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Use Tenant Search Efforts to Scout Great New Hires

Use Tenant Search Efforts to Scout Great New Hires

It’s been said that the most expensive aspect of multifamily investing is replacing tenants, but that’s only half true. Any employer can tell you that replacing professional staff members can be just as costly— to your bottom line and business reputation.

Finding long-term tenants and building their loyalty to your community’s brand is important, and it’s just as important to do the same when hiring leasing and maintenance team members. Especially among Millennials, finding a job that offers purpose and identity is essential. Productivity suffers as much as 60 percent among employees that aren’t engaged, so scout your new hires like you would great tenants—recruit for the long-term.

Start with your brand

Every community has unique selling points. Find yours and build your branding effort around what makes your rentals feel like home. Build your tenants’ sense of community with a cohesive marketing effort that includes external and internal messaging. Hiring should be a natural extension of those external messages and should emphasize that working for you means becoming an essential member of your community’s family.

Follow industry best-practice leaders

The best in the business focus on building a pervasive and inescapable corporate culture of excellence. Just like great long-term tenants get extra perks at the best apartment communities, employees that embody the highest levels of customer service and professionalism are rewarded. Upper management and owners need to get boots on the ground and be seen setting the example for how employees, especially new hires, are expected to act. Personal attention to top-notch employees will have a huge influence on culture and overall job satisfaction, so put in some face time with your best hires.

Ask for feedback

Annual tenant surveys can help apartment managers spot gaps in customer service and maintenance, and annual employee surveys can highlight threats to morale and culture. How employees feel about their work environment directly affects their loyalty and job satisfaction. Take feedback and suggestions seriously, and implement changes that let your staff know you’re listening and that you value their hard work and dedication.

Need a recruiter to find new hires? 

It’s our specialty! Class A Management will help you build and maintain a culture that builds loyalty and recruit staff to meet and surpass your expectations. Our team has decades of experience providing comprehensive management services for many properties across Texas. Contact us to discuss your investment property staffing needs. 

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7 Essential Tools for the Successful Property Manager

7 Essential Tools for the Successful Property Manager

The best time to plan for success is before you jump into a new venture. Working with a successful property manager will help you achieve your goals faster than handling all the details on your own. Invest in rental real estate with these seven essential tools in your toolkit, and you won’t leave your success to fate.

1. Research

Before you do anything (and we mean anything), do your research. Success begins with understanding the necessary considerations and potential benefits of establishing a rental property. Initial property investment purchase considerations include financing options and the best strategies for earning supplemental income with your investment.

2. Business Plan

Lay out a detailed, three to five year timeline with steps you’ll take to grow your revenue. It sounds intimidating, but using an online tool like LivePlan can help you take the big picture and break it down into smaller, manageable components. Business planning is the first step in launching any business venture, and real estate investing is no different.

3. Ironclad lease

Find a generic download from NOLO or another property law site, then have a legal professional review and tweak your lease for your specific area and property. A lease should be a failsafe, guarding against every possible liability or tenant situation. It’s a great investment and needs to match your needs.

4. Trustworthy management software

Your software should address accounting needs, applicant screening, online payment processing, tenant tracking, and other options that depend on your needs and preferences. Check reviews to make sure your choice is well-supported and reliable. Get started by looking into ResMan.

5. Marketing plan

Planning for marketing your property is a task best completed along with your business plan. Keep it flexible, making sure to account for adjustments in your target audience and the success of your marketing mix. Never stop learning; it’s a field that’s ever-changing.

6. Supportive staff

Dependable and engaged employees and contractors are essential to real estate investing success. Develop a hiring strategy that is brand-focused and integrates your marketing strategy. Stay current on the latest human resources management tactics to retain great employees. Starting over with a new hire is expensive, and it hurts your bottom line in the long run.

7. Plan B

Knowing your strengths and weaknesses means knowing when it’s time to delegate. When the minutiae of property management begin to take up too much of your time, recognize that it may be time to hire an experienced and successful property manager.

Class A Management: Your successful property manager

Your time and the success of your investment depend on having a workable plan and sticking to it. As every successful investor knows, “failure to plan is a plan to fail.”

With over four decades in the property management industry, our team can help you with each of these tools and more. Learn more about how Class A Management can help ensure you have every tool you need

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Being Grateful Improves Your Business

Being Grateful Improves Your Business

In business and life, it’s easy to focus on what’s going wrong over what’s running smoothly. Similarly, a landlord can focus on the tenants who don’t pay rent on time and destroy property than on the tenants who are stress-free.

Not all of us understand the significance of effective communication between a landlord and a tenant. Those living in rental-based units represent 32% of Americans. That’s a lot of people (over 44 million), building and maintaining relationships and living experiences with property owners and managers. 

Showing gratitude to your tenants isn’t a matter of time, difficulty, or having a great deal of expenditure. In two words, a “thank you” can do wonders.

Here are five ways to build a healthy relationship between a tenant and an owner that will contribute to your investment business success. 

1. Have a responsive attitude

A quick response to a tenant’s call or an email shows the landlord cares about them and the property. Don’t leave a tenant’s queries unanswered or make them wait for an undefined period. Furthermore, if you have a pre-planned management office closure, keep the tenant informed and provide emergency contact details of the contractors.

