A Better Property Management Rent Roll
If you’re keenly interested in your property’s cash flow, status, receivables, and more, then you’re interested in keeping your portfolio primed and profitable.
And property management companies need to be just as riveted to reports as you are.
It’s a key requirement of managers that they think more like investors. Perhaps that would help them “feel” like an investor and have the same urgency about performance, overviews and the rental property outlook.
A special report called the Rent Roll was created as a short summary of a property’s status on a specific date — a snapshot of a landlord’s rental property holdings. Can one accounting or financial document really display the full value/performance of a complex portfolio? Should we always be insisting on tools, reports, KPIs which help us refine data to make better decisions?
If these criteria are the real fundamental indicators (i.e., rental income, leasing outlook, payment status) and all other data is believed to be okay, then the Rent Roll may provide the critical insights users need.
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Rent Roll is an Old Document
Why is the Rent Roll used today when so many other automated property financial documents are readily available? (You can produce your rent roll report in your ManageCasa dashboard via the reports module and automatically share it).
Rent Roll Report via ManageCasa
Rent Rolls go back to past decades when reports were periodic and on paper. The rent roll was the best, focused real time document they had then. And now today, within a property management platform, the rent roll still is a key report.
Your rent roll does provide a unique look at a business, and too, the current status quo and key stats (such as gross rent, projected future costs, and rent amount overdue) are important. If there are units that need serious repairs or tenants are on the verge of moving out, it means vacancy losses are ahead.
Bankers and investors want current key information to make lending or purchase decisions. And you want to know what they’re going to see.
Vacancies are deal killers since churn losses are difficult to manage. Investors and bankers want consistency and certainty.
Investors, bankers and others are keenly aware of this document because it gets to the heart of the value of a rental landlord’s assets. It’s a document that motivates better performance too.
What is the Rent Roll?
A landlord’s rent roll report is a document in spreadsheet format, which provides a summary of rental income for a particular property or properties.
“The rent roll is an all-purpose document that can be used by buyers and sellers, asset managers, property managers, real estate investors and landlords, and lenders. It provides a quick snapshot of one’s tenant base, the property performance and the gross rental income.” from ISSUSU post.
The Rent Roll can be built to be property-specific or as a master rent roll for a landlord’s full rental property portfolio.
A few reasons why the rent roll report is important to owners:
Tenant Rent Collection: The rent roll report records payment and amount of rent paid along with any overdue rents.
Lease Renewals: Lease start and end dates for each tenant/unit which helps alert to lease expiry dates, and to propare for lease renewal or to renegotiate lease agreements with the tenants.
Tenant Management: Tenant information to track and identify any problematic tenants, track move-ins and move-out dates.
Property Valuation: To determine the value of the rental property, and profit outlook, and as an aid to loan approval or mortgage applications by landlords.
Property Analysis and Planning: To identify trends in rental income and vacancy rates, plan for maintenance and repairs, and make informed decisions about future investments and expansions.
Detailed Categories in the Rent Roll
Rent Roll reports typically includes the following information:
- property address
- unit information
- no. of beds/baths
- relevant tenant information such as length of tenancy
- gross monthly rent
- remodel cost
- months to breakeven
- vacancy rates
- total monthly rent
- rent increase projection
- special notes on property units
Customize your Rent Roll to include those items most relevant to seeing the status of all leases and the potential for revenue growth and losses.
A better Rent Roll can be had by focusing on the financial status plus indicators for future performance. Negative or downtrending numbers (vacancy rate; rent vs inflation; remodeling cost) then become a stimulus for strategizing change and improvement.
8 Ways to Improve your Rent Roll Report
Rent Rolls can include a wide range of information, so which should be included to help make it as valuable as possible?
- lease expiry dates (develop your lease renewal strategy)
- rent delinquency rate
- rent delinquency amount
- condition reports (estimate the cost of new appliances, floors, and other upkeep)
- distance from market rent (compare current to market rate for revenue growth)
- vacancy rate (calculate current rate x expected local market rate to assess churn losses and turnover costs)
- gross rent per unit type/bedrooms
- time to breakeven (across the entire portfolio)
The Rent Roll is a valuable document, and it should be customized to provide the exact information and indicators which owners, bankers and investors are looking for. Accounting and operations reports aren’t discussed online a great deal, yet they do color the understanding and outlook of property owners. It is best to optimize them.
Speak to one of our sales team, and schedule a demo of ManageCasa now so you can explore its reporting features including income statements, cash flow statements, rent rolls and other rental financial documents.
Apartmentalize | Accounting Software | Accounting for Property Managers | Property Management Financials | Profit and Loss Statements | Income Statements | Rental Income Property Investment | Tenant Churn Costs | Rental Property Reports | Property Management Guide
