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9 Ways to Improve Your Resident Experience

Resident experience is the sum total of interactions and experiences a resident has with their property manager and the rental property itself – from the initial lease signing to the eventual move-out and all the day-to-day living moments in between. It encompasses everything from the quality of services provided, like timely maintenance and communication, to the overall livability and enjoyment of the property. In essence, it's how a resident perceives their rental journey in its entirety. Excellent resident experience management is the mark of a top-tier property management company. It boosts resident retention, satisfaction, and outcomes. In this article, we delve into nine actionable ways to enhance the resident experience in your single-family rental properties, fostering stronger relationships and, ultimately, achieving greater success in property management. Read the full report! If you haven’t already heard, we recently published our first-ever State of Resident Experience Report, which explores resident experience management: the pivotal touchpoints between a resident and a property manager. The report draws fresh insights from the SFR property management industry and explores the three top factors impacting resident experience right now. 1. A Seamless Move-In Experience Ah, the move-in process – the start of a beautiful friendship between the resident and the property manager. It's a bit like a first date – you're setting impressions that could make or break the relationship. A seamless move-in experience is your chance to roll out the red carpet for your new residents, showing them they've made the right choice (and have definitely swiped right on the best property around). And guess what? A resident who's had a great move-in experience is a happier one. Happier residents stay longer, pay on time, take care of the property, and make positive recommendations. Resident experience examples: How to build a perfect resident move-in experience Here's how to ensure your move-in experience hits all the right notes. Clear Communication: Provide detailed information about the new home and move-in process, including key collection, utility setup, and property rules. Who's handling utilities? Where's the best pizza joint nearby? Share all the important details. Welcome Packet: Roll out the resident red carpet with a welcome packet. Not only does it have all the must-know info, but it also says, "Hey, we're glad you're here." Include essential information such as garbage collection days, rules, important contact numbers, and a neighborhood guide. Property Readiness: Nothing dampens spirits like a flickering light on the first day. Ensure the property is thoroughly cleaned, all appliances are working, and any previous damages are repaired before the move-in date. Efficient Paperwork: Let's face it, nobody loves paperwork. Make it painless with easy online forms and digital sign-offs. Personal Touch: A little welcome gift can go a long way. It's like saying, "Welcome home, neighbor. We're going to rock this thing." Second Nature’s Resident Benefits Package includes a Move-in Concierge to ensure the process is seamless and personal. 2. Responsive Communication In the symphony of successful property management, responsive communication is your melody. It's the backbone of a harmonious resident experience, and when done right, it can elevate your property management status from “forgettable” to “virtuoso.” The sooner you respond to your resident’s queries or concerns, the more they'll feel valued. And a valued resident is a happier resident. Remember, good communication isn’t just about speed—it’s about clarity too. It's like being a great tour guide in the bustling city of property management—clear, informative, and always ready to help. Ways to improve communication with your residents Let's explore some best practices: Multiple Channels: Embrace the digital age! Offer various communication channels like emails, text messages, phone calls, and even a resident portal. Variety is the spice of life, right? Be Proactive: Don’t wait for your residents to reach out with issues. Regularly check in and ask if they need anything. Set Expectations: Be clear about your communication protocols. Let your residents know when and how they can reach you and when they can expect a response. No one likes to be left on read! Listen Actively: When your residents speak, lend them your ears! Show understanding and work collaboratively towards solutions. It's a two-way street, after all. Be Respectful: Always communicate with respect and professionalism. Treat your residents the way you’d want to be treated – it’s the golden rule, even in property management! 3. Better Maintenance Services with Quick Response Times Think of maintenance services as the superheroes of the property management world. When done right, they swoop in to save the day, ensuring minor issues don't escalate into supervillain-sized problems. Quick response times? That's your superhero's super speed. The quicker the response, the happier your resident, and the safer the day. How to improve maintenance services and response times Here's how to get your property management cape (sorry) flapping in the wind: 24/7 Maintenance Line: Offer a dedicated line for maintenance requests. To belabor our superhero analogy, it’s like having a bat signal for your tenants – they know help is just a call away. Online Reporting: Make it easy for tenants to report issues. An online system can keep things organized and ensures no request gets lost in the shuffle. Prompt Follow-up: Act swiftly on maintenance requests. Even if you can't fix the issue immediately, acknowledging the request and providing a timeline can ease the resident's mind. Regular Inspections: Regular property inspections can help you catch potential issues before they become major headaches. It's all about that ounce of prevention! Trusted Vendors: Work with reliable and professional vendors who provide quality work in a timely manner. They're your sidekicks in maintaining property harmony. 4. Resident Surveys and Active Feedback Gathering Resident surveys and feedback gathering are your property's annual check-up, a key health indicator for your relationship with residents. These invaluable tools allow you to take the pulse of resident satisfaction, uncover hidden issues, and celebrate what's working well. When residents see their feedback being valued and acted upon, it creates a sense of involvement and community, enhancing their overall living experience and driving resident retention. Importantly, active feedback gathering shows your residents that their voices matter. It instills a sense of ownership and care that can often lead to better property care and longer tenancies. How to turn resident feedback into a better resident experience Here are some ways to champion feedback in your property management: Regular Surveys: Don't just wait for the annual survey. Keep the feedback coming in regularly, like a monthly check-in or a quick poll after a service call. It's like catching up over a virtual cup of coffee – relaxed and informative. Feedback Boxes: Consider setting up a digital feedback box where residents can drop their thoughts, ideas, or concerns anonymously. Think of it as your modern suggestion box. Act on Feedback: Here's the real deal – taking action. Show your residents that their feedback isn't just being heard, it's being actioned. 