The responsibilities of real estate management are numerous, and keeping track of everything is not an easy task. This industry covers many aspects, so it’s wise to organize your work. Staying on top of your tasks may seem like an impossible endeavor, but there are ways to do so without getting overwhelmed. Regardless of whether you have a property to rent out or sell, it’s essential to make sure everything runs smoothly. It’s your job to make sure everything is fully operational, while still keeping track of the finances and making sure the rent is paid in time. This is definitely not easy, but solutions are available, so stay tuned!
There are three main disciplines of real estate management: financial, commercial, and technical – the discipline that Facilitee is an expert in. Each of these branches puts you in situations where you will have to remain level-headed and on your a-game while facing difficulties.
Financial management
Financial management is the branch that deals with all things finance: strategic planning, organizing, directing, and controlling financial undertakings. In real estate, financial management is the administrational management that covers rent collection, appropriate service cost charging, and rent indexing. Another segment of financial management, even though it’s not connected to finance per se, is making sure the owners always know which apartment is available. In addition, they can access all information regarding the units: the size, furniture and opening details, roof information, etc. By always having all this information available, you ensure that you stay on top of it all. Not only does this make your job easier, but it raises your image as a manager – no client wants the person in charge to answer questions with ‘I don’t know.’
All data on properties, tenants, owners, repairs, and finances should be collected and properly stored. Gathering this information helps property managers keep accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive records of investments and other data. Dealing with paperwork involves keeping accurate lists of inspections, repair and maintenance costs, security data, rental income, insurance costs, and leases. This is inconvenient for everyone involved, especially the manager, since physically tracking everything about properties is unmanageable, to say the least. In the long run, a lack of organization could lead to a decrease in profit.
Commercial management
Commercial management is the discipline of real estate management that, as the primary goal, has to avoid vacancy and void periods. Vacancy means losing turnover as the rent is not being paid during that time, and void periods mean that the unit sits empty and is only a cost to you. On top of that, one of the aspects of commercial management is building, developing, and selling new buildings. This is yet another task that involves large amounts of paperwork, contact information about team members, and payments. Everyone would agree that digitizing all that data would make everything significantly more manageable and accessible.
Technical management
Technical management is the discipline that makes sure everything is habitable and operational. Additionally, these services should be adapted to the specific needs of the individual or organization you are in business with. Your procurement strategies and supplier selection processes should adhere to their specifics. This means that each property must be in good condition and fit the tenants. To accomplish this task, every property manager should respond to tenant complaints about property damage, breakage, or wear and tear, as well as manage handymen, and monitor the status of repairs. This means that you, as a technical manager, must always keep yourself available. Otherwise, your untimely responses could lead to dissatisfied clients, and, in turn, loss of revenue.
There are only so many hours in a day and if a manager spends too many of them talking to clients, servicers, and other team members, where does that leave them? No time will thus be left for personal activities, such as going to the gym or spending time with friends and family. Therefore, it is crucial to address tenant concerns quickly and effectively and ensure the suppliers are informed correctly to improve the first-time fix rate.
In addition to repairs, real estate management also includes preventive maintenance tasks such as cleaning, repainting the facade, inspections of drains and gutters, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, lighting, and building and pest inspections. This way, you can be ahead of the curve in terms of client complaints and completely avoid the issues previously discussed. As a huge plus, keeping the space clean and freshly painted contributes to the cosmetics of your asset. This can pique the interest of potential new tenants, as well as keep your reputation spotless. Furthermore, by keeping up with aesthetic trends regarding the appearance of the building and/or garden and yard space, clients will feel significantly more comfortable – which increases their satisfaction.
Nowadays, technical property managers use modern technical property management software, such as Facilitee, to efficiently resolve tenant complaints, assign reported issues to suppliers, or assign team members to solve problems. The software gives them a clear overview of all properties, issues, and repair status. With the software, they can easily execute maintenance and malfunction tasks, manage work orders, perform daily management duties, and contract management tasks and eventually increase tenant satisfaction.
Conclusion
As you can see, technical property management takes care of everything that occurs daily in and around any property. So, the satisfaction of tenants, owners, and the property’s overall success depends on how the technical property management is conducted. Property managers should embrace new technologies and innovative solutions that help them focus on more strategic and challenging tasks rather than getting knee-deep in frustrating administrative tasks that could otherwise be automated.
The technical management software, Facilitee, provides a clear overview of all actions performed, making it easier to track all changes and see what’s happening with each action taken. It is the ideal add-on to your existing ERP/CRM/Bookkeeping software that will make your life easier and increase your margin instantly as well as tenant satisfaction.
