Not long ago, being a landlord could be an organizational nightmare. Renting out even one property came with a host of paperwork and recordkeeping tasks that had to be filled out by hand, filed, and stored in hard-copy in your office. Further, listing a property and tracking leads, applicants, and tenants became a full-time job in and of itself.
But innovations in landlord software technology have made the lives of landlords easier and landlord-tenant relationships smoother. The modern landlord now has access to a suite of online solutions to list properties, track leads and applicants, run background and credit checks, set appointments, and communicate with potential renters.
Let’s take a closer look at how you can use technology to streamline and scale your rental process.
Syndicate your marketing
Renters will start their search for a new place to live online. There are dozens of listing sites, and individual preferences and location usually determine where each searcher begins looking. Landlords are starting to use intelligent rental-specific software that allows you to enter the information and upload photos of your property just once; then the software will post your listing on many of the popular rental listing sites. Syndication saves time and money and allows you to keep your reach broad, helping you attract a larger pool of qualified applicants.
Online rental applications
Your rental leads find you online, and they want to apply online. An online rental application is no longer the exception, but quickly becoming the rule when leasing out your property.
Keeping all processes online streamlines the entire rental experience. Managing your lead flow from initial contact to application processing and screening becomes scalable and efficient when those processes move into the digital world. E-signatures, application processing fees, and consent forms can all process in this manner. You can access and review the application online, creating a frictionless application process between you and the applicant.
The faster you can review an application, run a background and tenant credit check, and find a qualified tenant, the less time your property sits in an unrented, unprofitable state.
Use a CRM
You’ve syndicated your marketing across all rental listing sites, and you accept online applications. The next challenge? Picking a qualified tenant out of a large pool of leads, which landlords report as one of their most significant problems. This is where lead management and lead flow will become critical steps in streamlining the process and enabling you to filter the leads down to a single, well-qualified tenant. Just like a salesperson manages lead flow and customer relationships in a CRM system, a fully realized high-tech landlords manage their lead flow and leases in the same manner.
By moving offline processes and communication into the online world, streamlining the application, screening and lead flow processes, landlords are able to rent faster and more efficiently. This decreases non-rented downtime and creates a scalable solution to grow and manage investment properties.
TurboTenant is an all-in-one, FREE property management tool that streamlines how landlords manage the rental process. Our rental marketing allows you to post across the web with a single click. You can collect online rental applications, and screen tenants (get credit reports and criminal background checks). Powerful and easy-to-use, TurboTenant saves time, money, and headaches. Perfect for the 1-100 unit landlord, property manager or real estate agent. It’s landlording made easy.