Life as a landlord isn’t easy.
From collecting rent, scheduling repairs, finding qualified tenants, and attending to maintenance requests, rental property owners go through a lot to manage their business. All these can take a toll on them, resulting in stress-related health issues.
In this post, we explained 6 technology innovations that can help rental property owners better manage their businesses.
6 Tech Innovations That Make Life Easier
These techs are designed to make life easier for rental property owners and guarantee the smooth running of their businesses.
1. Digital signature collection
Do you need a tenant’s signature but are too busy to visit your property?
With digital signature software, you or your tenants can get a document signed right from the comfort of your home. The best part? The software stores signed documents for future reference.
If you have multiple properties, digital signature software can help store all crucial documents in one place. It makes life easy for you and your tenants.
2. Online apps and background checks
It is common practice to conduct screenings for potential tenants.
However, this process, which requires the tenant to show up and submit a paper application, can be made easy with software.
There are some apps and software that help landlords accept online applications. These apps can also conduct credit checks and background screening, which are crucial criteria for vetting potential tenants.
3. Digital rent collection
Collecting rent may appear easy in theory, but in reality, it is often difficult and time-consuming. First, you send the invoice to the tenant.
Then you wait for the check. When you receive it, you then deposit it at the bank. The whole process can be frustrating, especially when you need the money urgently to settle pressing bills.
With digital rent collection, which comes with typical property management software, you can collect rent online. Plus, the software allows you to set up automatic reminders to notify your tenants when their rent is due. You can also offer different payment methods to individuals who ask.
The best thing about online rent collection is that it reduces the need for paperwork as it stores all your tenant transaction records online. That way, you can monitor those who have paid and those who are yet to.
4. Online maintenance requests
If a fixture in your property gets damaged, you expect tenants to alert you to the issue so it can be fixed ASAP. But rather than contact you directly, you can encourage your tenants to use online maintenance requests.
Online maintenance requests allow tenants to reach out to their landlords regarding issues as they happen. The tool also helps them take photos of the damage.
With the tool, the landlord can track the problem and contact the necessary professional to fix the issue. In addition, with online maintenance requests, the landlords don’t have to come and inspect the damage physically. This makes life easy for the landlord.
5. Smart security system
It is the job of property owners to ensure that their property is safe at all times. While many property owners rely on the traditional security system to achieve this purpose, for optimum security, we recommend using modern means to secure your property. And one of those means is the use of smart security systems.
Smart home systems like biometric or facial recognition systems can help protect specific areas in your home by granting access to residents. Likewise, replacing each unit’s traditional doorknob with a smart security lock helps tenants feel safer.
In addition to smart locks, you should also consider installing smart security cameras. These cameras are designed to offer live coverage of your property. Plus, they allow you to stream the footage on your mobile device. This can boost the security of your entire property.
6. Smart smoke detectors
Fire accidents happen daily. In fact, on average, seven people lose their lives in a fire daily. The increased rate of fire accidents calls for the need to adopt means to protect our homes. As a landlord, you can do this by installing smoke alarms and carbon dioxide detectors.
A smoke alarm alerts individuals when it detects fire. And since your tenants aren’t often around, the smart detector can send you a real-time alert if it detects smoke or carbon dioxide in the apartment. That way, you can contact your tenants or call the fire department.
Conclusion
Why shoulder so many responsibilities when you can rely on technology to do things fast and efficiently? There is a tech for almost every repetitive task that comes with being a rental property owner. Leveraging this tech can boost your business while making life easier for you.
Additionals:
Samanta Bhowmick
Sofia
Debamalya Mukherjee