5. Resident Rewards Resident Rewards are a huge factor in resident retention and satisfaction. Rewards make residents feel appreciated and have proven to incentivize habits like on-time payments and better care for the property. Perks like this can significantly boost resident satisfaction, increase lease renewals, and even stimulate referrals. It's a win-win all around! For multifamily and apartment community managers, that might look like community-focused programs. For single-family property managers, we’ve got some other tips. Second Nature’s Resident Benefits Package includes a robust resident rewards program. How to improve the resident experience with resident rewards Here's how you can sprinkle some rewarding magic into your resident experience: On-Time Rent Rewards: Create a system that rewards residents for consistently paying their rent on time. It could be a small discount or a gift card to a local coffee shop. Longevity Rewards: Celebrate lease renewals or long-term residents. A gift, a discount, or even a personalized note can make your residents feel valued for their loyalty. Referral Rewards: Turn your residents into ambassadors! Offer a discount or a bonus for any referral they make that signs a lease. Surprise Rewards: Keep the excitement alive with occasional surprise rewards. It could be as simple as a movie ticket or a voucher for a free car wash. 6. Incentive Programs Incentive programs are the next level of resident engagement that professional PMs offer. They can positively influence resident behavior, promote a sense of belonging, and even enhance your property's appeal to prospective residents. When residents feel that their good habits (like timely rent payments) are being recognized or they're being offered valuable services (like credit reporting or identity protection), it builds loyalty and satisfaction. It's like saying, "We're in this together, and we've got your back!" How incentive programs can boost the resident experience Here's how to serve up a great menu of incentives for your residents: Credit Reporting: Offer a program that reports timely rent payments to credit bureaus. It's a win-win: they pay their rent on time, and they build their credit! Identity Protection: In a world where digital safety is paramount, offering identity protection services can be a powerful incentive. It's like providing an invisible, protective bubble around your residents. Rent Discount for Referrals: Encourage residents to become your ambassadors. Offer a rent discount or a gift for successful referrals. It's like having your very own fan club. Early Payment Incentives: Reward residents who pay their rent well before the due date. It could be a small discount or a token gift, but it makes them feel appreciated. Rewards for Green Habits: Encourage residents to adopt environmentally friendly habits, like recycling or energy conservation, and offer incentives for their green efforts. This can really help in SFR when you don’t have the same level of control as PMs managing an apartment building. 7. Support Tools Support services work behind the scenes, often unnoticed, but they play a crucial role in streamlining the resident experience. From filter delivery subscriptions to online payments, these services add a layer of convenience and assurance for your residents. Integrating support services into your property management strategy can not only elevate resident satisfaction but also reduce your workload. It's like having a friendly assistant who's always ready to lend a hand, both to you and your residents. How to create support services that add convenience to your resident experience Here are a few ways you can amplify your resident experience through support services: Filter Delivery Subscription: Offering a filter delivery service for your residents ensures their HVAC system is always protected. It reduces your maintenance issues and costs and ensures they have a safe living environment. Second Nature’s filter delivery reduces resident and PM costs by hundreds of dollars a year. Online Rent Payment: Providing an easy-to-use online portal to process and automate rent payments and lease renewals adds a layer of convenience for you and your residents. Maintenance Request Portal: An online system for maintenance requests helps keep track of issues and ensures timely response. It's like having a 24/7 maintenance desk at their fingertips. Digital Notifications: Use email or SMS notifications to keep residents updated about important things like maintenance schedules, community events, or changes in property rules. Proptech solutions can help with digital support. Resident Portal: A comprehensive resident portal where tenants can access services, find information, and connect with management can significantly enhance the overall resident experience. 8. Concierge Services Concierge services are the above-and-beyond offerings that can truly set your property apart from the rest. This personalized attention can transform the often stressful processes into a smooth and enjoyable experience. How concierge services help with resident experience Here are some other examples of concierge services: Move-in Concierge: Who doesn’t want a personal assistant during the often chaotic time of moving? A move-in concierge helps with utility setup and pricing comparisons and provides local area information. Learn more about Second Nature’s Move-in Concierge in our Resident Benefits Package. Cleaning Services: Offering access to trusted cleaning services, whether for regular use or during the move-out process, can be a huge convenience. Maintenance Scheduling: A service to help residents schedule routine maintenance can keep their homes running smoothly without them having to worry about coordination. 9. Insurance While, as a property manager, you carry insurance for the physical property, it's equally important for your residents to have renter's insurance. Your coverage protects your owners' real estate investment. Renter’s insurance protects residents’ personal belongings and covers them for liability, and it's a small investment for significant protection. Plus, in case of a mishap, it can help the recovery process go much more smoothly. Resident experience examples: How to leverage a renter’s insurance program Here's how you can integrate insurance into your resident experience: Educate Residents: Make sure your residents understand the importance of renter's insurance, what it covers, and what it doesn't. This is critical information that every renter should know. Insurance Requirements in Lease: Include a clause about renter's insurance in your lease agreement. This helps to set the expectation right from the start. Annual Reminders: Send out annual reminders for policy renewals. It's a small step, but it ensures continuous protection for your residents. Renter’s Insurance Program: While most property managers require insurance, less than half of renters maintain coverage. Second Nature has developed a renter’s insurance program that has 100% compliance and leaves residents – and you – with the coverage they need. How SecondNature Improves Resident Experience Resident experience – those pivotal touchpoints between a resident and a property manager – can significantly shape the success of a single-family rental home. At Second Nature, we’ve built our entire company on the idea that resident experience can change the game in property management. Our Resident Benefits Package wraps up each of these strategies into an all-in-one resource for property management companies. It saves money for you and your residents and delivers the best in convenience and resident experience. Learn more about the Resident Benefits Package or read our State of Resident Experience Report.

