PropertyZar

While all our previous BLOGs have been on topics that apply to every property manager or landlord, today’s BLOG is going to be about the latest release of PropertyZar and software business in general. The entire PropertyZar team has worked tirelessly on designing a new user interface, new features, bug fixes and overall better user experience. I want this BLOG to showcase their work and to provide an electronic form of a ‘pat on the back’.

From The Beginning

Our goal was to provide all the features of the most powerful online property management software to portfolios of all sizes. That means the property owner who manages 10 units can afford to have all the tools available as the professional property management companies have.

Early Releases

As with any new release, subscription-based software companies are always faced with the challenge of providing a minimum viable product (MVP) and what should be included in the MVP. If you are an astute reader of business, you will understand that

Moving to a new place is both exciting and tiresome. For some, it’s a big relief to finally find a new home and be part of a new community. How property managers and landlords reach out to new tenants during this transition will set the tone for future relationships.

Here are some ideas to engage with your new tenants, after they have been approved and before they move in.

Welcome Letter

Send a welcome letter or email to your new tenant. The letter should include:

A Warm Introduction - Include information that you deem important based on your property, community and facilities.

Identify the next steps–things like setting up utilities, cable, internet,forwarding address etc. Provide company, contact emails, website links and phone numbers to assist the new tenant. Remember, they may not know the utility providers in that area.

Tenant Tools – if you are using a property management software, more than likely you have a tenant mobile app. Include this feature in your initial letter. Let them

Let's face it. Obtaining tenants can be expensive and time consuming. Consider the marketing expense, time to process applications, run background screening, verify information, the time it takes to ‘show’ your properties etc., the TAC (tenant acquisition cost) can be high.What’s worst is many property managers or landlords don’t even know what their TAC is.

So, with all the time, effort and cost in obtaining a tenant, how do you keep your tenants? Do you have a documented retention policy?

For sake of this BLOG, I’ve defined 2 groups of ideas (customer service and amenities) that retention policies fall into. 

Customer Service

This group can both directly cause satisfaction or cause dissatisfaction. If a property manager’s customer service is done poorly, they will cause a tenant to be dissatisfied with that property management company. Suppose a tenant tries getting a hold of the property manager and it takes 2 or 3 days before the manager responds. This would cause dissatisfaction

We all know that one of the challenges facing property managers is communications with tenants and owners. According to a CNN poll, a person between 18-29 years if age averages 88 text messages a day. SMS messages have hit main stream.

The best online property management software will include the ability to communicate via email or SMS.

SMS Availability

Whether you are a professional property manager or a property owner/landlord, you need to make sure you are accessible via SMS texts for many reasons. More often, emergencies are now sent via text messages than any other means. Many tenant mobile apps include the ability for the tenant to easily send the property manager a SMS message.

With a web-based property management software, the manager’s mobile phone is not seen by the tenant so you shouldn’t be too concerned with receiving SMS messages.

Better Communications with Tenants & Owners

When your tenants and property owners know that they can text you easily, it builds better relationships

Property managers have a lot to deal with. It’s not an easy job. Old challenges remain while new challenges arise due to new regulations and social media.

Here are some challenges that we have identified

Managing Time

With all the responsibilities that property management companies and landlords face, time management skill is a must. Along with this skill, a good online property management software is essential. Why? Because a property management app does so much to take the mundane tasks and automate them, reducing the managers work load and thus providing more time. In addition, a web-based property management software allows property managers to work from anywhere 24/7. This ability alone greatly increases productivity.

Criminal Tenants

Meth labs, drug dealing, and other criminal activity present a big problem for property managers and property owners. From police presence, quarantine for meth labs and heavy foot traffic, there is nothing in these scenarios that is good for your

Most states have rules regarding handling security deposits. Some states prevent allowing the security deposit to be used as the last rent. You should not mix security deposits and rent monies. Commercial property management software will have the ability to keep deposits separate from all other monies. Best property management software will allow you to create separate bank accounts so that deposits can be kept separate from the main operating account.

Property managers should never agree to apply the security deposit to the last month’s rent. For one reason, what happens if the tenant damages the property? Property managers that use a property management app will typically conduct a ‘move out’ inspection. If there is damage that costs money to fix, you may be out of luck if you did not collect the last month rent.

Legally, there are laws/rules that dictate how you handle the disbursement of the tenant’s security deposit.

It will also make it a bit more complicated for your CPA when it