Advice from Irvine Property Management Companies: How Technology Will Make Your Life Infinitely Easier

Is property management going high-tech in 2021? The short answer is yes, but most of us already use technology to make some tasks easier.

How much further can you go in the race to stay on the cutting edge?

Explore advice from property management experts in Irvine. We’ll show you how you can use technology to make your job easier and keep your company competitive.

Reduce Paperwork

The nature of property management in Irvine makes it necessary to keep colossal filing cabinets full of paperwork, or does it?

Consider the multiple documents and forms you process daily:

• Rental applications
• Leases
• Vendor contracts
• Maintenance bills

These are but a few of the vital pieces of information a property manager needs to have readily available. Who hasn’t misfiled a contract at least once in their career, not to mention the tenants who misplace their lease and can’t remember whether they can bring that cute new puppy home or not?

Software designed specifically for property management companies in Irvine can take your organizational skills to the next level.

For example, applicants can fill out, sign, and submit a rental application online. You can do the same with leases and other documents as well. Imagine what you could do with the space taken up by that row of filing cabinets.

You might think the paperless office is a myth, and while you won’t ever eliminate paper completely, you can use technology to reduce your paper footprint.

Create Award Winning Rental Listings

If you go back several years to the way most property managers listed rentals, marketing options were relatively meager. You either paid for a listing in the newspaper’s classified section or paid for a full-color slick in a rental publication.

The birth of the internet meant greater visibility for landlords and property managers. You could take a few pictures, post the images on your website, and show prospective tenants their new homes.

Today, Irvine property management companies pull a variety of high-tech resources together to make their lives easier and make it easier for tenants to decide whether they want to schedule a real-time showing.

Using 3D technology, property managers capture every detail of a vacant property. The virtual listing includes images, features and amenities, and other helpful information for applicants. You can also set your virtual listing to allow applicants to schedule an online showing.

Virtual listings save you from wasting time showing rentals to applicants who realize that the property isn’t right for them once they walk through the door.

Proactive Property Protection

You’re already running credit reports and performing other checks on applicants. In the past, most property managers had to go an extra mile or two, gathering information by phone or, in some cases, waiting for references to respond to inquiries on eviction history.

Technology opens up a whole new world for landlords and property management businesses in Irvine.

Today, it’s easier to access the reports you need to help you make an informed decision about applicants. You can order instant tenant screening reports and review background information on your applicants in greater detail than ever.

Using technology means you increase the likelihood you’ll rent to financially responsible tenants who not only pay rent on time but maintain your property and live peacefully with other tenants.

Time to Pay the Rent

A popular sitcom from the late 1970s stereotyped landlord/tenant relationships, but the story-line made the show wildly popular. You don’t want to be that landlord who knocks on the door every month looking for the rent. Although, some landlords still collect rent (in cash) from their tenants.

If you haven’t already, help yourself and your tenants by offering online rental payment options.

Rental software eliminates waiting for rent checks to arrive in the mail or be delivered to your office by your tenants.

Using rental software, tenants can pay rent from anywhere they have an internet connection. If the software includes an app, the tenant can even pay from their cell phone or other smart devices.

Have you polled your current tenants to find out their preferred rent payment method? We promise you there won’t be many who prefer walking their check over to your office or waiting for your knock on the door.

Maintenance Free Maintenance Scheduling

Have you ever had an angry tenant who swears they called about the leaking dishwasher? You don’t remember talking to them, and no one can find the yellow Post-It notes you typically use to jot down maintenance requests.

You don’t mean for it to happen, but sometimes details get lost.

Technology offers a way to manage maintenance requests and schedule maintenance visits. Using an automated system allows your tenants to give you the details clearly and concisely. Then, you can respond via the online system and let the tenant know how you will address their problem.

Online maintenance programs don’t only make your tenants happier. They make your job easier. They can even help you determine when you have an emergency vs. a routine maintenance issue.

You have a record of the issue and a detailed account of how you fixed the problem. Maintenance software also often includes letting you know when your units need check-ups.

Think of it as maintenance-free maintenance.

No More Double Bookkeeping

Most of us are accustomed to using multiple programs every day. It’s time-consuming, and often there’s a frustrating learning curve. One of the primary benefits that technology offers property management companies is the ability to streamline processes.

Online property management software can integrate multiple management tasks in one program.

It may sound like a dream, but the reality is you can do all of the below without logging out of one program and into another:

• Market your rentals
• Process applications
• Tenant screening
• Sign lease agreements and other contracts
• Manage maintenance requests
• Assess property performance

These are just a few of the tasks a bundled software program can help you manage with minimum fuss, and you can do it all from the comfort of your desktop, laptop, or on the go from your mobile device.

Need More Advice from Irvine Property Management Experts?

We’ve touched on some of the most popular ways technology can make your life as a property manager more manageable and more productive. Who doesn’t need to streamline processes and save time, money, and headaches?

For more advice from property management experts in Irvine, contact the team at Genuine Property Management. We’re here to help you enjoy a more efficient and profitable property ownership experience.