If you want your property management business to thrive, we’ve got some tips for you. With everyone looking for success in this billion-dollar industry, you need to know what moves to make and which steps to take when it comes to running a property management business.
Tip #1: Stay Updated on Current Trends
If you’re asking how to grow your property management business, you need to be asking about the real estate market’s current trends. Tracking any important changes in the housing market will allow you to know what to do to improve the future performance of your property management company. Keeping an eye on market conditions means you can take advantage of opportunities and minimize the effect of threats.
Here are a couple of the key trends an income property manager should know about the US housing market:
Construction
We’ve been seeing a lot of new multi-family building starts in some of the nation’s key transit locations where housing demand is high. Housing construction is expected to continue growing for the next five years. You need to keep track of how this new addition of inventory will affect pricing and home affordability. Find out what the housing development plans in your local real estate market are and see how this will affect renter demand (are people still renting or are they now buying?).
Homeownership Rate
While homeownership has been slowly increasing throughout the nation, that isn’t the case for every market. Some of the biggest annual drops in homeownership are seen in Merced, Colorado Springs, Vallejo, Springfield, and Bremerton. Some major metros with the longest average time homebuyers lived in their homes are Tuscon, Portland, and San Francisco. Again, this trend will affect the local demand for rental properties.
Many New-Comers
A lot of new rental property investors are choosing to take on the role of landlord and property manager as well. Seeing the success of this business, a lot of beginners are now making strategic additions to their portfolios in efforts of growing a rental property management business. Because they’re new to the industry, they won’t be sticking to traditional operations, rather they’ll use property management software for small business, making them serious competition if you’re still sticking to spreadsheets.
Millennials and Tech
Generally speaking, millennials make up one of the biggest tenant groups. To have a successful property management business, you need to watch demographic trends and make sure your rental properties are what the tenant market wants. Millennials are looking for high tech operations. Move forward not backward. This amenity will draw people to your properties.
Tip #2: Up Your Digital and Social Media Presence
Succeeding at being a property manager means you need to constantly be attracting new clients to grow your property management business. Because customers for any business have access to all sorts of information and data online, you need to make sure your company catches their attention. This is where the importance of having a strong website for your property management company comes in.
Make sure your website is fast, updated, and user-friendly. Make it easy for potential clients to navigate. You want your property management business to pop up at the top of the list when people do a Google search for the services you provide. Make it clear that property management is what you do, and simplify communication between your customers and employees. If part of your property management marketing strategy is posting content like blogs and infographics on your site, make sure they’re SEO-friendly as well. This will help you rank higher in search engine results.
Since we’re on the topic of digital presence, social media is the answer for how to grow your business. Some popular platforms you can use are Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Upload useful content that potential clients actually want to read about. You can also use marketing automation tools to spread awareness about your property management business. Automatic email newsletters and social media posts can drive consumer traffic.
Tip #3: Real Estate Technology Should Be Your Best Friend
The list of new innovative tools you can use to grow your property management business is endless. From handling finances to tracking rent payments and generating property management leads, there’s a digital tool that makes every property management operation easier.
Provide your tenants with an electronic payment option, as this is what most people opt for these days. This will help both parties out. Tenants will be happy at having the option. Digitally documenting any tenant interactions will keep you covered in the case of any legal proceedings or litigation. And it will make it easier for you to track rent payments. Less paperwork, fewer headaches.
Another way to incorporate technology in your property management business is to use smart appliances. It might be an extra expense but it’ll be worth it. Tenants will be drawn to the extra amenities, especially in competitive markets, and they might even justify setting a higher rent. Although there is a lot of technology out there, you need to invest wisely. So don’t just pick whatever is newest. Ask yourself, which tools will really help you grow your business?
The Ultimate Tool for Your Property Management Business
Mashboard is a tool that uses real estate analytics to qualify leads and match them to the right investment properties. But why should you incorporate this into your property management business plan? Here’s a quick summary of what the tool will do for you:
- Turn clients into qualified leads. After inputting some basic info on a client, our algorithm will tell you how likely he or she is to buy another investment property.
- Our property recommender will match the right property to this lead with 90 percent accuracy.
- Our tools will provide you with thorough reports including sales, rental comps, and ROI analysis reports.
- Using Mashboard, you can easily share such reports with your clients through SMS or email.
Essentially, you’ll be offering a unique service to your clients. You’ll be able to quickly and easily find new investment properties for them. Once they purchase, you’ll have another rental property under your management! To learn more about Mashboard and how it can help you grow your property management business, click here.
As a bonus, you can use Mashvisor’s Airbnb calculator to determine the future profitability of short term rentals. It’s got something for all types of real estate professionals.