Tools to Self-Manage your Property
There is more and more evidence of people turning to self-management to take care of their property. Whether the motivation is reduced costs, more control or anything else, there are some tools that the self-manager will want. This is a brief discussion of the basics that will help make self-management more pleasurable.
Those are a few of the basic features that will help you self-manage your property. The big one that I have not listed is accounting. This gets a little tricky depending on the size of your property. The accounting requirements and complexity of a 3 unit building and a 25-unit property differ greatly. Solutions can range from excel spreadsheets and online banking to Quick Books and other sophisticated accounting packages.
Management Solutions
There are a great many tools out there available to help you manage your property. Again, depending on the property size the ‘right’ solution will vary. As you evaluate your options, make sure it is easy to use, fits within your budget and is easy-use. I stress ease-of-use as the last thing you want to do is spend large amounts of time figuring out a software. This day in age there are solutions out there that fit your needs and can make your life a lot easier when self-managing your property.
Property Calendar
Have a property calendar that can be made available to all residents, tenants, owners, board members…will make life a great deal easier. This is a communication tool to make sure everyone knows what is going on. Just about anything can be listed; dates to test the fire alarm, insurance expiration, board meetings, reminders to set up a plowing vendor, and much much more. Calendars can be printed out and posted in the common areas.
Vendor Database
Chances are there is a handful of qualified, preferred vendors that are best suited to service your property. It makes sense to use those vendors. But how does everyone know whom to call? An online listing of the preferred vendors makes sense. This way, each person can easily identify whom to call. This can also lead to negotiating preferred rates from a vendor that gets lots of work from your property.
Document Storage
Today there is a good chance that the relevant documents for your property are stored in many different places – a hard drive, a file cabinet, in someone’s desk, in a box under a bed. Not really a problem until you need that contract, agreement or form. Store all your documents in a secure, online, password-protected location and know that you can get what you need when you need it. This requires that the document be electronic, but this day in age most are electronic, and if not, can be easily scanned.
Event Management
There is constantly something happening at the property; cleaners are coming, getting a quote to fix the gutters, property insurance expiration, board meeting….you need something to record and manage all these activities. Many of the events are recurring; they happen on some frequency and need to be done. An event management system can help be sure you do not miss any of those critical events. An Email Reminder would be nice as well. Let the system send out an email letting you know the contract with the cleaning company expires next week and you need to deal with it.
Have a property calendar that can be made available to all residents, tenants, owners, board members…will make life a great deal easier. This is a communication tool to make sure everyone knows what is going on. Just about anything can be listed; dates to test the fire alarm, insurance expiration, board meetings, reminders to set up a plowing vendor, and much much more. Calendars can be printed out and posted in the common areas.
Vendor Database
Chances are there is a handful of qualified, preferred vendors that are best suited to service your property. It makes sense to use those vendors. But how does everyone know whom to call? An online listing of the preferred vendors makes sense. This way, each person can easily identify whom to call. This can also lead to negotiating preferred rates from a vendor that gets lots of work from your property.
Document Storage
Today there is a good chance that the relevant documents for your property are stored in many different places – a hard drive, a file cabinet, in someone’s desk, in a box under a bed. Not really a problem until you need that contract, agreement or form. Store all your documents in a secure, online, password-protected location and know that you can get what you need when you need it. This requires that the document be electronic, but this day in age most are electronic, and if not, can be easily scanned.
Event Management
There is constantly something happening at the property; cleaners are coming, getting a quote to fix the gutters, property insurance expiration, board meeting….you need something to record and manage all these activities. Many of the events are recurring; they happen on some frequency and need to be done. An event management system can help be sure you do not miss any of those critical events. An Email Reminder would be nice as well. Let the system send out an email letting you know the contract with the cleaning company expires next week and you need to deal with it.
Those are a few of the basic features that will help you self-manage your property. The big one that I have not listed is accounting. This gets a little tricky depending on the size of your property. The accounting requirements and complexity of a 3 unit building and a 25-unit property differ greatly. Solutions can range from excel spreadsheets and online banking to Quick Books and other sophisticated accounting packages.
Management Solutions
There are a great many tools out there available to help you manage your property. Again, depending on the property size the ‘right’ solution will vary. As you evaluate your options, make sure it is easy to use, fits within your budget and is easy-use. I stress ease-of-use as the last thing you want to do is spend large amounts of time figuring out a software. This day in age there are solutions out there that fit your needs and can make your life a lot easier when self-managing your property.
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