Wondering how to be a successful property manager? You’re in the right place!
Not only is property management a brilliant option for real estate agents looking to diversify their real estate income, but it’s also a solid career path in its own right. Property managers enjoy:
- meeting interesting people
- strong income potential
- the satisfaction of helping people find housing
- being in-demand
- flexible hours (when you work independently anyway)
So whether you’re planning to add property management to your existing real estate business or launch a new career as a property manager, here’s everything you need to know about how to be a successful property manager.
How to Be a Successful Property Manager
With over 10 years’ experience managing luxury residential properties in Southern California, I know what it takes to be a successful property manager. Here are my top 10 tips for you.
1. Focus on Communication
Communication is everything when it comes to being a successful property manager. And this starts with setting expectations. Too many property managers (and people in general!) make crazy promises, leaving their clients disappointed when these promises aren’t met. As a professional, you should get in the habit of under-promising and over-delivering.
Example: You know your prospective property owner client is asking too much for rent. You can either:
- tell her you can absolutely find a renter at that price (even though you know that’s highly unlikely), or
- explain that your job is to maximize her profit within the ever-changing parameters of the real estate market and show her why $x is a more realistic amount in the current market.
With option 1, you might slightly increase your chances of landing the client, but very shortly after signing, you’re going to have an unhappy client when she learns you can’t deliver. With option 2, you’re setting expectations with open and honest communication. Your client won’t be disappointed when you can’t find a renter at unreasonable rates.
The same is true of your relationships with tenants. Setting high expectations you can’t meet won’t do you any good. Set reasonable expectations, then exceed them.
Other quick communication tips:
- Be responsive. Don’t make people wait days for a reply to an inquiry.
- Give overviews. Let people know how processes work so they won’t panic if there’s a delay in a renovation, lease application, etc.
- Keep people posted. Regularly update owners and tenants on the status of ongoing issues. Even if it’s just to say that you don’t have new information, but you’re still working on it, your clients will appreciate your follow-through.
2. Make Time for Marketing Every Day
As with real estate sales, daily marketing/prospecting is critical. Clients rarely just fall in your lap; you need to go get them. Set aside an hour every workday to reach out to potential new clients.
If you have properties with vacant units, you need to be actively marketing to prospective renters. Syndication to sites like Zillow and Apartments.com is an obvious marketing method, and social media has gained serious traction in recent years.
But it’s not just about renters. You should be actively seeking to expand your portfolio of properties as well by reaching out to property owners. You can reach out to owners any time to see if they’re happy with their current property manager, but you should also get in the habit of checking the hot sheets daily for investment property ownership changes and reaching out to the new owners who may not have a relationship with the property manager used by the previous owner.
3. Know Your Properties and Your Market
Duh, right? If you’re going to be a successful property manager, you need to know your properties inside and out. Be ready to answer any question anyone can come up with. But you should also know your market. Who is your competition? What advantages do they have? What advantages do you and your properties have? Who are the key property owners in your market? How can you maximize profit for your owners under the current market conditions? What threats and opportunities should you be preparing for?
4. Have the Right Property Management Tools
Organization and documentation are important in any business, and property management is no exception. Having the right property management tools will take you a long way toward operating efficiently and effectively.
Buildium is my recommendation for a complete software solution at an affordable rate. The Buildium platform includes ready-to-roll functions for:
- accounting,
- maintenance,
- tasks,
- violations, and
- resident communications
It also includes online portals for your residents and owners, which instantly makes your property management business look like a large, professional operation (even if you’re just getting started).
5. Set Parameters, Document Them, and Stick to Them
We already discussed setting expectations as a pillar of good communication, but let’s take this a step further.
Too often, property managers are lax with the rules and undisciplined when it comes to documentation and enforcement. Not only can this lead to misunderstandings and escalating incidents, but it can even lead to fair housing violations.
Let me give you an example.
A tenant comes to you to request an extension on the rent date. He was laid off, and while he found a new job right away, he won’t get his first paycheck from the new job until 2 weeks after the due date. But the lease clearly says a late fee of $50 will be charged if payment isn’t received on the 4th of the month. What do you do?