Calendar icon July 18, 2023

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Property Management Profitability: FAQs on Profit Margin

Property Management profitability is, of course, how much money a property management company keeps of their revenue after their expenses. But Daniel Craig, the CEO of ProfitCoach, wants PMCs to think of profitability far more expansively. “We recommend that you think about profit as the opportunity to reinvest in the business,” Daniel says. “Your business isn’t just a machine that makes a profit; it's a machine that turns profit reinvested into more profit.” In other words, profit is a virtuous cycle that, once started, can deliver increasing ROI, better value, and better business. The big question is: How do property management companies increase profitability? That’s what we connected with Daniel to talk about. We’re sharing some of Daniel’s insights on property management profits and experiences we’ve gathered over years of working with property management companies across the country. Key Learning Objectives: How property management companies increase profit How long it usually takes to become profitable Common mistakes property management companies make when trying to build profit How to optimize operating costs How to find the right residents and property investors Tools for helping to increase profitability Meet the Expert: Daniel Craig Daniel Craig is the CEO of ProfitCoach, which provides property management entrepreneurs with financial knowledge, tools, and strategies to drive greater profits. How do Property Management Companies Make Money? In the most basic terms, property management companies make money through real estate investors paying for the services they offer. The more value a PMC can drive for its property investors and residents, the more revenue they generate. The profit, of course, is how much is left over after paying all your expenses. “We've worked with hundreds of residential property management companies and seen a wide variety of profitability levels,” Daniel says. ProfitCoach and NARPM started benchmarking profits with the NARPM Financial Performance Guide and Daniel says they’ve seen a significant shift in the past few years. In 2017, the average profitability in the property management space was 6%, and the top 25% of performers’ profitability was 25%. In 2021, the average profitability was 11%, and the top performers were 32%. The important nugget in these benchmarks? Seeing what’s possible. Many rental property managers may not realize they could strive for anywhere from 25% to 32% profitability. But if the target is that high, how do you get there with your business? At ProfitCoach, Daniel and his team have outlined the “Three Steps to 3X Profitability.” 3 Steps to 3X Profitability Here’s what Daniel has to say about the three steps to 3X your profitability. 1. Get Clear PMs need to get clear on where they are, where they want to be, and what they can achieve. It’s important to know: What’s possible across the industry Trends in your local market How you compare If you're not clear on the potential, then you're not going to be clear on what you should strive towards. If you're not clear on where you are today, you're not going to be clear on whether you need to change. 2. Define Your Target Compare your performance to the latest NARPM numbers and benchmarks and determine your target for each of the six Do-or-Die metrics. Maybe the benchmark isn't your target, and that's fine, but you need to know what's possible. Many people go through their business lives without engaging the possibilities. They operate within certain boxes, and those boxes need to be compared to what other people are doing. Then you can adjust your perspective of what's possible and set realistic targets. Next, build a realistic financial forecast that helps you chart the course from where you are to where you want to go based on your financial goals. 3. Stay on track Now it’s time to bring the team into the conversation and basically say, “Here’s our roadmap. What specific tactics and strategies will we enact to accomplish the financial shift we need in each of these six areas of our business?” And once you have those defined, measure your progress against your goals monthly or quarterly. Engage your whole team in the conversation and engage a coach to help you define a financial performance improvement action plan and hold you accountable. How Long Does it Take for a PMC to Increase Profitability? According to Daniel, businesses should give themselves between one to three years. “We've seen companies make massive changes in 12 months, and we've seen companies make massive changes across several years,” Daniel says. “But generally speaking, I would say to give yourself one to three years to make a major shift – if you want to go from an average company to a benchmark company.” How to Set Up a Property Management Business For Profitability Setting up your business for profitability is often about avoiding the most common mistakes other businesses make. We asked Daniel about where he sees professional property managers most often go wrong. Daniel says three major mistakes affect how profitable your business is. 1. Financial Fog Daniel defines financial fog as “Not having clarity on where you are, where you want to go, or what's possible in the industry.” “One of the cool things about this industry is that it's such a unique opportunity,” Daniel says. “I don't think that many property management owners realize the extent to which they can drive profit in this industry. They often don’t have a clear sense of what the real opportunity is.” 2. Financial Isolation “At ProfitCoach, we believe that finance should be done in community,” Daniel says. “We are advocates of what we call community-driven finance, which is essentially engaging with community-based benchmarks, community-based best practices, and community-based scoring.” Community-driven finance helps individual rental property managers and businesses know how they’re stacking up against top performers. It also helps generate value for everyone, where each PMC can benefit from best practices from those top performers. “One of the wonderful things about the property management space is that it truly is a community space in which there is a lot of idea sharing,” says Daniel. “We think that when you bring that idea sharing into a conversation that is also numbers-based, you can begin to see the strategies and tactics that will be most effective as indicated by the data.” “Staying in financial isolation is a huge mistake,” he says. 3. Not Being Mission-Driven Being mission-driven is all about thinking in terms of customer lifetime value. Sure, it’s possible to get a quick win on pricing, but it may cost you in the long run if you’re not thinking about lifetime value. Rather, Daniel says, “you want to make sure that your approach to pricing, marketing, everything in your business is values- and mission-driven.” “What is your mission as it relates to your employees? What is your mission as it relates to your stakeholders? What is