propertymanagement

Without a doubt, the rental market is facing a lot of challenges due to the pandemic. It is the property managers, who have faced the most of them. From trying to accommodate safer and healthier environments, to avert all sorts of damage that delated rental payments could do to the rental ecosystems. A lot of new trends have arisen as an answer to the problems. The most important ones are likely to continue in the future and become the norm, not just goals for property managers. Here are few examples of such trends:

• Property managers are spending more time dealing with the concerns of their residents – in the past, it seems it has always been the same 3 priorities that property managers rank as most important – profitability, efficiency and growth. However, things have changed in 2020, with residents moving to the list of top priorities. This reflects the change in how property managers spend their time during a tumultuous period like this. The main focus has been on renters and the homes they occupy – keeping units full, keeping up the rent money flowing, all the while ensuring the safety of all residents. There is more communication with renters and more active steps to reduce the strain on people who have lost their jobs. Some property managers are helping residents with filling out financial aid forms, and otherwise being responsive to problems that have been outside their scope, until now. That is a trend likely to continue.
  
  
• Technology embedded in the property management business – for those property managers who have not moved most of their processes online, things have been really difficult. This is a trend that is likely to remain for a long time. After all, staying connected and getting things done without necessarily meeting people is no longer an option currently. Property management technology trends have risen to meet this challenge. They have brought many advantages to an industry that previously relied on a lot of face-to-face connections. And property managers report that such changes have brought positive outcomes to their work. It is the customers of these services who have benefited as well. From virtual tours of rental properties to electronic leasing, everyone seems to be on board with the new means of doing business and that is likely going to improve even more from here on out.
  
  
• Owners need more insights and communication from property managers – during the pandemic, clients of property managements services find a better appreciation of the expertise that property managers bring in regards to rent collection and working on payment plans. With evictions and late fees changing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the costs of running rental properties going up, it is property managers that need to bring a balancing act. They have been expanding their services and keeping closer communication to property owners about regulatory changes, vacancies and payments. Naturally, owners are all in favour of this communication continuing in the future.
  
  
• Property managers are relying on new ways to grow their business – if there is one thing that the pandemic has helped property managers with, it is to highlight the importance of strategy and technology are essential for growing the business. As regulations change, DIY property managers/landlords will not remain in the business, as profitability becomes harder to achieve. Strategies for growth based on objective realities and novel ways to boost the business will become more prominent in the years to follow.
  
  

These are all essential trends, born out of the events of the pandemic. They are likely to persist, changing and improving the property management scene in the future.

© MLM Property Management