Proper organization is a vital part of any business, especially for company owners like landlords and property managers. While managing multiple properties at once, it’s crucial to keep things in order and properly organize important information. If you lose track of documents such as lease agreements, maintenance forms, and rental registration forms, it could be detrimental to your business. So, if you want to learn some organizational tips for landlords and property managers, just keep reading.
Why Is It Important for Landlords to Stay Organized?
Both landlords and property managers need to stay organized for many reasons. It can be hard for landlords who also manage their properties to keep every part of your business in order. However, it’s essential to run your rental business efficiently.
For example, you need to make sure all your current tenant’s needs are met while also welcoming new tenants. Additionally, if you hire contractors, employees, or business partners to help run your business, you’ll also need to keep track of those finances. Ultimately, every aspect of property ownership involves a lot of paperwork, documentation, and communication.
That said, it’s important to keep things in order and stay organized. Whether it’s lease forms, tenant move-in or move-out forms, maintenance requests, or rental applications, these are important documents that cannot be lost.
Some busy landlords opt to hire a property management team to help them stay organized. However, that responsibility transfers over to your management team. So, let’s go over some key ways for you to work alongside your property management team to stay organized.
How Can Landlords Stay More Organized?
As we stated above, landlords are extremely busy people with endless responsibilities. In turn, it can be hard for them to stay organized through it all. So, here are some of our top organizational tips for landlords struggling to keep everything in order.
- Document Everything
- Create a Filing System
- Communicate With Tenants
- Use Management Software
- Track Finances and Taxes Accurately
Document Everything
The first step to keeping your rental business organized is documenting everything. This includes all the information that passes through your leasing office, like rental applications, inspection reports, invoices, and tenant requests. Putting these things on paper to keep them on record is important in tracking finances, work orders, agreements, and more.
Additionally, while handling tenant requests and amendments to lease agreements, make sure to put everything in writing. Verbal communication is not enough when it comes to large lease changes. When you have everything on paper, there’s no confusion about what was said by who.
Sorting through these documents and keeping them together is another vital part of keeping your business organized. Next, we’ll talk about how you can create a good filing system.
Create a Filing System
If you keep everything documented on paper, it’s crucial to create an efficient bookkeeping system to easily pull out documents and review them quickly. You can do this by storing files away in different sections, such as tenant documents, property documents, finances, and contacts.
One way you can do this is by having a filing cabinet with different folders for each section. Some documents you’ll want for each folder include:
Tenant Documents
For tenant documents, you’ll want to keep all of the following together:
- Background check reports
- Rental applications
- Lease contract with a tenant’s signature
- Proof of receipts for rental payments and security deposits
- Move-in and move-out reports done by tenants
- Tenant complaints
Property Documents
For property documents, you should file this paperwork together:
- Rental registration
- Inspection reports
- Licenses and permits
- Property ownership documents
- Insurance forms
- Purchase receipts for furniture, appliances, and renovations
- Maintenance records and receipts
Finances
Tracking your finances is extremely important in running a rental business. So, keep these finance reports filed together at all times:
- Tax reports and return files
- End-of-year financial statements
- Expense reports
- Mortgage paperwork
- External and internal audit documentation
Work Contacts
Finally, keeping your contact information filed together is another important organizational tip for landlords. Some information you’ll want to keep track of includes:
- Business partner information
- Contractors you’ve hired for property work
- Property maintenance services
- Property management contacts
- Leasing agent contact information
Communicate With Tenants
One of the best ways to stay organized and control your rental business is to maintain consistent communication with your tenants. Similarly, keeping a record of your tenant’s communication is also crucial in the process.
Additionally, when you keep in frequent contact with tenants, you’ll better understand what’s happening in your rental properties. For example, being there to hear tenant complaints or checking in to see if everything is going good is a wonderful way to keep your business organized.
Use Property Management Software
If you’re having trouble keeping every aspect of your rental business organized, there are great software systems available to help. For example, modern property management technology allows tenants and property managers to track documents digitally. For digital property management, there are systems like:
This software allows landlords to accurately track budgets, assign tasks, look at timelines, and more. Applications like MRI Software, TurboTenant, and YardiBreeze allow managers to streamline rental management processes and effectively manage real estate operations. MRI Software offers a number of services, such as lease administration, asset management, risk management, and more.
For a basic management system, TurboTenant is free and lets landlords and tenants track paperwork, maintenance concerns, communication, and payments altogether. YardiBreeze offers comprehensive management services like marketing, rent collection, accounting services, maintenance, insurance, and more.
That said, if you’re having trouble keeping track of all your properties, consider using digital rental property management software to help keep things accurate and in order.
Track Finances and Taxes Accurately
Landlords should keep financial information filed together, but equally important is tracking this information accurately. Without accurate records and financial reports, you could risk a tax audit or lose proper track of your finances.
So, when dealing with critical financial records and reports, consider working alongside a financial advisor or accountant to make sure things are looking good at all times. Similarly, this will give you peace of mind and help you stay organized. Luckily, there are a few accounting tools that can help property managers stay more accurate and organized. Some of the most user-friendly accounting software for landlords include:
Prices for property management accounting software typically depend on how many properties you manage. For example, AppFolio charges an onboarding fee of $400 and then a minimum of $250-$1500 monthly fee, depending on which plan you choose.
Rentec Direct offers a free package with basic features for up to 10 properties. However, most property managers need more than that. So, they offer advanced packages ranging from $35 to $40 per month, with the pricing based on how many properties you manage.
Buildium is a bit more expensive, but it offers tons of accounting features. This software has three plans to choose from, ranging from $50 per month to $460 per month. Although it’s a bit more expensive, Buildium offers many advanced features with easy-to-understand tutorials.
Organizational Tips for Landlords and Property Managers
Now that we’ve gone over some organizational tips for landlords, it’s clear that there is a lot to keep track of. That said, many landlords seek help for this portion of their business. Property management is an excellent option for busy landlords who struggle to organize their property tasks and documents.
On the other hand, it’s also crucial for property managers to organize documents properly. This may include emails, scheduling, records, and more. So, keep reading if you want to learn five ways successful property managers can stay organized.
- Always Think Ahead- Staying ahead on changing technology and rental strategies is crucial in staying successfully organized.
- Set Goals and Implement Strategies- It’s important for landlords and property managers to set goals and implement strategies to reach goals. For example, consistently work to lessen expenditures and improve tenant satisfaction.
- Digitalize Important Documents- Turning paperwork digital is one of the best organizational tips for landlords and property managers. Although you can still lose digital files, it’s much easier to find documents quickly.
- Communicate With Property Owners- Staying in contact with property owners can give them peace of mind. Additionally, it can help determine what tasks can be done and improve client satisfaction.
- Manage Your Time Wisely- Time management is an organizational skill that any business owner should have. If you use time wisely, you can be more efficient and productive throughout the workday.
Looking for a Trusted Property Management Team?
If you are a busy landlord with multiple properties and find yourself too busy for all the necessary tasks and paperwork? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. That said, one of the best organizational tips for landlords is hiring a property manager.
Property managers, like the professionals at Bay Property Management Group, are qualified and eager to help your rental business succeed. So, if you’re looking for property management in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and other surrounding counties, contact us today!