Property management businesses are expected to thrive as new commercial and residential properties are being built to cope with the demand for retail and housing space. With the property management market projected to grow to nearly $37 billion by 2028, there’s a lot of room for innovation in this sector, particularly when it comes to streamlining operations. Apart from utilizing digital property management tools such as virtual reality for property viewing and Artificial Intelligence for property analysis, it’s likely that more companies will be outsourcing some crucial elements of their operations to increase overall efficiency.
Property management startups will certainly benefit from availed outsourced services since this will allow their staff to focus on more important tasks, such as interacting with existing and potential tenants. But with so many outsourcing companies all over the world, it’s important to choose one that has people with the relevant skills to help your business grow. Moreover, you need to decide which tasks to outsource, and which ones to leave with your team. Here’s how to identify the ideal outsourced services for your property management firm startup.
Receiving and Forwarding Maintenance Requests
Property managers typically deal with multiple maintenance requests throughout the day. Whether it’s a faulty air conditioning system in a retail building or a malfunctioning elevator in a residential development, property managers have to ensure that these issues are dealt with on time. But with so many requests coming in, there likely are some that will fall through the cracks.
According to STAFFVIRTUAL, property managers need some form of support in this area since a forgotten maintenance request could have a negative impact on your company’s reputation, as well as your relationship with your tenants. As such, consider letting an outsourced service company receive and forward all maintenance requests.
To ensure efficiency, the outsourcing company may assign a virtual assistant to your startup to handle this task. The VA will respond to calls, direct messages, and emails requesting maintenance services in real time, and then they’ll forward the request to the appropriate personnel or professional who will do the repairs. The virtual assistant may also be tasked to keep a record of all maintenance requests and do a review of these on a monthly basis. If any requests show up multiple times on the system within the month, it may be time to do more intensive repairs or completely replace whatever it is in the building that keeps malfunctioning. This should be reported immediately to the property manager so that they can take the necessary steps to resolve the problem.
Dealing with Late Payments
Are most of your tenants struggling to pay rent on time? This seems to be a common occurrence in rental properties as recent data shows that about 8.4 million American renters aren’t caught up with their payments. Some tenants are making late payments since they have to wait until funds are available, but some miss the due date because they’re on holiday or simply forgot about it because of their busy schedules. To help your property management startup collect payments, outsource this task to a virtual assistant. They can send reminders of the due date to tenants through email or direct messages, and even follow up late payments through voice calls.
Since anybody who communicates with your tenants regarding payments will be associated with your company, it’s important to train the virtual assistant so they can be professionally authoritative while still being respectful to your clients. Following up on late payments in a respectful manner allows your startup to maintain a healthy and positive relationship with your tenants.
Qualifying Leads to Find the Right Tenants
If your property is in a prime location or has modern or sustainable features, your startup likely gets a lot of calls from interested parties who want more information about the development. But rather than letting your property manager handle these inquiries, it may be better to outsource this task to a virtual assistant so they can help your manager find the right tenants.
A VA can answer basic questions about the building, such as the amenities and rental price. They can even take clients on a virtual tour of the property so they’ll have an idea of what it’s like inside. Those who can afford the rent and are truly interested may ask for an in-person viewing of the property, which will then be carried out by the property manager. Qualifying leads with the help of a virtual assistant helps to save time, and it enables your property manager to focus on other urgent tasks that need their attention.
Outsourcing some elements of your company’s operations can help your property management startup run efficiently and prevent problems down the line. Consider outsourcing to boost productivity and enable your property managers to prioritize important tasks.