2. Say thank you and give rewards

Consider saying thank you for small things like paying rent on time or keeping the rental unit clean and tidy. You can help your tenant by providing a free carpet cleaning service or even a fresh coat of paint for the living room or surprise them with a discount on next month’s rent. The reward is worth the effort for both of you.

3. Give space

A valuable detail to remember when maintaining a healthy relationship is respecting tenant privacy. You can’t show up at the rental unit without prior notice. Giving adequate notification isn’t only about being polite, but is also required by law in most places.

4. Stick to your promise

Put yourself in a tenant’s shoes. The start of a bond begins with keeping your word.  So, if you promise to provide a coat of fresh paint or a new appliance, for instance, and you don’t, you do irreparable damage to that bond. Don’t raise false hopes. Promise only what you know you can and will deliver.

5. Be genuine when increasing rent rates

Raising the rent is a natural part of rental property management. But it must be done respectfully. Giving your tenants plenty of notice is one way; while making sure not to implement the increase around the holidays is another.  For example, it’s better to wait to raise the rent beginning January 1 instead of December 1.

Grow your income property business with Class A Management

There are many ways to show gratitude for your tenants, and they all come with their benefits. Happy tenants not only are more loyal (long-term revenue) but are also more likely to refer others (more business). 

Need help figuring it all out? The comprehensive management services available through Class A Management closely monitor all aspects of the property tenant relationship. Learn more about how we keep properties at maximum occupancy, then work with us to create lasting tenant loyalty. 

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What Does a Property Manager Do?

What does a property manager do

Real estate investors are highly self-sufficient, independent thinkers who ask great questions. They want to know where their money is going, what benefits they’ll receive when paying for a service, and how that translates into building a portfolio that provides security and wealth. Our favorite question, of course, is: What does a property manager do?

In order of importance, here’s a list of everything great property managers can do for real estate investors.

Generate positive cash flow

Investors take a risk buying rental properties. A good property manager understands that risk and knows that time and occupancy rates are of the essence. Here’s how property managers generate cash flow for investors quickly and reliably:

  • Set rents that are appealing to the local market
  • Market properties to a local target audience
  • Select applicants who will pay rent on time every month
  • Collect rent from all tenants

It’s all about the rent. Collecting that rent depends on many factors that a reliable property management company can manage so owners see positive cash flow.

Protect landlords from costly legal and tax situations

Laws protecting tenants and property owners vary from state to state and even within local municipalities. Those laws are in place to protect everyone from unfair or discriminatory housing practices, and it’s a property manager’s job to follow local and state laws when vetting tenant applications, writing leases, collecting rent, and even handling evictions.

In addition to following local and state laws regarding landlord-tenant agreements, property managers also provide monthly income and expenditure reports that keep property owners apprised of a property’s performance. That information helps owners make investment decisions, such as making upgrades and renovations or identifying opportunities to sell a property to maximize profit.

Property managers also provide owners with tax documents necessary for annual IRS filing. Those include yearly investment property expense reports and 1099 forms so owners can claim rental property income.

Keep properties in good repair

A well-maintained property will provide income much more reliably than one that falls into disrepair. Property managers make sure that valuable rental investments continue to provide owners with cash flow by regularly providing the following services:

If you’re a property owner looking for an experienced property management company with a record of success, Class A Management is ready to handle all your property investment needs. 

What do property managers do: comprehensive management

The correct answer to “What do property managers do?” should be “everything!” Finding a property management company that offers comprehensive property management services doesn’t have to be time-consuming. Contact us today to learn more about how Class A Management can relieve you of some of the burdens of rental ownership while protecting your investment and helping grow your portfolio. It’s what we do.

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What is Real Property Management?

What is real property management?

Real property management is a scalable service that helps real estate property owners manage successful investments. Real property management companies come in many different sizes, from a single property manager who lives on-site in an apartment complex to a large-scale company that manages properties for many different landlords for a fee.

What does a property manager do?

Property managers work to keep properties maintained and rented within a fair and profitable business model. From marketing to general repairs, managers work for both the property owner and the tenant to provide excellent customer service.

It all begins with establishing a relationship and management contract with the property owner. Property managers then set the rent, market the property to find and vet the right tenant, and work with the tenant to make sure the property stays in good working order and that the rent is paid on time.

Benefits of real property management

Landlords who manage their own properties sometimes end up spending most of their time finding tenants or performing maintenance and repairs. Real property management companies can ease that burden by employing industry best practices and leveraging resources not available to property owners. These companies often have rental applications and contracts designed to protect property owners and tenants from unfair practices and litigation, which is a win for everyone involved. Property managers also maintain real estate properties, which preserves their value. In addition, a good real property management company will provide a landlord with detailed expense reports and documentation that help simplify taxes for owners.

How to find a good property manager

The best real property management companies offer consultation services even before purchase, helping prospective property owners through the vetting and real estate purchase process. Comprehensive property management services include marketing, operations, maintenance, accounting, and even disposition consulting when it’s time to sell. Ask any property management company you’re considering about their professional affiliations, what their occupancy rates are, and how they approach tenant disputes or non-payment issues.

Whether you’re hiring a management company or looking for a great rental property for your next home, finding a company with a great track record is essential for long-term success. Class A Management offers comprehensive management services, and our seasoned professionals are committed to serving our landlords and tenants fairly and efficiently. Contact us today to learn more about how we can customize a services package for your single-family or multifamily property. Maximize your investment with a team that offers the respect, value, and experience you and your tenants deserve!