your mission as it relates to your owners/investors? What is your mission as it relates to your tenants/residents?” How to Reduce Operating Costs to Increase Profitability So, once you’ve considered the three steps to 3X your profit and evaluated the pitfalls of profitability – what next? How do you actually optimize your operating costs and increase profitability? Daniel advises every PMC to adopt the NARPM Accounting Standards Chart of Accounts for their bookkeeping. He says the best part of using the NARPM Chart of Accounts to optimize your profit is the six “Do-or-Die” metrics. These property management KPIs are critical to business success: Profitability Direct Labor Efficiency Ratio Revenue Per Unit Unit Acquisition Costs Churn Expenses as a Percent of Revenue “It’s critical that property managers get a clear line of sight on how they stack up in terms of specific rental property management metrics that have an operational connection.” For example, an income statement will tell you how much revenue you have but won’t tell you how much revenue per unit you have. By building off your income statement with the PM-specific metrics, you’ll be able to tie it to a more operational connection. For example: From profitability to profit per unit From revenue to revenue per unit From sales and marketing spend to unit acquisition costs In this way, you can understand on a per-unit basis how your business is performing operationally. Daniel says: “The problem with the standard income statement is that it doesn't often give property management owners and entrepreneurs a lot of clarity on specific operational shifts that they need to make in your business. When you implement the NARPM Chart of Accounts, you can then implement a whole suite of metrics that does give you that operational clarity and insight to drive action and improvement in your business.” How to Increase Profitability in Property Management Increasing profitability takes time and should be done in a few different steps across your business model. These steps are the same whether you are a large or small business. Daniel breaks down the work between developing your pricing, labor, expense, and growth models. Look at Your Pricing Model Your pricing model is a significant driver of profitability. Getting your pricing right is one of the pillars of profitability. A few things to consider as you are managing properties: How does your pricing compare to the local market in your area? Are you offering any property management services that you should charge management fees for? What are you doing beyond rent collection that you should charge a flat fee for? Are there more services you could offer and charge for their value? How is your cash flow? Daniel cautions that it can take time. “If you roll out a new pricing model to tenants and owners, it takes time to implement. You should give yourself about a year to get that fully implemented.” Look at Your Labor Model Your labor model is the next big thing, as labor is your biggest expense and could also be a driver of inefficiency if you don’t have it right. Daniel recommends asking: Do we have all the right people in the right seats on the bus? Do we have the right mix of U.S. talent versus global talent? Do we have retention strategies in place? Do we have the right systems in place to enable each team member to be maximizing their productivity and their effectiveness in the organization? Again, these questions may lead to significant strategic shifts that you should give yourself time to implement. Look at Your Expense Model This one is a little bit easier but just as important. You can trim expenses fairly quickly once you identify where to cut back. Are you spending too much on overhead? Could you engage property management software to help with bandwidth? In some cases, changing your expense model may take some time – for example, if you need to renegotiate a long-term lease. Look at Your Growth Model Evaluating and updating your growth model is another opportunity for maximizing profitability. Once you’ve identified and set your targets, here are some potential next steps for growth: Finding and hiring a high-performing business development manager Get a new sales process in line Dial in your lead generation strategies so that you have enough leads for that BDM Etc. Again, this shift may take several months or years to integrate into your business processes fully. Launch a Residents Benefit Package Ultimately, one of the best ways to increase profit and influence your bottom line is by considering where you can add more value for your residents and residential property investors. Daniel recommends starting small tweaks to your Revenue Per Unit. “We have seen repeatedly that a 10% improvement to revenue per unit can easily result in a 100% increase in profit per unit. So, look for ways to get small wins on value creation, value communication, and value realization.” Daniel says one of the quickest and most practical ways to adjust Revenue Per Unit is to implement a Resident Benefits Package. (And we didn’t even put him up to it!) “A resident benefits package alone can result in that 10% bump to revenue per unit, which can result in that 100% increase to profit per unit. This profitability can result in more fuel to your freedom, more fuel to your mission, and realizing all the things you went into business for in the first place.” How to Find Profitable Residents & Investors and Keep Them Happy Daniel says they’ve seen significant profitability gains when a company identifies the right-fit and wrong-fit clients. “We have seen significant profitability gains come about for those who are looking through the client list, finding the misfits accelerating, and then getting those misfits out of their portfolio so that they can bring in the right-fit clients who are going to be a better fit from a value proposition perspective. Getting rid of low-performing clients and then backfilling those with the right kind of clients is a great way to improve profitability.” Daniel says that this goes back to being mission-driven. By identifying your point of view on your industry, your values, etc., you can build a “why” for your company that can help you define the right new clients for your business. Daniel uses his own company as an example: “At ProfitCoach, we believe in community-driven finance. If we come into contact with a potential client who's all about financial isolation – they don't want to share their numbers with anybody, they don't want to engage in a community conversation, they don't wanna learn from the best practices in the industry – that's not a good fit for us.” So, the two questions to define are: What is your point of view? What is the value proposition that comes out of that? Based on that value proposition, there will be a certain set of criteria that will define what a right-fit client is and what a wrong-fit client is. Learn more about SecondNature’s Resident Benefits Package, which is designed to generate revenue and “Triple Win” conditions that benefit residents, investors, and property managers alike.

