Rental property management has changed a lot over the years. It used to be you’d spend hours on the phone or running from property to property to make sure that you addressed all of the concerns from your tenants. Today, you still need to have a personal touch, but you can also manage a lot of details about your properties using other technologies.

Seattle rentalsHow has technology changed rental property management? 

1. You Can Manage Schedules From Afar 

Property managers have a lot of balls to juggle. You need to make sure that your tenants are a good fit. You must keep your property safe. Your property needs ongoing repairs and maintenance. When you work with new technologies that are cloud-based and available on your phone, you can manage maintenance from just about anywhere. You can also manage property showings, move-ins, and move-outs. According to Latter and Blum, mobile “technology has allowed real estate and property leasing agents to move more properties in a shorter amount of time.”

2. Technology Can Automate Tenant Screening 

While you still need to meet with prospective tenants, many of the more mundane elements of tenant screening have become easier to track with property management technologies. Your tenants need a reference check, record check, and a financial background check. Using technology, you can track the progress of these different checks to make sure that all of your prospective tenants have the right paperwork in place before you bring them on as tenants.

3. People Expect a Website 

According to Paveya, “real estate related searches on Google grew 253 percent over the past four years.” Both buyers and tenants alike look to online searches to find a new place to live. That means that not only do you need to have your properties online, you also need to optimize your listings for search, including local and voice search.

4. Social Media Has Entered the Building 

If you own multiple properties or have an apartment complex, social media may move into the picture for you as a landlord. Your apartment tenants might start a Facebook group, or people could talk about your history as a landlord online. You also have new opportunities for marketing on social media, no matter whether you have a single basement suite, a number of single-family home rentals, or multiple apartment buildings. You need to maintain an active presence on social media to ensure that you communicate your open properties and that you manage your image as a landlord.

5. Tenants Expect Immediate Assistance 

In today’s 24/7 world, your tenants expect that you will be able to get back to them quickly, no matter whether the issue is an emergency or if the tenant wants the answer to a routine question. Text messaging and social media have increased the urgency for you to be on call later and earlier. This can be stressful for landlords who don’t have the ability to answer phone or text messages at all hours of the day or night.

At Lori Gill and Associates, we’re dedicated to making property management easier for you. Partnering with us gives you the advantages of our expertise and more. Let us handle your routine property management tasks so you can focus on other things.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help make property management simple.