How to Manage Multiple Rental Properties

As an owner and manager of multiple rental properties, you do a delicate dance. The rewards of expansion are always balanced with the limits of your ability to keep on top of details. The integrity of your process cannot be compromised or tenants might start jumping ship. You have a responsibility to keep these properties functioning to the best of your ability. Some attention to method should help you out.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Have a great filing system to keep track of all of the leases involved in your various rental properties. Have a separate file for each property to make sure things don't get messed up. The last thing a tenant wants to hear is that you've sent the wrong papers for a different housing property.
2. Get yourself on a template plan as much as possible. Having different "templates" for each rental property can not only help you keep them separate, but also gives you crucial "road-mapping" for each property. You could have a template lease (update as needed), a template for design (to add units/amenities) and a template for maintenance (with contractor numbers, survey sheets, problem areas).
3. Get your regular contractors acquainted with all of your properties. Maintenance will go much faster when your painter, plumber or electrician can be dispatched to any property. Streamlining your maintenance process by using regular contractors can save you tons of time. You can even get discounted services from some contractors in exchange for a bulk contract specifying them as your go-to shop for your properties.
4. Keep on top of pricing and other rental factors. Audit your properties frequently, always looking at the big picture to see where rents should be set and how leases should be designed. Don't fall into the trap of a one size fits all rental policy. Although it may save time to use a blanket lease for all properties, in the end, it could cost you.
5. Know your limits. Finding your threshold as a rental property manager is tricky. There's a grey area, but if you find yourself frequently doing any of the following: falling behind on collections, mis-managing a new tenant contract, failing to return calls or not being able to arrange needed maintenance promptly, then it's time to get an assistant.