If you're looking for a career that offers stability, an ever-growing market, and high-profit margins, then property management is the way to go. With that said, it also attracts competition.
That’s why it’s important to offer property management services that will serve as a differentiator between you and a competitor. Here are 5 that will help you stand out.
1. Rent Default Insurance
An important property management service to offer is rent default insurance coverage. Essentially, in the event that your tenant stops paying rent or is evicted, rent default insurance makes you whole by reimbursing your lost rent.
With a policy through a rent guarantee insurance provider, like Steady, simply file a claim and your lost payments are recovered.
Including rent default insurance as a part of your service offerings can significantly increase your earnings, offer you a great differentiation tool to acquire new landlords, and create a stickier relationship with your existing customers. Become a Steady partner and start benefiting today.
2. Top-Notch Maintenance
Maintenance is a common service offered by property managers- from fixing a leaky pipe to clearing off walkways. However, if you are willing to invest in preventative maintenance you’ll have a competitive edge as it can help maintain property value and eliminate surprise expenses.
Some of the services to include are as follows:
- Regularly check tools (ex. leaf blower, snow blower, lawnmower, etc.)
- Check lighting (interior and exterior)
- Regularly replace smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors
- Clean the HVAC system
- Check for cracks in sidewalks, walls, and foundation
- Keep sidewalks clear
Additionally, you may consider providing on-call service to tenants. Offering 24/7 maintenance is a great way to attract quality tenants, in turn attracting quality clients.
3. All-Inclusive Financial Services
Some financial services that are popular among property managers are rent collection and/or utility payments. But to truly stand out, consider offering an all-inclusive financial package that covers:
- Rent Collection
- Budgeting for Repairs and Maintenance
- Upgrade/Renovation Costs
- Taxes
- Mortgage Payments
- Utility Payments
- Payroll
- Insurance Payments
4. Disruptive Marketing
An important component used by landlords and property owners to secure tenants is marketing. But to disrupt the market, consider creating a suite of marketing options that are beyond the normal offers like social media ads, yard signs, and newspaper listings. Here are a few that may set you apart:
- Staging properties- Staging a property allows a potential tenant to imagine themselves living in the property. It’s a perfect way to attract new tenants to the property. According to professionalstaging.com, a few simple changes can completely transform a property.
- Keep everything polished and clean
- Decorate with a neutral color palette
- Give each space a clear identity
- Keep it clutter-free
- Add comfortable details
- Rental syndication: Investing in a rental syndication software is a great way to take your advertising services to the next level. With rental syndication, you are essentially expanding a property’s advertising reach to multiple major sites such as Zillow, ApartmentList, and Trulia making it easy for prospective tenants to be able to find your vacant units.
- Create videos: Property listings with video receive over 4 times as much inquiries as the ones that don’t. Instagram sees 38% more engagement from posts with video and Facebook sees an increase of 135%. That’s why adding a marketing service that includes video advertising is a must. There are multiple real estate video apps that make creating property videos a simple task.
5. Advanced Screening
The leasing process can be lengthy. From preparing a property to rent, marketing, tours, and sifting through applications it can take months to move-in. That’s why it’s so important to ensure you have quality, reliable tenants. Stand out from your competitors by offering a pre-screening survey.
Before going through the application process, a pre-screening survey gives you the chance to ask and inform applicants about specific property details. This way, if there is an issue, you didn’t waste weeks of time screening them. For example; during the pre-screening, you may learn that your applicant wishes to have all utilities included in rent. If this isn’t an option you’ll be able to move on to other applicants without losing time.
Up Your Property Management Game
The reality is, the more fleshed out and unique services you offer, the more you’ll stand out. If you're able to provide property owners and landlords with the services they didn’t know that needed you might find yourself ahead of the competition.
With such coverage, in the event that a tenant stops paying rent, the insurance will take over the payments with no deductibles. Essentially, Steady allows you to eliminate one of the biggest risks for landlords and property owners- a lack of rent payments. Your clients can choose the coverage they need — and you get all the credit.