Calendar icon June 28, 2023

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Property manager giving a tour

Property Management Strategies to Grow Your Business Without Burning Out

Are you tired of the challenges that come with managing properties? From dealing with difficult residents to handling maintenance issues, property management can often feel like an endless list of responsibilities instead of a strategic small business venture. Fear not! In this article, we’ll unveil a range of effective property management strategies to alleviate your property management woes and empower you to achieve smooth operations and maximize returns. Get ready to discover practical tips and proven techniques that will revolutionize the way you approach property management. Here are the top 15 property management growth strategies to expand your business without burning out. Say goodbye to stress and hello to efficient, hassle-free property management. 1. Set core values In the renowned book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Stephen Covey outlines the second habit as: “Begin with the end in mind.” When building property management strategies, setting core values is the absolute foundation for everything else. We’ve spoken with hundreds of property management leaders, and all of them have reflected: Get your values right from the start. Your goals and growth come from that foundation. Kevin Hommel, COO of Memphis Turnkey Properties, puts it this way: “Anyone who encounters or interacts with your business needs to be able to feel your core values coming through when they meet with you, when they explore your company online, or if they talk to somebody else about you. You have to have your core values right there.” 2. Know your priorities The next step after outlining your values is to identify and document your priorities. For many of us, articulating core values or taking time to nail down priorities can feel like an important thing we’ll never get around to. The urgent tasks of managing a property portfolio often get in the way of important big-picture work. Many property managers find their teams spread too thin over too many tasks and responsibilities that really don’t impact their company’s bottom line. Or, maybe they’re focusing on too many areas, too many types of houses, etc. Setting priorities can help you niche down and then begin to see growth. Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy have an upcoming book about this called “10X Is Easier Than 2X.” We had Dr. Hardy on our podcast to explain what the phrase means and how getting the right priorities can make all the difference in growth and burnout: “Whatever your goal might be,” Dr. Hardy says, “it's not the obstacles between you and the goal that stops you. It's that you have too many competing priorities. Eighty percent of everything you're doing right now and the people you're working with are a distraction from 10X.” In terms of rental property management, that means that as a leader, you have to be able to delegate priorities. And that, of course, means getting the right people on board, which leads us to our next point… 3. Get the right people on board To grow property management without burning out, it’s imperative that you get the right people on your team. The reason staffing makes such a difference goes beyond just having more hands. Your team answers the question “Who, not how” – another principle from Dr. Hardy in his book of the same name. Peter Lohmann, Co-founder & CEO of RL Property Management, explained this concept in conversation with Dr. Hardy on the Triple Win Podcast: “The concept from the book Who Not How is that you need to stop thinking about ‘HOW can I do this,’ which is kind of our default framework for clients coming to us with a problem. They’re thinking, ‘How can I get this done?’ But as a property manager, you need to reframe that and ask yourself, ‘WHO can help me with this? Who’s the expert?’” 4. Hire based on culture fit Onboarding the right people brings us back to our first tip: Find people who embrace your core values. Hommel says he focuses on hiring motivated people who buy into what he’s trying to achieve – rather than people who necessarily have all the property management experience. “You don't want to let anybody through a round of interviews that you wouldn't love to come in and go to bat with everybody. And then you have employee retention, which we know creates a lot of efficiencies. So, define what your core culture is. Define who you want to join you.” Whether the team has previous SFR management experience is less important than ensuring they have a triple win mindset. Look for team members who understand that proactively driving progress and success for others (residents, investors, teammates) is the best way to achieve progress and success for themselves. These people are more likely to be A-players and grow in your organization over time and can help you deliver what “totally taken care of” feels like. 5. Build strategies with your team One of the best solutions for burnout is simply ensuring that you and your team are on the same page. Assuming you’ve hired people who are a culture fit, who get what you’re trying to do, and who think creatively and resiliently – they should be involved in building your business strategies, too. They need to be in the conversation around managing a property portfolio. After all, it’s important to be able to trust your people. Lohmann says: “I would challenge everyone to step back from the need to know everything that’s going on and ask yourself, ‘Why?’ Why do I need to know this information if it's being handled? The need to ‘stay plugged in’ is not going to help you unlock growth for your company. Time to work on 10x opportunities instead.” 6. Find your property management niche Setting the right priorities also means focusing on what you’re best at. Being “all things to all real estate investors” may help you add a new property in the short term, but you risk slowed growth and burnout. Instead, a more effective property management strategy is to double down on your specific property management niche. On this topic, we spoke with Bob Preston, CEO of North County Property Group, CRMC. Preston shared how he quickly learned to go deep, not wide, with his business. The result? A booming property management services company with some of the best real estate in San Diego county. “When I was starting things out, I learned really, really quickly that sometimes less is more. In the early days, when I would take on anything, the worst properties were taking up 80% of our time.” Based on their location, they ended up focusing on a specific region within the county – high-value coastal properties in the north part of San Diego County. These properties only made up about 20% of his total doors, but they made up 80% of the profit margin. So, he started to carve out a niche. Preston says, “At that point in time, we started all of our messaging, positioning, outreach, and pitch to the higher end of the market. We may not be the cheapest, and that's okay. If you don't like that, don't come to our company.” Instead of shrinking their business, they have $550+ monthly revenue per home, expanded their services to include maintenance, and have had zero evictions. To grow property management, the key is to niche down, not go broad. 