Have you ever noticed that some landlords have all the time in the world, while others seem like they’re constantly chasing after problems with tenants or their property managers? Whether you’re thinking of adding some fix-and-hold properties to your real estate investing portfolio or not, you can learn a lot from those landlords who make it all look easy because they’ve figured out the secrets to great property management. These secrets can help just about any investor, whether you’re a house flipper, a landlord, or a wholesaler.
GREAT PROPERTY MANAGERS ARE ON TOP OF MARKETING
More and more, property management duties include attracting and screening tenants. Doing that means more than posting an ad on Craigslist and calling it a day. The best property management companies create a number of online presences through social media, their websites, and real estate listing sites. They post attractive signs in front of their rental properties, and they hold open houses regularly. In other words, they do everything they possibly can to attract quality tenants to their properties.
So what can you learn from this? Whether you’re focused on fix-and-flip or fix-and-hold properties, you need more than a listing to sell your houses fast. You need to market yourself, your business, and your properties at all times, even when you don’t have something for sale right now.
THEY DON’T JUST MAKE REPAIRS WHEN NECESSARY - THEY KEEP THEIR PROPERTIES MAINTAINED
Another way that really successful property management companies keep great tenants is through regular maintenance. They keep schedules of all of the maintenance that their properties need, and they make it very clear what responsibilities the tenants have for maintenance, as well. For example, they’ll either schedule a time to come by and install new air filters every few months, or they’ll make sure that the tenants know they’re responsible for replacing their own air filters.
This one might seem like it doesn’t apply to flipping houses at all, but think of it this way. When you start a rehab, you’ll see some things that definitely need to be replaced and others that you could probably get away with leaving as they are. Christina and I love to impress our buyers. It makes us feel good, but that’s not all—it helps us sell houses a lot faster. And paying attention to the small details of a rehab will help you build your reputation, too.
THEY’RE ALWAYS PROFESSIONAL
Finally, the best property managers aren’t just detail-oriented with tenant screenings and maintenance. They’re completely professional in everything they do for their business. That’s something that all house flippers and other investors can learn from.
Our job doesn’t require us to go into the office every day or wear a suit and tie, but just because we show up at auctions or work sites in jeans doesn’t mean we should be any less professional than a CEO of a huge corporation. The more professional you are with buyers and sellers and the people who work for and with you, the more deals you’ll make and the more flip houses you’ll sell.
See? You can learn a lot from great property management companies, even if you never plan on holding a rental property or doing any property management duties in your life.
