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7 Ways Technology Will Improve Your Rental Property Business

As a landlord, you’re pulled in different directions every day. You have to handle tenant requests, keep up with important business documents, market your properties to find new tenants, and more. If you don’t have the right rental property technology in place, it can get overwhelming—fast.

So today, we’re going to talk about seven ways you can use rental property technology to save time, streamline your business, and find more high-paying tenants. That way, you can stop stressing and start making your rental property business more profitable.

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How to Use Rental Property Technology to Improve Your Business

1. Virtual Property Tours

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way many companies operate. For example, meeting virtually instead of in person has become a lot more common. That said, the same is true for rental properties. Now, you may be wondering—How can you virtually show someone your rental property?

These days, it’s actually quite simple! With the use of rental property technology, you don’t have to take time out of your busy schedule to show your property to prospective tenants.

If you don’t know how virtual property tours work, they allow tenants to get a full view of your rental property without actually touring it in person. In the past, landlords have placed keys in lockboxes at their rental properties so that tenants can view it on their own time. However, as you can imagine, this method comes with risks.

So, preparing a virtual tour of your home gives tenants the unique experience of touring the home before seeing it in person. With modern technology, like 360 Virtual Tours and 3D Models, your prospective tenants can get a good feel for what the home truly looks like without leaving the comfort of their current home.

2. Online Marketing Tools

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“For Rent” signs are still effective, and using the newspaper to advertise your property may land you a few prospective tenants. However, if those are the only two marketing methods you’re using, you’re missing on a major opportunity to land high-quality tenants: online marketing.

Here are a few ways you can use online marketing to rent out more properties:

  • Post your properties on Craigslist, Zillow, and other online listing sites- Make sure you include lots of photos of your properties and a description of each property’s amenities. You’ll also want to include information about the amenities in the local area based on your ideal renter. For example, if your property is in Bel Air and you want to attract student renters, you could mention that Harford Community College is nearby!
  • Build a website and use it for marketing your properties- You can use a content management system like WordPress to create a landlord website with all of your property listings. Be sure to place a contact form on your site so interested potential tenants can easily reach you.
  • Get active on social media- If you have a website, you can share it on social media along with photos of your properties. Use hashtags to make it easier for potential tenants to find you and interact with the people who engage with your posts.

3. Project Management Systems

Any self-employed person can benefit from a good project management system, and that especially applies to landlords. After all, landlords must schedule and keep track of many events, including property showings, tenant meetings, and maintenance appointments.

Here are a few project management options to consider:

Google Calendar is free, so you may want to start with that and upgrade as needed depending on your specific business needs. On the other hand, Asana is great for tracking tasks and integrating with other marketing tools.

Similarly, Basecamp is designed for collaboration and communicating with others to streamline your business. All in all, these project management systems are great considerations when it comes to rental property technology.

4. Digital Maintenance Requests

Landlords and tenants can also use modern rental property technology to submit and review maintenance requests. After all, nobody wants to play phone tag or wait until business hours to submit an important maintenance request.

With digital maintenance request options, tenants can report issues at any time and add photos or other details quickly. Similarly, with the use of project management systems, landlords can follow up, track repair processes, or assign tasks to various vendors.

All in all, the ability to submit, review, and assign maintenance repair tasks virtually is extremely convenient for everyone involved.

5. Accounting Software

Let’s face it – tax season can be challenging for anyone running a business. But, if you don’t keep good records of your income and expenses, it’s even more of a hassle.

That’s why you should consider accounting software to help you stay on track year-round. There are lots of options available, but one good option you could use is Freshbooks, which is cloud accounting software for small business owners. Freshbooks makes it easy to see your income and expenses at a glance, and that information can help you budget and plan for the future.

However, you can also use something as simple as an Excel spreadsheet or something more robust like Quickbooks. It depends on the complexity of your business finances and how much you are willing to pay for accounting software.

If you work with a property management team, like Bay Property Management Group, they can send you financial reports and help you keep track of your expenses for each of your properties.

6. Online Payment Options for Tenants

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When you have multiple tenants, it can be a hassle to collect rent payments in person and travel to the bank to deposit the money.

It’s worse when you live far from your properties – you definitely wouldn’t want to drive from Harford County to Montgomery County every time you need to collect payment!

Why not save yourself the hassle by using an online bill pay system?

With online bill pay, you can simply give tenants login information and allow them to pay their rent through an EFT (electronic funds transfer).

You can even ask them to set up auto-pay to cut down on late rent payments. If they are hesitant, incentivize the auto-pay option by offering to lower their monthly rent a bit if they sign up.

7. Smart Technology for Your Properties

If you’re interested in attracting higher-paying tenants, consider adding helpful gadgets to your properties. Here are a few examples:

  • Remote Security Cameras – These cameras allow you to view live footage of your property from any location via a mobile device.
  • Smart Smoke Detectors – These monitor the air quality on your property and alert you if a fire is detected.
  • Smart Burglar Alarms – When you install these, you’ll be notified immediately if a break-in occurs at your property.
  • Smart Lighting Systems – Smart lighting allows tenants to save energy and money by controlling lighting in the home with their mobile devices.

Implementing smart rental property technology can help keep your tenants and your property safe. Similarly, it can save you or your tenants from paying higher utility costs by saving energy.

How Can You Improve Your Rental Property Business?

As you can see, rental property technology can help you attract better tenants and allow you to charge more for rent due to the safety advantages. On top of that, safety features give you peace of mind, so you don’t have to worry as much about your tenants and properties.

All of the options mentioned in this post can help you improve your rental property business, but if you still feel overwhelmed with unwanted responsibilities, consider partnering with Bay Management Group.

We can help you get the best possible return on your rental property investments and relieve you of many tasks so you can turn your business into a source of more passive income. If you’re interested in learning more about our services in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., and Virginia, contact us today.