7. Create more value & charge accordingly Finding your niche and saying no to properties may seem counterintuitive. So does our next tip: When you start finding ways to add more value, charge for what it’s worth. Evalute your current services and consider whether you are charging a reasonable price for them. On this topic, we had Mike Krause, Partner at Atrium Management Company, weigh in: “We were always afraid of charging more fees and owners being turned off. So we stuck to the big three: renewal fees, leasing fees, and management fees. And that's kind of what we lived on for a while, so we were staying kind of just barely profitable.” Krause and his team decided it was time to take a risk and make some changes. Atrium built new programs like a resident benefits package, which created fantastic new value for residents and investors – and brought Atrium new revenue streams. The result? They had their biggest year ever and are now on track to double that in the coming year. Krause says: “We stopped being afraid to charge fees. We sat down and made a list of the fees we thought were valuable and what we wanted to charge, and we started charging more. And guess what? Not many people left. What we were afraid of – losing current owners or losing current management contracts or not winning new ones – just didn't happen.” When you start generating value beyond those core three fees, you can generate more revenue by monetizing those programs. Then you can reinvest in the business to bring more value to investors and residents. We like to say: There's no shame in making money in property management, the only shame is not putting it to good use. 8. Don’t be afraid to “fire” a client This is a question we see all the time. When you have a frustrating investor, do you just deal with it or cut them loose? While there are all kinds of nuances to that question, the long and short of it is that you can’t be afraid to get rid of a client. Bob Preston has experience “firing” investors and says it has contributed to his company’s ability to grow without draining his team. “I always try to save a client, but often it’s a small number of properties that are causing 80% of the problems – whether it’s an owner who likes to complain, who doesn't like to keep their investment property maintained, who drags their feet, who threatens to fire us, etc. For me, it's three strikes, and we're out.” Cutting difficult clients loose frees you up to focus on higher-value opportunities that don’t take away 80% of your resources. This brings us back to Dr. Benjamin Hardy. “You (have to) start saying no to the lesser goals. Then you start finding ways to get the opportunities at the level you want.” 9. Develop an excellent marketing strategy To develop the right marketing plan, you must apply all the skills we’ve discussed here. It means really digging into what works, what’s driving results with new clients – and getting rid of the rest. Hommel again: “One of the more important factors in driving revenue into the company is: How do I get new doors? Understanding your sources of marketing, what's effective marketing, and where are you wasting money. Where do you see fruits?” If you can drill down into the data and find which marketing messages, landing pages, blog posts, and campaigns drove your ideal client, you can start cutting out the messages that only bring in busywork or “bad” clients. This property management strategy ultimately helps your team by releasing them from any unproductive leads and focuses them on generating growth. 10. Use digital tools & AI solutions AI property management is growing and we have software tools that can make work so much easier for our teams. The current primary use of AI property management strategy is to automate workflows and repetitive tasks. AI solutions can seem daunting at first, but they are one of the best ways to take busy work off your team’s plate and let them focus on more strategic tasks that require human skills. AI and software solutions can help with processes like: Email marketing and communication Scheduling (with rules built in for your priorities and goals) Marketing listings Maintenance requests Rent payments tracking Etc. Automation tools are an incredible way to reduce burnout, increase productivity, and deliver better results. 11. Build SEO & social media strategies SEO and social media marketing are both strategies to grow your business without daily updating. Build your website and blog content with SEO practices in mind – or hire or contract an SEO expert to help optimize your website. If you’re already blogging, make sure to follow best practices in SEO so that your content actually draws new customers in. SEO can continue to organically grow your traffic – and your business. Social media is another great way to build your brand, influence, and client base without doing any aggressive marketing. Start growing your network in the property management industry and real estate world. Post things in property management that seem interesting to you and make them easily shareable. Follow best practices for social media, tag colleagues, and watch your following and your network grow. 12. Network with peers Networking is one of the best ways to grow your brand and your business – and for many, it’s fun! In property management, the network of professionals is an incredibly supportive community of tactical advice, generative solutions, and rigorous debate. We’ve seen so many companies grow simply through meeting with like-minded professionals and sharing ideas, strategies, and referrals. One great place to plug in is in various Facebook Groups, LinkedIn, and other social media. Wherever you are in the country, you can share questions, solutions, frustrations, and wins. Check out the Triple Win Property Managers Facebook Group for a thriving community of PMs. 13. Stay familiar with local businesses and listings SFR property management is all about local communities and regional reach. To grow without burning out, it’s critical for your property management company to have a good reputation in your community, and to be visible to property owners or anyone looking for property management solutions. Make sure your information is up to date in local business listings, and think about places to drive more visibility in your specific market niche. This connects with the point above about networking. The more your community knows you, the more leads you’ll see coming in without putting extra pressure on your team. 14. Improve current properties This might not seem like a growth strategy, but improving your current properties can do a world of good for your property management company’s reputation. Happy residents make referrals, as do happy investors. In your efforts to grow, you need to first ensure your foundation is strong. Visit your current properties and discuss with your team if there are any ways to improve the quality of resident experiences. The better the resident experience, the more easily you can leverage growth opportunities. 15. Invest in resident experience All of this leads to one thing: better resident experiences. Ultimately, growing your property management business without burning out your team is about providing winning experiences for residents. You do this by defining your business goals, carving your niche, building a high-quality team, and staying laser-focused on your priorities throughout. Starting with experiences residents pay for and stay for leads to better retention, which reduces turnover costs, which brings in more revenue – makes your business more attractive to investors and talent, and the virtuous cycle goes on. At Second Nature, we believe in the power of saying yes to what benefits you, your investors, and your residents – and cutting out anything else. That’s why we’ve built the first fully managed Resident Benefits Package. The RBP is the most powerful way to transform your resident experience, without adding a burden on your team or a cost to your investor. Talk about a Triple Win! Learn more about how property managers are building better resident experiences and turning it into profit.

