As a property manager, you’re often required to wear a lot of hats. Both tenants and clients expect property managers to fulfill a number of different roles, each of which comes with its own responsibilities and challenges.
Reflecting on these roles and understanding what people expect of you will help you to realize what you need to do to live up to those expectations. While it takes hard work and diligence to make any relationship work in the property management business, digital property management can certainly go a long toward helping you stay organized and on top of things.
Caretaker
Clients and tenants alike are counting on you to be a caretaker. For your clients, that means being a good steward of their property. You are responsible, after all, for taking care of it. Typical responsibilities here include maintenance and repairs of all kinds, from plumbing and electricity to roofs, siding, and yard work.
If an appliance breaks, you’re the one the tenant calls to fix it. If the wind knocks loose a gutter, you get the call. Your clients expect you to keep their properties well-maintained and in good order. Even if the tenant is responsible for some things on a property, you are the ultimate go-to and the fallback for the client.
An important part of being a caretaker is keeping track of information. You need to be sure you pay attention to the right things, and that you don’t forget anything. This is why digital property management is so important: a good app can help you to be more organized and effective.
Manager
You’re also the manager, and that means you are responsible for screening tenants, collecting rent, enforcing rent violations, handling evictions, and the like. Fundamentally, you’re the one your clients rely on to manage their relationships with their tenants.
The role of manager comes with a lot of responsibilities. You have to be professional, confident, willing to tell people no when you need to, and willing to make tough decisions. With digital property management, you can keep better track of information collected during inspections, something that can help you to be more confident about the state of any given property you manage.
Resolver of Disputes
As we’ve seen before, disputes are a part of the property management business. You can minimize them to some extent with smart business practices, like using digital property management, but the fact of the matter is that you will inevitably have some disputes to resolve.
Disputes over rent are probably some of the most common and obvious property managers have to deal with, but you can probably think of non-rent-related disputes as well. Whether it’s a quarrel between neighbors or tenants who want to do things to the premises that are not covered in the lease, sooner or later you are likely to encounter something.
Your clients are counting on you to be fair, honest, and capable as you resolve disputes. You need to be fair to your clients, but you also need to be fair to the tenants in accordance with professional ethics and the law.
Good record-keeping and efficient scheduling can go a long way in helping you to be more productive and get more done, even in the midst of a dispute. That’s why digital property management has proven to be such a game-changer.