In general, you should always follow the letter of the lease. The lease is a legally binding document with minimal ambiguity, and strictly enforcing the lease minimizes your liability. If you waive the late fee for this tenant, but enforce the late fee for everyone else that month, you’re making an exception for this tenant. And what if one of those other late tenants is of a group protected by fair housing laws? Will you be able to prove that you were not discriminating against that person? The fact is, life is simpler when you follow the letter of the lease.
Having said that, it’s hard to not help people when you’re in a position to help them, right? If you need to make an exception, set the parameters for the exception cleanly, document them clearly, and enforce them completely. Then make sure you handle all potential future occurrences of similar circumstances in the exact same way to make sure any outsider can see that you’re treating everyone equally.
6. Brand Yourself
Just like real estate agents fall into the trap of marketing their brokerage more than they market themselves, independent property managers can have the same issue with their management firms.
If you’re an independent contractor, it’s your job to brand and market yourself as an entity separate from your company. Because you don’t just want clients to sign with your company; you want them to sign with you!
Having your own website is a must in today’s market. Not only does this give you instant credibility, but it also helps potential clients find you via Google search. And it gives you a chance to demonstrate your knowledge and provide value to prospective clients. And you can even turn your website into an independent income stream! It’s also easier and more affordable to get your own website than you might think.
By the way, if you’re new to the idea of branding or just need a little direction as you establish your unique brand, check out The Quick and Easy Guide to Real Estate Branding. This post was written specifically with real estate agents in mind, but it certainly works for property managers as well.
7. Systematize
To save your sanity, you need to build systems for your property management business. Systems allow you to operate more efficiently, more effectively, and with fewer errors and oversights.
You should have a system in place for:
- marketing
- property tours
- lease applications
- move-ins
- renewals
- move-outs
- unit turns
- signing new owners
- maintenance and renovations
- rent collection
- violations
- evictions
- etc, etc, etc
By the way, this is why I love Buildium. As long as you use the platform as designed, it automatically systematizes huge chunks of your business!
8. Understand Resident Retention
Unit turns are expensive. It’s generally far more cost-effective for your owners if you can retain the residents you already have (unless of course you’re in a rent control situation, in which case turnover is actually more profitable). But how do you keep tenants and still increase rents year-over-year?
Here are a few ideas.
First, provide good service by doing the things we’ve already discussed: be responsive, organized, and helpful where you can be. Keep the property clean and well-maintained. Make the experience of living at your property a pleasure.
Then, try building a sense of community at your apartment buildings. If your residents have close friends in the community, moving to a new building becomes less attractive. Resident events like happy hours, pool parties, or outdoor movie screenings in the courtyard are all good ways to help your tenants meet and befriend their neighbors.
Finally, consider offering incentives. A few weeks free or a discount for early renewal signing may be all it takes!
9. Pay Attention to the Details
We’ve already touched on the importance of paying attention to detail with our mentions of organization and systematization. But paying attention to the details deserves a discussion of its own because there are just so many details!
As a property manager, you’re responsible for the physical maintenance of the property, the relationships with both owners and residents, the day-to-day operations of managing the property, the financial success of the property, and about a million other categories, all full of tiny-but-critical details.
Again, having the right property management tools will take you far, but if you’re strictly a “big picture” thinker, property management is likely not going to be a good fit for you. Or at least, you’ll need to supplement your skillset by hiring a detail-oriented operations manager to oversee all these details.
10. Find a Way to Surprise and Delight Your Property Owners
Keeping your property owners happy is one of the best things you can do to be a successful property manager. Most of this is simply doing your job:
- making sure rent is collected on time
- keeping the property well-maintained
- retaining residents
- communicating clearly
But to really impress your property owners, find a way to surprise and delight them.
This can be as simple as:
- paying for an unexpected repair (just make sure the owner knows it’s a one-time courtesy as a token of appreciation for their business)
- sending a card or gift basket to celebrate the owner’s anniversary of buying the property
- sending complimentary reports (could be general market reports, secret shopper report, or even future planning reports with a recommended course of action for maximizing profit)
Going above and beyond for your clients is what makes a great property manager!
Do you have tips on how to be a successful property manager?
Let us know in the comments!