Calendar icon May 23, 2023

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14 Bizarre Items Found in Rental Properties | RBP by Second Nature

Disclaimer: We asked for the weirdest, the most bizarre, the most surprising… and property managers delivered. You may want to check over your shoulder before scrolling if you’re in a public coffee shop or you have little ones at home! Nobody can ever deny that property managers have some great stories. We asked around to find some of the weirdest, craziest, more preposterously bizarre stories of items left behind by residents to be discovered by property managers. We figured these would be weird. We were right. 14 Weird and Strange Things We Found After Move Out Get ready for bizarre! A grenade “A LIVE RPG (rocket propelled grenade). Seriously did not think it was active but called the bomb squad just to be safe. We shut down 10 blocks for an entire day” RBP>RPG (learn about our Resident Benefits Package) An entire car “A 1966 fox body Mustang. Engine and all. Who does that?” Fun fact: The 2000 comedy film starring Ashton Kutcher titled "Dude, Where's My Car" is actually based on this. A cannabis farm “Basement full of beautiful, huge, marijuana plants. Evicted for not paying the rent. They could have paid rent for a long time if they knew how to run their pot growing business 🤣” Never get high on your own supply An assassin kit? “My cleaning lady pulled the stove out and found a secret cabinet behind it. It had an uzi handgun, silencer, bump stock and other attachments. It was super creepy. I had the sheriff's office come get it.” Yeah that's a mob safe house you got there Farm life “A very angry rooster” You know, I really hate it when I forget my rooster Snakes! “Boa constrictor shedded skin under a couch. Where is the snake?!?!” Hopefully you burned down the house immediately just to be safe Pool pickles? “Pickles in the skimmer basket of a pool.” May not see a weirder one than this as long as olive Dead cats... “Dead cats in freezer and also had one that had white powder on everything in the apartment couldn’t see floor due to powder. They left everything they owned. They had Bed bugs. Took forever to get that cleaned. Broke 3 brand new vacuums. Just trying to clean it up after pulling all carpet. Also had a unit that had burnt aluminum foil all over the place from drugs gun shot holes and someone tried to drive through the apartment. So busted brick inside apartment.” Please park in the driveway, not the kitchen. Thank you for your understanding All their worldly possessions “A house full of furniture. No packing at all. Looked like they just left for work. All of the family items were left behind including all the china, crystal, silver, and linens in the DR. Only thing not left was a couple of TV's and a bed. Took a crew of 8 to empty the house in 6 hours and took 8 trips to haul off from the junk service. Amazing!” "I swear, Bob! This is the last time you are packing the car!" A placenta “Defrosted placenta” No comment More cats... “Dead/stuffed cat. We had fun with that one” Ever move to a new place and get the feeling you're missing something important? This resident did not get that feeling. ...and even more cats “17 cat urns” The only thing worse than this would be finding 18 cat urns Frog hatchery “I also had an entire pool of frog eggs. They hadn't hatched to tadpoles yet. And if you've never seen them, they look like long strings.” Figured we'd find some poles when we put this list together but was not expecting this type. NSFW "Dancer pole" And there it is Want to see the photos/more from the thread? Click here and join our free private Facebook group for property managers. ” Do you have one that would have made the list? Email alower@secondnature.com

Calendar icon May 23, 2023

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How to Market A Property Management Company | RBP by Second Nature

