The life of a landlord is not as easy as many people might think. With issues cropping up regularly relating to maintenance and general administration, many are turning to technology to help with the challenges they face. If you have ever used WhatsApp to message your tenants, or google drive to store and share rental documents, then you are probably ready to integrate other technologies into your working practices that can make life easier.
Tech savvy tenants and guests are now used to on-demand instant gratification lifestyles with everything pretty much done from their smartphones, so here are three areas where you can use technology to keep on top of things:
Maintenance
Whether you rent out a single residential unit, co-living spaces for students or a whole build to rent development, you will always have maintenance issues of some sort. Using a property management platform which allows tenants to report any issues through their smartphone or laptop ensures that maintenance can be managed in a much more orderly manner, with written descriptions and photos allowing you to assess the best course of action. Some platforms such as Anabode even allow landlords to add their own contractors, who can then pick up any maintenance tasks on their smartphone and see them through to completion.
Day to Day Administration
Having a central hub for all the administrative aspects of your rental portfolio can really save time. Apps that provide reminders and alerts on your smartphone relating to important dates, such as license or lease renewals, are invaluable to ensure that you don’t miss anything. Some property management platforms provide tools for things like tenant management, tenant and contractor communications, as well as rent and expense tracking. Furthermore, the whole process of renting out and managing your properties can become paperless if you wish, not only helping the environment but also your sanity, with all key information and documents always available on your smartphone or tablet.
Smart Everything
The interaction between personal smart devices, smart sensors, and the built environment is starting to change the face of the rental sector. Using a smartphone linked to smart access systems, a landlord can control and grant access to a property, assigning certain privileges to different people. This can be especially useful for providing access over specific dates for Airbnb guests, or temporary digital access keys for maintenance service providers. Some landlords, such as those in the co-living sector, can benefit from smart heating controls, which allow you to remotely control the thermostat in a rental unit using a smartphone. This means that heating can be turned on and off, and the temperature can be controlled without having to set foot in the property, saving both time and money. The possibilities are quite endless, and only limited by how much control you might wish to retain across your rental units.
Rakesh Thakrar is the managing director of Anabode, a mobile-first property management platform for landlords and property professionals. Anabode’s suite of tools are designed to help simplify your rental administration, communications, compliance, maintenance, tenant management, cashflow and financial reporting.
