How Property Management Companies are Better Today

November 16, 2020

22 Ways Property Managers are Outperforming

Property managers are adapting to the Covid 19 pandemic challenge. The smartest are more aware of how the business climate is trending and how their companies will win in 2021.

When Covid 19 invaded the UK, US and Australia last March, it only hastened the modernization trend for property management companies. Traditional management practices keep weighing on profitability.

Property managers have found digital solutions are providing relief as we head into 2021. And these solutions respond to landlord’s most vexing problems.

Yet despite the health threat to tenants, rent cash flow crisis, and eviction moratoria, many property management companies feel positive they’re on the right track. Most are expecting growth in 2021, but growth doesn’t guarantee profit.

Below we have 22 key ways that managers use to raise property management performance.

The Shift to Automation

Back at the first of the year, some landlords and property managers stayed true to their traditional routine of manual management. Those routines included in-office, face to face management processes such as screening interviews, in-person rent collection, paperwork processing, spreadsheet finances, on-site visits to diagnose tenant or equipment/house problems, and in-person repairs while tenants were home.

A shift to property management software is helping with the overwork and rework issues and improving profitability. It’s also helping to mitigate the threat of Covid 19.

Covid 19 May Not Go Away

The spring Covid 19 surge happened so quickly and now in the next wave, it is an increasing weight on owners’ finances and profit outlook. Many property managers realized person to person, paper-based management was a severe health risk.

“only 56% of those between 18 and 34 years old are likely to get vaccinated, if a shot would decrease the odds of becoming infected by half” — Statnews report.

Screenshot courtesy of CDC.

It’s estimated that 50% of Americans don’t want to get vaccinated. They don’t trust the safety of the vaccine. Even experts are suggesting the initial vaccines might not work or won’t offer lasting immunity. Experts have said that Corona Viruses will be a persistent ongoing threat requiring vaccinations and booster shots.

Forecasts of infections by the CDC have unfortunately missed the mark. It’s already 40,000 to 60,000 above their best estimates.

It’s not just the duration but rather the intensity of this threat. Another lockdown is not out of the question. But for property managers who have modernized themselves and their business, the pandemic is less threatening.

How have property management companies adapted?

22 Ways the Pandemic Affected Property Managers

property management business being conducting online
tenants are being increasingly managed via virtual channels particularly via apps
complexity is making landlords outsource to property management companies who have the technology
adding value via greater involvement in owners financial management, cash flow, and accounts receivable
third-party, independent property managers are expecting growth in portfolios and revenue going forward
managers learning more about the preferences of all tenant demographics including Gen Z and Millennials
being more aware of their company’s unique value proposition to landlords
business is being built on modern property management software
exercising greater diligence with work execution and staff safety
creating Covid 19 control plans for apartment and multifamily buildings
taking more care in tenant relations
gaining better judgment about managing unprofitable properties
learning to grow revenue via additional services rather than raising rents
automating accounting and rent collection to save time
buying other property management companies
treating staff hiring and tenant screening as key factors in future performance
avoiding apartments and taking on more single-family house portfolios
managing with uncertainty in legal, revenue, leases, and expectations
understanding landlord-tenant laws
learning how to encourage rent payments and conduct tenant evictions properly
respecting property management insurance
learning poise and emotional balance during such turbulence in lockdowns and outbreaks

We expected changes in business for property management companies, but no one could have forecasted the acceleration effect of Covid 19.

For those property management company leaders who accepted the challenge and modernized to meet it, a business advantage has been realized at the expense of companies who were late to the digital party.

ManageCasa Can Help You Scale Up for a Sustainable Business

If you’re growing your property management firm, you can buy out other companies to scale up to greater profitability. But only by modernizing will you be able to sustain that level of business.

Improving your marketing power should give you yet another advantage such as: lead generation, improving tenant acquisition, premium brand recognition, and justifying higher rent prices.

It’s a certainty that in 2021, managers will sink more funds into property management marketing.

Perhaps the key trending improvement is an evolution in communications whether tenants or landlords.

Take a thorough look at ManageCasa property management software. This all in one platform has all the services and capabilities you need in one easy to learn and manage interface.