Residential

Property Management Tips and Tricks

Written by: Parcel Pending

10 Min Read

Published: October 3, 2019

Updated: December 8, 2023

If you’re a property manager for an apartment building, especially a larger one, you are probably busier than ever. Between juggling current resident issues, onboarding new tenants, meeting potential renters, and overseeing property maintenance, residential property managers and property owners are likely stretched thin. Fortunately, there are a few simple and innovative property management solutions you can follow to free up time and make your property management service better, as well as help you be a good property manager for your renters.

Learning to do more with less can feel challenging as there are only so many property management service tasks that one property manager can handle during the space of a business day. Successfully managing more tasks in a short space of time takes planning and strategy, but can help to alleviate stress that would not be manageable in the long run otherwise.

Here are a few property management tips and tricks to make future property management easier and more efficient and help you be a more successful property manager.

4 Must-Know Property Management Tips and Tricks

Property management basics argue that a residential property manager’s goal, aside from ensuring resident satisfaction, is to increase efficiency and optimise operations. To find areas of improvement for your rental property, start by using these tips and answering the following questions:

#1 Consider outsourcing or delegating time-consuming tasks

Which tasks take too much of my time? Oftentimes, there are tasks that a property manager or property owner wants to focus on that end up taking a backseat to repetitive and sometimes tedious but necessary tasks. If you find yourself spending significant amounts of time on repetitive administrative tasks, it may be worthwhile for you to consider outsourcing those tasks to a support employee, app, or service. Even outsourcing one task can save precious minutes, even hours of your time. Over the space of a year, those minutes can add up.

#2 Ask residents for feedback

What are my residents’ most common complaints? Providing a desirable community environment starts with observing common complaints or even surveying residents for their most desired amenity ideas. Consider giving tenants a suggestion box or an outlet to provide anonymous feedback about issues they’re having around the community. Proactively addressing complaints and suggestions can show current and potential renters that they are valued and also help you find operational issues you might not have realised were a concern.

#3 Improve your time management

How can I be better organised? Even with the best time management skills, the property management business can be challenging, as a property manager is regularly inundated with various jobs and demands. Consider scheduling or batching your time instead of knocking things out as they come up. There are several apps and services available that can help to streamline processes or organise anything from handling rent payments to accepting packages.

#4 Address common resident issues

What are the recurring problems or tasks that cause you the most grief? Each residential building or community has its share of issues. It may sometimes feel like a revolving door of problems – as soon as one thing is fixed, another problem takes its place. That said, many communities have issues that, for one reason or another, seem to pop up regularly. This could be anything from package theft problems to complications stemming from a lack of parking. Whatever the particular issue, take some time to brainstorm solutions that can hopefully grant both you and your residentssome relief.

5 Common Problems and Solutions For Property Managers

Now that you’ve taken some time to reflect on opportunities for how to improve your rental property, here are a few other common problems you may want to consider adding to your list, as well as some solutions that other property managers have turned to for help.

#1 Managing Packages

The meteoric rise of eCommerce platforms has changed the way that people shop for and purchase goods. In fact, GroupM expects that global retail eCommerce sales will rise to $7 trillion by 2024 (comprising 25% of total retails sales) and reach $10 trillion by 2027. And, since the start of the pandemic, eCommerce penetration has seen 10 years of growth in less than 3 months – with the percentage of total sales reaching nearly 35%.

With residents shopping online now more than ever – some properties are experiencing over 60% more package delivery volume than their normal level – many property managers are struggling to keep up with package management. This results in two key issues for build-to-rent communities:

Parcel Theft – An increased supply of packages, especially those left ready and waiting on tenant doorsteps or mailboxes in the UK, has created a new subset of people who seek to steal other’s possessions. If the community or building entrance isn’t monitored, packages left on a rental unit’s doorstep are vulnerable to package theft. Even installing security cameras might not be enough of a package theft deterrent.
Package Management – The steady deluge of packages means that a good portion of a property manager’s job could soon be devoted to accepting, organising, and delivering tenant packages. In a residential apartment complex, especially for those with 100+ units, this could result in a massive overflow that stresses mailroom capacity.

A solution for this problem is simple and aesthetically pleasing: smart package lockers, such as Parcel Pending by Quadient. Smart apartment parcel lockers can free up a property manager’s time by creating an easy, secure, and contact-free way to handle daily deliveries.

Smart residential parcel lockers provide a number of important benefits, including:

Contact-Free Package Pick-Up: Residents can scan a barcode in the delivery notification or push a button in the mobile app to access their packages without using a touchscreen.
Efficiency: Smart lockers streamline the delivery process, and our flexible solutions reduce the space needed to accept deliveries.
Advanced: Our flexible API allows for seamless integration with property management software systems.
Weatherproof: Our outdoor locker solutions are designed to withstand exposure to rain, wind, humidity, and extreme temperatures.
Long-lasting: Our solutions are designed to last for over a decade – even in extreme temperatures.
Accessible: Multi-sized lockers allow for 100% deliverability, and our fully ADA-compliant solutions support any user.
Mobile-Friendly: Residents can receive delivery alerts, manage packages, and retrieve deliveries with their smartphones.
Customisable: Parcel Pending offers custom locker configurations, colour options, or wraps to match property aesthetics or branding.

