An effective property management company supervises, coordinates, and acts as a general liaison between the property investor or owner and the tenants. In addition, handling bill collectors and vendor payments can play a big role in the management company performing their tasks properly. It is of critical importance that property managers keep the hassle out of the investor’s lifestyle, and allow him or her to do what they do best.

When managing a property, either commercial or residential, and a vacancy opens, having potential tenants in place can be huge when taking into account the cash flow of any given property. Any vacancy that extends for months can create a significant loss to the investor, and makes the manager look bad. Therefore, a property management company that is very proactive in their search for new and qualified tenants will have a big edge on their competition.

As a prospective tenant applies for a commercial or residential vacancy, a background and reference check is paramount to protect the property owner from future complications. Although any system of background checking cannot give a completely accurate account of the prospect, it is still very valuable and should be consistently done.

Once a tenant is placed, a property management team doing business properly will provide random and periodic inspections on the location. By checking the properties on a consistent basis protects both the owner and tenant, and shows a level of professionalism along with a no nonsense approach. Especially for the tenant, this system can act as a motivation to keeping the property in the proper condition.

A competent property manager has a system that ensures that the tenants are able to contact the office on a 24 hour basis. Any emergency or simple problem will be handled quickly and efficiently by trained specialists. Of course, having maintenance and contractors on call for such scenarios is crucial to being able to accomplish this. In addition, any security system that is placed within the various units will have the office number to contact should the need arise.

An excellent property management company is the key to keeping an investment property, whether commercial or residential, in the condition necessary for placing the right kind of tenant, as well as for future resale value. When handled properly, a well maintained property through correct tenant placement will increase the value, and give a pride of ownership for the investor, while providing the tenant with a property they can occupy and enjoy.

We often discuss apartment marketing and leasing. Spending a few minutes considering how the prospects develop is a useful exercise for designing a marketing and leasing strategy.

Where do resident prospects come from in the market place?

• The Internet is the first main source of potential renters. This is more complicated than the service providers in the area describe. Few renters simply look at the Internet sources, choose an apartment and rent. Certainly, the entirely Internet focused renter should not be ignored, but the view should be more wholistic.
• Many renters come to us from word of mouth recommendation of their friends, associates, and fellow workers.
• A large portion find properties by looking physically in the area that interests them.
• Another portion are driven by access to shopping, entertainment, or employment.
• Still others are neighborhood focused driven by neighborhood reputation, school quality, or socio economic strata of a given area.

For the more geographically driven of the above groups property frontage and visibility can be important. Outdoor signage, advertising in local venues, or local market flyers can push prospective renters to the property.

Having identified in broad brush terms, let’s discuss sources and some of the numbers bandied about regarding them. The U.S. federal Department of Commerce attributes 40% of drop in visits to signage. Signage has seen steady growth as the Internet has strengthened and as print advertising has waned. In fact, at this point, newspapers are not effective by almost all accounts marketing apartments. Internet stats say 72% of out town move ins come from the Internet and over 50% of in town. Craigslist gets credit for about 14% of the total new renter prospects. Statistics on referral traffic are difficult to nail down, but they are clearly so effective that almost all properties have good referral programs. Partnerships with major employers are a standard rental unit leasing approach validating the value of understanding who local employers are.

As rental property owners and managers, developing an approach supported by a strong property marketing website that advertises the community as well as the property characteristics is step 1. Next, an integrated Internet marketing plan (depending on property size) that includes Craigslist and potentially other paid sources and possibly pay per click. A well planned signage plan on and off the property may be needed. These all need to be combined with flyers at local businesses and employers, major employer partnerships, strong referral plans, and so on. Depending on the properties visibility, location strength, and size these can be added, expanded, or left off the plan as appropriate. In all cases, understanding the traffic volume required is a key part of achieving your renting goals in combination with your marketing and leasing plan.