Stress is a familiar state for many landlords.
But if you’re looking for a secret to eliminating the responsibilities and stressors of managing your properties, you aren’t going to find a simple one.
Managing even one rental property requires a commitment you simply can’t shortcut. But the daily demands of keeping your investments, meetings, employees, and finances afloat can start to take a toll on you mentally and physically.
Fortunately, while there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, there are ways to mitigate the strain you might experience as a landlord.
By taking advantage of tools, resources, technology, and other people, you can effectively minimize stress while sustaining your rental business.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed as a landlord, here are four management tips that might help.
#1 Delegate Tasks
Every business owner is taught to rely on their resources. For landlords, it’s no different. But landlords who successfully manage their stress recognize that people are some of the most valuable resources they have.
Even if you manage your properties alone, you should still leverage others’ expertise to further your business goals.
Maintenance contractors and vendors know a lot more about your property’s infrastructure, appliances, and utilities than you do. Relying on these individuals isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s also not more financially sustainable. Trying to do work you’re inexperienced at could cause more damage to your properties than you started with. The cost to fix your mistakes will usually be much more than that of the original repair.
You also might consider hiring a property manager, accountant, leasing agent, or other employees. Property manager duties typically include collecting rent, fielding maintenance requests, responding to applicant inquiries, and filling vacant units, but you can assign your property manager any list of tasks customized to your business.
Whenever you need a specific task done, there’s likely someone nearby with a lot more knowledge, expertise, and experience than you. Rely on these individuals to decrease stress.
#2 Start with Repairs
Landlords always have countless tasks to accomplish from leasing and listing to maintenance and accounting. How do you know where to start? Which tasks take priority?
A smart landlord will start with the most urgent tasks. Often, these are repairs and maintenance-related task.
Why are repairs urgent? Maintenance issues (no heat, bad plumbing, broken appliances) interfere with your tenants’ daily lives. When these issues get bad enough, your tenants will speak up.
You can’t focus on big-picture goals like acquiring another property or filing your tax return until you’ve addressed the more immediate needs, you current tenants. And you certainly can’t expand your rental business if you’re busy defending yourself against a lawsuit or other legal battle with an unhappy tenant. In fact, at the end of that process, you’ll probably find yourself hundreds of dollars lost and facing yet another vacancy.
Avoid this nightmare scenario by addressing repairs as quickly as possible and never allowing any outstanding tenant issues to fester.
#3 Build an Emergency Fund
You might be overwhelmed because of an unexpected tragedy, loss, accident, or eviction situation. Maybe you’re low on cash and having trouble supporting your rentals while you deal with this sudden setback.
The solution to this problem is to start building an emergency fund.
After you recover, the money you dedicate to your emergency fund will help you relax, knowing you have a plan and resources available should something go wrong.
Preparing for worst-case situations is one of the best ways to eliminate unnecessary stress in your business.
#4 Use Property Management Software
Finally, the easiest way to manage your daily landlord tasks with ease is to use las vegas property manager for managing rental properties.
Property management software platforms are cloud-based sites or mobile apps that offer software for landlords. Many platforms offer a variety of landlord tools, including online rent collection, lease signing, listing syndication, tenant screening, maintenance tracking, tenant communication, and multi-user management.
Software helps you organize and automate all your rental functions in one place, so you can focus on those that are a better use of your time: acquiring more properties, improving your cash-flow strategies, negotiating with buyers, and filling vacancies.
Plus, unlike a property management company, software allows you to continue managing your rentals on your own, and even at little or no cost.
Conclusion
Anyone who chooses to invest in real estate knows the risks and costs it may have. However, there are effective ways to manage moments of stress and overwhelm. By adapting these four tips to your rental business, you can successfully manage both your properties and your stress.
