December 30th, 2020
10 surprisingly simple tech hacks to boost your productivity
Property Management
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What are the habits of highly successful property managers? Are they superhuman multi-tasking machines who don’t sleep? Most definitely not. Are they walking, talking charm-bombs? Maybe.
Either way, they’ve worked out ways to be more efficient and resourceful than most property managers. They take care of themselves and the people around them, even if they’re in a relationship with real estate.
Without further ado, here are the seven habits of highly successful property managers:
1. They wake up early
Surprise, surprise!
According to a study conducted by biologist Christoph Randler, early risers are better at anticipating and minimising problems compared to late risers, resulting to lower levels of stress. They’re also far more likely to give themselves enough time to rest which correlates to a stronger immune system and higher energy levels for the day ahead.
Furthermore, early risers tend to be more proactive and productive, often spending their “extra” hours in the morning focusing on creative thinking, exercising, reading, replying to emails, planning the day or spending time with family. Why not try it for yourself and see how productive you can be?
2. They streamline their communications
As a property manager, you spend a big part of your day communicating and engaging with tenants, owners and suppliers. That’s why it’s crucial to streamline your communications to ensure consistency and efficiency.
If you find that you’re sending the same message over and over again, create a template for it in Gmail or Outlook. Alternatively, you can use a property management software with preloaded templates that can be triggered once specific tasks are actioned.
Another way to streamline your communications is to provide client access. Client access allows your owners and tenants to log in and see their property and financial data from anywhere, at any time. This not only mitigates a lot of back and forth communication but also ensures complete transparency.
3. They set goals and follow through
It’s no secret that one of the habits of highly successful property managers is following through with their goals. So if you’re not doing so already, take a page from their book and create your own daily, weekly, monthly and annual goals that contribute to your long-term goal.
As a rule of thumb, you should set goals that are specific and challenging yet achievable. This allows you to break your larger goals into actionable steps and set expectations without being overwhelmed. Without a plan, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.
Additionally, make sure your goals are measurable so that you can track progress and adjust your plan based on feedback. This not only keeps you accountable but also helps you build momentum.
4. They’re always learning
To establish yourself as a knowledgeable agent, it’s crucial that you stay up to date with current real estate trends, legislation and statistics by reading the news, perusing property management blogs and listening to real estate podcasts. This ensures that you’re not left looking like a stunned mullet if an owner, tenant or fellow agent asks you a question.
You can also periodically survey your clients to identify opportunities and areas of improvement in your business. For example, you can ask what you can do better in the coming year or what value they expect from you as a property manager. This not only allows you to learn from your mistakes but also gives you a chance to respond to negative feedback before it escalates.
Catch up on current real estate trends: blockchain and real estate, the rise of real estate robots and automation, virtual reality real estate and build-to-rent.
5. They create playbooks and processes
Another habit of highly successful property managers is creating step-by-step playbooks and standardised processes for everything. This documentation not only ensures consistency and operational efficiency but also shortens the amount of time required to train up new staff.
As a starting point, you can create a playbook for tenant induction, tips for rent roll growth and success, a checklist for routine inspections and documentation that covers your arrears procedure, just to name a few. Be sure to store all your documentation in a central location (preferably a cloud storage solution like Google Drive or Dropbox) so that your employees can access it whenever they need to.
6. They embrace change
Many people are resistant to change for good reason. It’s comfortable and it feels like home. However, you can’t move forward or grow your business when you’re stuck at home. In fact, those who are resistant to change are far more likely to become complacent and fall behind.
So ask yourself this: When was the last time you audited your technology? When was the last time you read about an emerging property trend and decided to invest time into learning about it?
It’s crucial that you continuously question what you can do better and how you can leverage technology such as cloud property management software, 3D walkthroughs and virtual reality to make your business more efficient and competitive. This will foster a culture of continuous improvement (also known as Kaizen) and help you establish yourself as an innovative agent. After all, change is a fact of life and those who embrace it will thrive.
7. They remember to take care of themselves
The best property managers take care of themselves emotionally and physically so that they’re able to consistently perform at their best. So if you’re constantly feeling stressed and tired, it’s a sign that you might be neglecting your health and work-life balance.
Going back to the first habit of successful property managers, try switching up your routine by sleeping earlier and waking up earlier to meditate, read, reply to emails or exercise in the morning. These extra hours of productivity not only help relieve stress but also help you kick start your day.
Lastly, be sure to switch off after work and block out time for the things you like to do such as spending time with your family and friends. After all, you’re only human!
To sum up…
Here are the seven habits of highly successful property managers:
1. They wake up early
2. They streamline their communications
3. They set goals and follow through
4. They’re always learning
5. They create playbooks and processes
6. They embrace change
7. They remember to take care of themselves
Thanks for reading! You might also be interested in 5 Surprisingly Simple Tech Hacks to Boost Productivity and 10 Incredibly Useful Tech tools Every Real Estate Agent Needs.
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Hopefully you enjoyed this blog post on the 7 Habits of Highly Successful Property Managers. What do you do to be more productive and proactive? Be sure to leave a comment below!
