see, property management software like Rentila can be a great boon to you, whether you have one property or a sizeable portfolio.
The software will allow you to speed up and improve every aspect of your business, including marketing and tenant screening, before a tenant moves in. Contact management, online payments and maintenance management can help you run your business on a day-to-day basis by streamlining processes. The software also allows you to store leases and files and report your financial expenses and income.
The great news is the Rentila software is free if you have one property. You can use the software for 2-5 properties for just £4 per month or £8 for unlimited properties. Not signed up yet? Take a Rentila tour today!
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