Top Goals for Property Managers in 2022

Portfolio Growth, Revenue Growth, Improved Efficiency and Customer Experience

The 4 goals of property management might well be returning as the number one real estate investment priority — drawing profit from rental real estate investment.

Rental property profit still has an awesome profile against a backdrop of sliding business prospects. Yet profit must be generated through services rather than taking services away.

As landlords discover they can’t deliver greater service and profit from their current service mix, they’ll be looking to a new approach (spoiler — they’ll be looking at new cloud-based, SaaS platforms with no IT investment or service commitments. They’ll get their cake and eat it too!)

2023 is just ahead now.  Managers will be reviewing everything from the rental management software they use, to how they conduct maintenance and deliver services to modern customers.

Property Management Focus Changed

Surveys last year seemed to suggest property managers goals and objectives changed due to the pandemic.

Profit slipped as a priority during the pandemic, presumably because supply chain delays, rising costs, and late rent payments and defaults were making profitability and good service an impossibility. The task at hand was survival.

Now as we enter a perhaps recessionary period, landlords and property managers want to know what their 2023 goals should be.  Will survival rise in importance again in 2023/2024? Or is this business update about to launch them into the most profitable period ever?

Optimistic Outlook for Landlords with the Right Technology and Business Models

It’s hard not to be optimistic about rental property management.  Demand is high and landlord’s need for efficient services, more value, and profitability is strong.

With limited rental stock available, demand will likely not be an issue for sometime. Still, there are bumps in the road ahead, which might be sizable hurdles for a few who aren’t able to visualize a path forward.

Visualization: Property managers are re-evaluating their business models, service mix, service fee models, choice of landlords to serve, types of properties, and how they attract and screen tenants. They’re reviewing their choice of technologies.

You may not have to go far to discover that there might be 3 to 5 ways you can really ramp up profitability and service quality.

Although technology can’t change the economic outlook, it can certainly aid in the journey to profitability. List all your challenges and objectives and you’ll discover that property management software is a key to improvement of each point.

The topic of business models seems beyond the scope of property landlords and property managers, but who else will help them assess and develop the right service mix for tenants? Investigate business model development later when you’re finished exploring the profitability challenge here in this post.

Pandemic Forces a Refocus on Customers

With new goals and a new turbulent economy, a new set of service priorities appears.

A 2020 survey revealed property managers felt a focus on growth, efficiency and profitability were the right objectives for their firms. 2 additional other objectives have risen in the success mix: tenant satisfaction and landlord happiness.

Business success can only happen if you find a way to keep your two most important customers happy.  More impactful gains can happen if you focus on the landlord’s big picture issues, and on optimizing the tenant experience. They don’t want more bells and whistles, they want more efficiency and maximized rent revenues.

If you’ve done a health check of your business you may have realized how your property management software solution is at the core of what you do. It will help you improve efficiency and communications, bring in better tenants, attract quality landlords, and allow you to scale up.

You Can’t Do it One at a Time

The key areas everyone is investigating are portfolio growth, revenue growth, along with improved cost efficiency and customer experience which we explore below.

These are the areas we’ve been focusing here in the ManageCasa blog too. And while every property manager starts out with good intentions, they find it difficult to achieve each of these management objectives individually. They find it’s more like opening a Pandora’s Box so a big picture solution is needed.

Keeping Up With Challenges With the Right Solution

The PM industry has evolved, with Proptech, government regulation, housing market growth, customer expectations, and growing competition.  Given all these demands, only a good software product can make it all come together.

Property managers are experimenting with various property management products to be the core of their new approach.  All in one solutions are fine however, what’s eluded them is one that integrates with their legacy software and has the all important accounting, analytics and reporting features they need.

So let’s talk about 4 top trending elements and how they solve property management company’s business goals.

Top 4 Property Management Objectives

1. Grow Property Portfolios

Adding doors might be the simplest way to grow profits through increased revenue, and more efficient financing (mortgages). Yet the strain on administration, maintenance and customer service often makes it a curse. How do you add doors without adding turnover, maintenance tickets, and customer service calls? The answer is the right property management software.

ManageCasa’s solution is strong on digital communications, granular accounting for each property, so you can increase doors dramatically.

2. Improve Revenue

The path to higher revenue comes via lower turnover, excellent cash flow, higher lease renewals, better rental pricing strategy, and better property selection. Letting go of high maintenance units, problem tenants, and focusing on new acquisitions with higher rent/price ratios turns businesses around. More multifamily properties are coming on market.

Finding new clients by creating a powerful property management client lead channels should be a much higher priority than it is. Property managers find it hard to respect the whole process of building a stream of good leads. This is how you acquire better landlord/investor clients and work with better properties. Profit is always higher with better clients.

3. Improve Cost Efficiency

By growing their business, PMs can make better use of their staff and lower their marginal costs. They get better marginal revenue too. Aside from staffing, contractors, and time management, efficiency comes from proactive management.

For instance, when ManageCasa clients use our software solution, they see tenants doing more for themselves and making less calls for assistance. From our help system to maintenance ticket system, they can do everything using their smartphone. They can make online rent payments, review their lease, and ask questions.

4. Improve the Customer Experience

Understanding what tenants want and need is central to keeping them happy and comfortable. It’s central to increasing lease renewal rates, lowering vacancy, eviction and turnover, along with decreasing maintenance tickets and administration costs. Happy customers put less load on your staff.

Happy Customers = Lower costs and higher retention/revenue

Property managers must serve both landlords and tenants well, with great lines of communications, accurate reporting, transparency and with an emphasis on solving real problems.

You Must Make Your Customers Happy

As we point out in our 6 Smart Ways to Make your Tenants Happy post, the customer experience is one of emotion, and emotions drive lease renewal decisions. However, a happy tenant is the end product of brilliant customer relations.

Since tenant/landlord relations are normally distant, it’s important to keep in contact with each of your tenants. Your property management software helps you be more personal – consistent with modern renters who prefer digital communications, on their terms and schedule. 

Ask them how they’re doing, and start a conversation. Collect information from them emails, surveys, responses so you get a better picture of their rental experience. What can you offer, or improve, and which concessions might you offer?

Adapt your company brand image, improve services, and communicate your value proposition clearly to them. A happy, satisfied and respected tenant stays put and pays on time.

Looking to upgrade to a better Landlord software.  Check out ManageCasa’s features now.

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