Becoming a More Profitable Rental Property Owner

The typical real estate owner is looking to turn a profit. Is it easy to do so? Sometimes yes, sometimes more work is involved.  While it seems that profitability is a ‘given’ when you purchase a rental property, that’s not always the case. We’ve discovered a few fundamental (and easy!) ways to increase your profitability. 

Many of these simple changes, or improvements in how you manage your property, are something you do in your personal home. Why not do the same with your rental properties? It may seem that the investment in technology or products are too expensive to make money. Over the long haul, you’ll see a return on your investment. Consider the following tools of the trade to make more money on your real estate investments.

 

 We’ve all heard that time is money…These steps will save you both.  

 1 - Reduce turnover… Keep your best tenants. How? Provide a personal touch, great service and time saving tools. How do you personalize a rental experience, to create a favorable tenant experience? Simple touches like an email to your tenant on their birthday or reaching out to ask about how things are at the property,give the tenant a personal experience. Other options include proactive property or landscape improvements. Sprucing up the property with a new tree, bush or plant improves the overall property. Tenants appreciate a personal touch in service, and a legitimate interest in improving their ‘home’.

    2- Little things… like a programmable thermostat or ceiling fans. Why do little things  improve your profitability? A set of tenants will seek out landlords who are energy conscious, or a bit more technologically focused. They also seek landlords who help them save money across the board. A programmable thermostat helps monitor usage, enabling tenants to better manage utility bills. Tenants save money by having more control over their energy use. This ‘little thing’ attracts tenants. Ceiling fans, too! How great is it to use a fan during transition months, when the AC is too cool, however, a ceiling fan breeze is just right. Saving energy here as well.
 By providing the little things to improve your tenant’s living environment, the tenant will stay longer,   reducing turnover, and saving you money.

 3- Collect Rent Electronically

Remembering ‘Time is Money’… save time and make money with Online Rent Payments. Tenants want to pay online. Many tenants pay electronically for other services such as electric and gas payments – why not rent? Asking tenants to write a paper check, or to pay in cash, is an inconvenience.

Schedule My Rent provides a simple, easy and time efficient way to take rent electronically. It saves both tenant and landlord time and effort, and reduces the issues with mailing a paper check. Both tenant and landlord know exactly when a payment is received – no lost checks, late checks or uncertain payment timing.

Schedule My Rent’s landlord software has an ideal tenant portal, making sign-up a synch. Roommates are able to split payments, saving each tenant time. Schedule My Rent allows users to establish automatic withdrawals on the same day of the month for rent payments.

Electronic payments reduce costs for business and real estate owners. It’s a simple process, see how electronic payments work.

 4 -  Maintenance mastery… Some of our landlords report paying hundreds, or thousands of dollars in extra service calls due to a reactive maintenance approach. What’s that? Well, if a landlord avoids spending money by waiting until it’s time to call a repairman, that’s reactive maintenance. Get ahead of issues and repairs by proactively maintaining air conditioners, replacing filters, cleaning vent systems, and roof maintenance.

Tenants are not always savvy at diagnosing minor fixes for potentially expensive repairs. By spending a few extra minutes to schedule maintenance, your appliances and property life will increase, as will your property ROI.

  5 - Save the trees…
Paper-based management systems for your business add complexity and increase the time you spend managing your business. Think about the elements of a paper-based approach – there’s the receipt of paper invoices, receipts and check payments. Escape filing, scanning, and shredding by using electronic tools, such as Schedule My Rent. We automate the rent collection and communication process – saving you time (and money!).

By replacing check payments, we save you time – no more driving to the mailbox, bank, or to your property to collect rent. You’ll love the ease of having money automatically sent to your bank account. We save you time by offering electronic communications surrounding rent payment due dates, late fees, reminders, and receipt of rent payment.

 As a property investor and owner, the objective is to make a profit, and reduce the amount of time doing so. As we’ve described above, a few simple improvements can save you time and money, increasing your profitability.