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In our rapidly evolving digital world, there’s little we can’t automate with a few lines of code.
The same goes for the property management industry. The property management software market will be worth $2.7 billion by 2023, according to Strategic Market Research. The reason for the growth quickly becomes clear: software makes it possible to automate many tasks traditionally associated with property managers.
As landlords race to implement affordable software tools in their rental businesses, automation is one feature to look out for. The more tasks that can be automated, the less you have to do yourself and the less money you spend paying other people to do them.
Here are five property management tasks you can automate in 2023, if you haven’t already:
Related: 11 ways to automate your business and increase efficiency
Table of Contents
1. Rental Memories
Bare rental memories are an essential part of your digital toolkit as a landlord.
Even the least tech-savvy landlords can set up a recurring email to remind tenants of upcoming rent payments before the first of each month.
However, there are much more advanced ways to automate rent reminders in 2023. Most property management software platforms that offer online rent collection allow you to automate a monthly message with a link to the payment portal.
Your software tool also knows which tenants have already paid and which have not, so it can send additional reminders to tenants who have outstanding amounts closer to the due date.
Plus, for most renters, a simple reminder is all they need to make regular, on-time payments. Rental reminders are the simplest form of automated communication you can set up in your top-paying rentals.
2. Applicant pipeline
Your pipeline of rental candidates can also be largely automated. From responding to an ad to signing a lease, much of the process can go on without your direct supervision.
If you use an ad syndication service, you can often set up message templates that are emailed to a potential tenant at specific points in the pipeline, such as immediately after they respond to an ad or even a few days after they forget about it. list to follow.
Automated messages can also include your current availability so you don’t waste time communicating face-to-face with tenants who ultimately won’t be interested in renting your properties.
Finally, tour scheduling can also be automated. By setting up a platform for potential tenants to schedule tours of your properties on their own, you minimize the time you both spend coordinating schedules. Your availability is already on the calendar, so the tenant only has to choose a time that suits them.
3. Renewals
The rental renewal process varies from state to state and property to property. Sometimes leases automatically renew after the original lease term has expired. In other states, the lease defaults to month-to-month unless a new agreement is signed.
To make the renewal process easier for your renters (and yourself), you can automate renewals in your rental company. For example, if tenants must sign a new lease each year to continue living in the property, you can send automatic reminders with links to renewal information or an offer to meet and negotiate details.
If the rent defaults to month-to-month, you can automate a reminder that this will happen if the renter doesn’t respond by a certain date.
Automating renewals can take away a lot of stress at the end of the lease term.
Related: How to Manage Your Real Estate Business Like a Pro
4. Financial Reports
There are currently several financial reporting tools available to hosts. In addition to the reporting tools included in your property management software subscription or account, you can also choose to use a general business accounting tool such as QuickBooks.
With a good financial reporting tool, you can automatically generate profit and loss statements, profit and loss statements (P/L), year-end statements, and bank reconciliations. Many platforms also generate certain tax documents to help you prepare for tax season.
While you certainly (and often should) hire an accountant for this task, anyone you hire will still appreciate tools that automate their work. Rent accounting is no different, and there are countless ways to do it.
5. Late Charges
Enforcing late fees is one of the most practical ways to leverage automation in your rental.
Of property management softwareyou can easily schedule payment reminders and apply late payment fees to the accounts of tenants who haven’t paid by the due date (or after a specified grace period).
This way your tenants can’t claim they “didn’t know” or “forgot” about the late payment – the charges will automatically appear next to all late rent payments.
Automatically generating records is also useful if you ever need to evict a tenant. During an eviction hearing, you must prove that the tenant has violated the lease. With automated administration, you do not have to worry about whether you have remembered to record that the tenant has not paid on time. You already have dated and time-stamped records of all payments and late payment fees.
Related: New Real Estate Technology: Disruptive Ideas Transforming the Industry
There’s no shortage of responsibilities when you run a rental business, and anything that simplifies the process is a plus. Automating components of your property management is a huge step you can take to embrace the digitization of the industry.
Instead of juggling tedious, mundane rental tasks, use automation to pursue bigger and better goals.