#2 Managing Potential Tenant Screening

A large part of any property owner or property manager’s job is meeting with and screening a prospective tenant to fill a vacancy at their rental property. Although it would make the job significantly easier to just accept a rental application from anyone who shows up and wants to sign a lease agreement, a property owner or apartment property management company’s job is to bring in the good tenants – ones who will pay rent promptly and be good neighbors to existing residents.

An ideal prospective tenant will meet the following criteria:

Good credit
Steady employment
Have a monthly income that is roughly 3 times higher than the rent
No prior evictions
No prior convictions

In fact, according to TransUnion, “84% of landlords say that non-payment is one of their top concerns about new tenants”. But, to ensure the prospective tenant screening is thorough and correct, the process can take a lot of time. Here are some tips a property manager can use to attract good tenants and streamline potential tenant screening for a rental listing:

Create a Pre-Screening Survey – You likely already spend a good amount of time answering phone calls and emails. Instead of simply allowing a general rental application (wherein applicants can ignore criteria like monthly income), consider using a survey or Google Form to help separate the qualified applicants from the non-qualified applicants.
Use a Consistent Screening Method – However you or a leasing agent at your property go about screening residents, it’s important to find a system that works and stick to it in order to consistently yield good results. If you change up how you interview, what you ask, or what your must-have criteria are, it’s much harder to compare and contrast responses or gauge who will be a great tenant for your community.
Perform Background Checks – As a professional property manager, your first priority should always be the protection of your current residents. It’s critical that you do everything in your power to ensure you’re not bringing dangerous or untrustworthy people into your rental property. Background checks can help you accomplish the following:
Protect you and your multifamily real estate investment property from liability
Help prevent non-payments
Allow you to confirm that the prospective resident or residents are who they say they are
Provide both existing and potential tenants with peace of mind as they know that you are serious about their safety

#3 Managing Rent Payment

Rental property payments are of concern to a good property management company or property manager. Why not make it easier for both you and your residents by making payments virtual and automatic? This allows you to easily collect, track, and organize payments, thereby reducing the amount of time you spend worrying about whether or not a resident has paid their rent.

Since the vast majority of all late payments arise from people simply forgetting that they need to pay, it might be wise to use a property management tool such as an automatic rent payment system or one with a payment scheduling feature to help facilitate this process.

Using tools or systems like this can significantly benefit a tenant, a property manager, or a property management company. Here are a few of the most important benefits:

Set and Forget – Residents prefer to set up recurring payments so that once a bill is scheduled, they won’t have to think about it again. This allows them to avoid the hassle of sending a check in the mail or delivering it to the leasing office by hand.
Auto Ledger – Automated rent collection systems categorise and record rent collection into an account ledger, making it easy for a landlord or onsite property manager to see who has paid rent and who hasn’t.
Reduce Late Rent Payments – Even if tenants don’t use autopay, they can enable notifications and reminders that rent is coming due. This saves you the trouble of tracking residents down and harassing them for payment, which can become a sore spot in the tenant–landlord relationship.

#4 Managing Access to Amenity Spaces

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, some communities are now requiring reservations for the use of common areas or amenity spaces like the gym. Depending on the number of amenities or common areas your rental property offers, this can easily become a time-consuming process – especially for an in-demand amenity or common area.

Consider investing in resident amenity scheduling software to make life easier for both you and your residents. Note that this may already come as a part of your property management software and not require a further investment on your part.

A resident amenity scheduler enables a resident to reserve an amenity for any available time slot and receive reservation alerts and reminders so they don’t miss their time slot. This is perfect for managing resident use of amenity spaces like the pool, gym, common area, or flex workspace.

Property management staff can easily control the hours of operation, the number and duration of time slots, capacity, and even how far out residents can make reservations.

We also recommend that rental properties follow the suggestions noted below in addition to enforcing advanced reservations for the use of any indoor amenities. Alternatively, if space and weather permits, consider moving some gym equipment outside to allow for better ventilation and space between residents.

#5 Securing Lease Renewals

The unfortunate reality is that only 50% of current residents renew their lease agreement at the end of their term. If you’re looking to reduce tenant turnover at your property, here are a few tips and tricks to secure that all-important lease renewal:

Reward Loyalty: Some landlords are returning loyal residents’ security deposits, even in installments, to increase resident retention.
Offer a Flexible Renewal Term: In a recent key survey, 78% of residents surveyed stated they would remain in their current apartment if they were given a lease renewal offer for a shorter period of time and with no rent increase6.
Consider Low-Cost Concessions: Repainting walls or upgrading lighting not only increase the value of your real estate but also make it easier to secure lease renewals.

Check out “7 Secrets to Boosting Your Apartment Lease Renewals” for more of our property management tips that can help you reduce resident turnover.

Putting These Tips & Tricks Into Action

There are a variety of issues that a residential real estate owner, property manager, or landlord can face on a daily basis. By addressing larger concerns such as package overflow, rental payments, and resident screening, you free up time to focus on the more important matters like property maintenance and resident maintenance issues. This newly freed-up time can even allow for more time to focus on the customer service aspect of property management.

Your time is valuable and limited, therefore it’s paramount you take advantage of these property management tips and tricks in order to optimize your operational efficiency. Doing so can provide noticeable benefits for both you and your residents! And once you have happy residents, you will, in turn, see better tenant retention.

Adding new amenities may not be at the top of most properties’ to-do list right now. But if package management has gotten out of hand, Parcel Pending by Quadient is available to help.