If you’re an overworked landlord struggling to keep up with your rental responsibilities, you aren’t alone. Many landlords struggle with productivity in their businesses.
Maybe you’re new to real estate or are juggling school or work on top of your rentals. You might manage your rentals from a home office with many distractions or while you’re on the go. As rental property becomes more accessible and attractive to those working remotely, productivity becomes a real challenge.
If any of these circumstances apply to you, it might be time to assess your business’s productivity. Fortunately, you can use many tools and resources to maximize your time and make the most of your investments.
Here are five rental business productivity tips for any landlord.
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Collect Rent Online
Collecting rent online is the single biggest step you can take to increase productivity.
Online payments are quicker, more reliable, and more secure. They don’t require hand-made receipts, manual record-keeping, or trips to and from the bank.
Each of these features is inherently time-saving. In fact, rent collection can be entirely automatic. Property management software lets tenants connect their bank accounts and automate payments. You’ll receive notifications when they pay (or when they don’t), and your software can automatically enforce the late fees you assign. Rent collection can be an entirely hands-free process.
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Integrate Your QuickBooks Account
If you use QuickBooks to manage your rental accounting, you can increase productivity by integrating your account with your property management software. Many platforms offer this time-saving integration.
With QuickBooks integration, you can link tenant payments directly to your bookkeeping system. You don’t have to worry about relogging expenses or mistyping digits. Even minor ledger mistakes can result in hours of frustration or even fees come tax season.
Some software platforms also offer automatic bank reconciliation. This feature helps proofread your books against your bank account to identify discrepancies before they steal more of your time and energy.
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Automate Tasks
Rent collection isn’t the only rental business function that can be automated. With software, you can automate many of your daily landlord tasks.
For instance, most property management software platforms offer maintenance management, online document signing, and listing syndication. Each of these features allows you to automate your different landlord responsibilities: repairs, leases, and advertising.
Sometimes, productivity is as simple as delegating tasks. If you’ve hired employees to help ease your workload, you can use multi-user management on your software to assign tasks to your team.
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Dedicate a Workspace for Rental Management
Many landlords work on the run—managing tenants in between personal errands, freelance work, or a full-time job.
It’s easy to become overwhelmed and disorganized when you don’t have a dedicated space for managing your rentals. If this sounds like you, consider investing in a home office for yourself.
Home offices are versatile, convenient productivity havens. Instead of managing your tenants from your kitchen table or on the move with your smartphone, design a workspace solely for focusing on your landlord responsibilities.
What’s more, landlords who work from home can take advantage of the home office deduction. This means you can deduct a portion of your rent, mortgage interest, office supplies, furniture, computers, and improvements to your office.
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Go Paperless
In a digital economy, paper is redundant. Paper copies of your receipts, invoices, records, or leases are easily lost or damaged. They only get in the way of your productivity.
Instead, store documents on your cloud-based property management software. Cloud documents can never be misplaced or stolen. Digital documents are also searchable, so you can find the information you need without scouring dozens of paper files.
Managing Your Time and Your Tenants
Maximum productivity is the goal of any business owner. As a landlord, your situation is unique. Digital management and automation have made it possible to own rental properties and pursue personal or professional goals at the same time. Whether you’re a full-time landlord or you take advantage of this freedom, these tips will help you maximize productivity in your business.
