Maintaining tenant retention for renters is one of the biggest aspects of renting. However, that takes determination on the renters’ side to always ensure the tenants are happy.
One of the biggest ways renters’ happiness can be kept is by making sure their requests for maintenance are always met. These complaints need to be recorded, tracked, and resolved as soon as possible.
This article will delve into how real estate professionals can streamline their maintenance requests through digital tools to help them keep their tenants happy.
Dealing With Maintenance Requests Through Digital Tools
Too Many Maintenance Requests
There is often the issue of getting too many requests from your tenants and it can overwhelm renters. This leads to a pile-up and often disallows the renter from dealing with them efficiently.
There are a few different reasons for the number of requests you will receive in a given period. For example, schools are off in the Summer and kids are at home. This can lead to a number of increased maintenance needs as more people are home longer, and kids can be unruly.
Another big factor contributing to the number of requests a property needs is the age of the property itself. An aged property will display more issues as time passes and tenants will have to file more complaints about it.
However, if it does get to be too much, how do you deal with so many complaints?
Self-serving Tenants
Real estate property management CRM systems are designed to deal with these issues and make the process of submitting maintenance requests much easier. For example, before the introduction of such software, people would have to call the renter or landlord to speak about the complaint and wait for the landlord to have time to deal with it.
However, with the integration of software into the system, the situation would become much easier as these systems allow a hassle-free situation as the tenants could access the software with their phone or laptop and log the complaint there where it would be recorded.
This reduces the chance of it being missed and the exact issue to be known. Renters can then figure out the urgency of the issues and then set a timeline for them to be fixed, creating transparency with the renter and a clear vision in the system.
Separate Properties
The thing with maintenance issues is that they involve multiple people to help completely solve them. For example, if there is an issue with the plumbing, first the tenants need to file the complaint, after which others will have to notify the plumbers of the issue that multiple properties need plumbing fixed. However, this causes issues of long wait times and conversations on the phone trying to figure out which properties the plumbers have to get to and how where they are.
This causes a lot of inefficiency and frustration on all sides, often leading to delays in the work getting done.
Automatic Mobile System
A mobile system that logs maintenance requests can be updated to showcase the necessary information to the necessary parties. What that means is that if there is an issue with the plumbing that has been logged onto the system, it will be shown with the address next to it and what the issue is.
If rental properties allowed their technicians on to the system as well which can be accessed through their phones, they can divert their attention from having to wait on calls to get the information and access it directly themselves. If there are multiple requests, they can access all of them and create the best route possible to solve as many situations as they can on the day.
Mobile systems are digital tools that can be extremely useful in the modern day as everyone can access them through their cell phones, creating areas to optimize in, and property management systems can allow for this to be the case. Some of the best real estate CRMs for real estate professionals allow various types of tagging and property categorizations that can also be integrated for rental businesses.
Surprise Expenses
Surprises are meant to be good, but when it comes to surprise expenses, they often put people in a bad place. Just as business ventures and plans need a budget set in place for them, so do rental properties. If someone owns multiple properties and has a large portfolio of them, it is wise to build up a budget for each property throughout the year. This is largely because maintenance costs will constantly come in, especially with a diverse range of properties. Maintaining a budget for each with a little extra for surprise expenses and unprecedented issues is important.
Financial Systems
The real estate market can be tricky and requires a proper understanding of the trends and economy to understand how to navigate it. While rental properties require less of that, they still heavily benefit from the utilization of software that helps keep budgeting needs simple. Many real estate CRMs and property management CRMs can allow real estate professionals to keep track of spending, budgeting, and unit turns for each and every property.
Conclusion
Maintenance requests for landlords and renters are something that will always be a constant. The frequency does deviate throughout the year, but homes will always require maintenance, and being on top of it helps keep tenant retention up.
Following through with digital tools in this modern age is the way to go because all businesses have stepped up their game and you need to as well. Not to mention, they also make it much more convenient to keep track of everything going on.