Learn how to market your SFR property management company to new investors from marketing professionals in the PM space. How do you market your property management company? Well, first, what does that mean? More specifically, the question is how do you as a property manager use marketing tactics to strengthen your brand and grow your door count as a result. Effective Property management marketing is based on the same concepts as any effective marketing strategy, but with some industry specific insights, you can create an effective strategy that will efficiently grow your door count. Here we dive into the process of constructing a good marketing strategy for your property management company. We’re joined by Rodney Hays of Geekly Media (formerly RentBridge), who has spent a lot of time conducting marketing specifically for property managers, as well as Second Nature marketing professionals Carol Housel and Brandy Hammond. Identify informational needs of real estate investors A big part of digital marketing for property management is content marketing, which is defined as media creation (videos, articles, social media) designed to inform rather than to persuade. A good content marketing strategy gives you access to potential clients in the places they are asking questions. This includes places like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google, where investors and potential investors consume real estate investment content that you can provide. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a website to send signals to search engines and their users to gain organic visibility. Search engines, mainly Google, are the number one place where people begin their search for information. Content hosted on your website that addresses the most common questions investors are asking can position you well on the search engine results page (SERP), leading to increased website traffic. So how do you find out what topics to build content around? SEO programs, such as Semrush and Ahrefs, have an incredible database of keywords and common search terms, along with insights for those terms such as how much competition there is to rank well, how much search volume there is, and how often searches result in a click. You can also use the “people also ask” tab in the actual SERP to see what common questions are being asked. Then it’s just a matter of addressing the questions in a useful way to start increasing traffic to your website. “[Real estate investors] are going to ask questions about lease agreements and tenant screening. They’re going to ask questions about evictions, emotional support animals, those types of questions are always going to come up,” says Rodney Hays of Geekly Media (formerly RentBridge), providing a window into what real estate investors are often interested in learning. Create/Curate useful content for real estate investors A big part of SEO is identifying what your potential new clients are interested in. A good content marketing strategy follows that up with useful content that addresses the questions and leverages the specific keywords associated with them. Useful is the keyword here. Google is smart, and the analysis it conducts on webpages is extensive, so it will know if you’re just writing some slop and jamming keywords into it. Many property managers maintain a constant stream of content through a website blog. Real-Time Leasing’s website has extensive content written by their CEO, Deb Newell, who is also a property management consultant. Others communicate useful content with podcasts, such as AHI Properties and Evernest (link to Andrew’s episode), both of which appeared on the Triple Win Property Management podcast. “Good content seizes opportunities you’ve identified through SEO or other forms of communications and delivers actual value to the readers. A holistic strategy covers both of those parts, and you’ll fail to realize the potential of your marketing efforts if you skip one of them,” says Second Nature Marketing Services Manager Carol Housel. A popular content curation strategy used by Geekly Media is the industry news page, an example of which can be found here. This is curated content. It’s not written by the property management company, but rather compiled from sources and shared all in one place, which still creates a lot of value and a reason for real estate investors to be on your website. Rodney Hays of Geekly has opened a lot of industry news pages for clients and recommends sharing them across social channels whenever they’re updated. “Our customers will put their industry news page out there;, they'll pull in like 15 or 16 new articles every month. And then, out of those 15 or 16, we will take eight of those and put a third- party link in it and send those out on social media as well. And I think that's done pretty well in bringing in some different traffic that you know, it's just another resource for the people that might be visiting your page,” says Hays. Paid channels Paid marketing efforts for property managers are more about visibility and awareness. They’re high-funnel and useful if you have a budget for them. Hays notes that Geekly clients opt for Facebook, LinkedIn, and sometimes Twitter as targeted social channels. Facebook and LinkedIn have far and away the most active property management discussions and, in addition to paid search, are where you can see the most value for your investment. When it comes to old- school paid marketing efforts, Facebook ads are among the best ways to advertise property management services. Ads on Facebook are pretty easy to run and include useful features for property managers such as geotargeting. “Facebook ads are a great gateway into paid ads, since Google ads typically require a much higher budget to get similar performance. Facebook in the past has had a lower cost per click, so you’re getting higher performance from it for less lift and less spend, which is why I recommend it as a really good starting point,” says Brandy Hammond, B2B Marketing Specialist at Second Nature. Hammond goes on to note that paid facebook ads are one of the best marketing ideas for property management companies. Certain ad platforms, including Facebook, also offer geotargeting and audience mirroring, which are useful to property managers who need to target specific audiences in specific regional areas. “One thing I do love about Facebook ads, like with any other kind of paid ads, is that you can geotarget. Especially with property management and real estate, it makes sense that you’re going to target a specific area because, depending on the scale of your PMC, you probably don’t have national properties,” continued Hammond. Establish authority Becoming an industry-leading property management company is about more than just the number of doors you manage. There is a saying in marketing that perception equals reality. If you want potential clients to perceive your company as an industry leader, you have to give them a reason to believe that you are. That’s the point of a marketing strategy that seeks to establish the company as an authority in the space. A point will come where a large portion of your new doors will come from referrals. People don’t usually get into real estate without talking to people, so word gets around. Welch-Randall, a property management firm based out of Ogden, Utah, attributes 92% of its new doors to referrals. This is the mark of a business with established authority reaping the benefits of the work it put in to create that trust. This is the end state of everything discussed above. This is the fruits of your labor. Real estate investors, especially new ones, above all else, are looking for expertise in the real estate field to guide them through the ownership of their assets. By achieving visibility and brand awareness via paid channels and SEO, and following that up with useful content that answers the questions most important to investors, you’re establishing your company as a trustworthy and knowledgeable option for investors. By answering the questions they have, you’re also driving them closer to a decision. And when you’ve provided them the answers, guess which PMC they’re most likely to want to work with.

Calendar icon July 31, 2022

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