Like all industries right now, technological advances are completely changing the way businesses operate. Not only are they beneficial for businesses that are prominent in the digital sectors, but they have now developed into essential parts of running a property business. More specifically, rental businesses and the landlords in charge of the running of the properties are now streamlining their work and getting many more results and profit.
Whether you are a long-time landlord who is looking to see how technology can benefit you, or even if you are early into the industry and looking to lay the foundations correctly, there is technology that can help you. If you are looking to speed up the process of growing your portfolio whilst making the runnings of your business as hands-off as possible, consider using the following technology to benefit your business.
Benefits Of Technology For Landlords
For the landlord that have implemented technology into the runnings of their rental businesses, they have found the following benefits:
- Better risk management – The applications that landlords are using to stay in touch with all of their stakeholders (tenants, estate agents, maintenance people, property managers, etc.) aim to reduce risk as much as possible and keep everyone within the loop as to what is going on. For example, with efficient online accessibility, landlords can communicate with estate agents to list their rental property as available, to reduce the risk of void periods as much as possible.
- Streamlined management – For landlords that have a wide portfolio of properties, it can be time-consuming seeing that all requirements of the properties are met. Applications for landlords can keep them updated as to what tasks need to be seen, to avoid a backlog of tasks and avoid miscommunication with stakeholders.
- Property protection- The properties that landlords own need to be protected against damage, and this damage can often come from bad tenants. Online technologies now have applications such as quick and easy tenant screening processes to ensure that the tenants they are renting out to can be trusted in their homes.
These sorts of processes are extremely advantageous for landlords and can ensure the complete efficiency of the rental business.
How You Can Use Technology
Online Maintenance Requests
Maintenance is just one of the tedious tasks that all landlords have to deal with at some point. Of course, having reliable property managers can elevate some of the stress involved with maintenance, but until you can find a property manager you can trust you will have to arrange for solutions yourself. Through using digital maintenance requests, the tenants and you the landlord can stay informed of any maintenance tasks that need to be seen, and when they will be completed.
Many digital applications also allow tenants to take photos and videos of the problems, therefore you can call the appropriate tradesman to fix the problem. This is extremely handy for both you and the tenants, and it will also make you seem more reliable as a landlord.
Virtual Viewings
Unless you have been living under a rock, you have most likely seen the impact the covid-19 pandemic has had on the way we operate businesses. The rental industry is no exception to the innovative ways people have continued to run their businesses.
Virtual viewings are one of the positive results that the pandemic has had on the business sector, in the way they benefit tenants and landlords alike. Rather than paying agents fees to show tenants around, or even spending your own valuable time showing potential tenants the property, we are now able to create virtual tours. This can allow tenants to have a much better understanding of the layout of the home, helping them decide to move in. You save time and money, all though making one initial investment for the video to be created. This will limit the number of tenants that ask for in-person home viewings, and the rate at which renting is in demand right now, a lot of tenants will put down deposits without needing an in-person tour.
Accounting Applications
If your main source of income is your rental properties, you will likely be registered as self-employed. Not only do you have to register your income to the tax authorities in your location, but also you should ensure that all of your businesses ingoing and outgoing have been registered. It is extremely important to have all of your finances managed, tracked, and registered if you want to see your income grow.
Accounting software now allows you to stay on top of your finances and avoid any complications. The online applications that you choose to use are dependent on the scale of your rental business, how many ingoings and outgoings you have, and also your budget for such maintenance applications. Do some research as to what software is best for your rental business.
Security Cameras
Security is one of the most important things when it comes to managing properties. Not only is security essential for the safety of your property, but it is also important for ensuring the safety of the tenants inhabiting your properties. Of course, it would be ideal for tenants to never forget to lock doors and windows, however, you can never guarantee complete safety.
Security cameras are valuable to have outside your rental properties if you wish to prepare your property for the worst-case scenario. Virtual security applications now allow you to view the cameras on your smartphone, therefore if you get notice of suspicious activity you can see for yourself what the appropriate action would be to take.
Rent Collection Applications
When you have a large collection of tenants to deal with, getting all of your rent can prove to be a hassle. More importantly, having too many tenants can be difficult when assessing if any payments have been missed, which therefore can cause conflict within your rental model.
Giving tenants the option to pay over the phone using rent collection applications they can access through their phones means that no excuses can be made when the rent is due. Of course, if your tenants are refusing to pay rent it would be worth seeking landlord legal advice, however, making their payment options as accessible as possible is the best way to avoid such problems.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, all rental business owners who are looking to scale and streamline their business should invest in technology. No matter how you choose to utilize these technological applications within your business, you should start implementing them sooner rather than later if you wish to stay ahead of the game. The rental property business as a landlord is very competitive, and ensuring you are making things easier for yourself whilst giving tenants peace of mind is key to a successful experience as a landlord.
