Property Rental Management Moneyball: How to Use Your Own Data to Build Your Business
We all know how important data is. We hear about it all the time in business, investing and even in sports. But did you know that you can use data to be more effective in property rental management? And not only that, but you’re sitting on insights RIGHT NOW that could help you to be more profitable and effective.
Data may seem daunting, but it’s really as simple as taking a step back from putting out fires to look at the bigger picture. Even a quick glance at that data can give you some amazing ideas for how to grow.
How do you start? Well, first, you need to level the playing field and get your data to a place where it can be used to play ball.
Moneyball Data Tips For Property Rental Management
1. Record and store your data. If you’re not using a property management software like Buildium, you should start doing that right now. Put your data into a technology tool where all your staff can easily manage it and it will not only put you in better control of your day-to-day. It will allow you to look at bigger data trends.
2. Make your data consistent. Renew all your leases at once, so they get on the same schedule. Also, make all your rent due on the same day of the month and all fees in the same amounts. If you are requiring Renter’s Insurance (and you definitely should) be sure you’re being consistent and require it everywhere. Being consistent will clear out a lot of the clutter and ensure you’re comparing “apples to apples” in your data. It also makes life a lot easier for whoever is doing your books.
3. Review your property portfolio. Now that your data is consistent, you can begin to use it and see what’s happening in your property rental management portfolio. Start with your Rent Roll. Compare what you’re charging for each of your units and compare the rent to bedroom ratio (or rent to square footage, etc). Are there properties you are undervaluing? Others that you might be struggling with because they are above market value? Look at the properties that you find easiest to fill with good tenants and try to model after them.
4. Use data to measure your customer service. How quickly are you responding to your tenants? Task Performance reports will help show you response times, and once you’ve benchmarked them, you can work with vendors and staff to improve them. Also, look through your Event History and use that data to understand the repeatable and one-off property maintenance tasks you and your staff are undertaking. Make sure you’ve got easy processes in place for the repeatable stuff (templates, etc) and that you’ve empowered your staff to deal with the one-offs so they don’t bog you down.
5. Gather tenant opinion data. Consider doing an annual or bi-annual survey of tenants to understand how well you’re meeting their needs. This is data that might bring to light small things you can do to make a big difference. Companies like Surveymonkey.com will let you run a short survey for free. We recommend you include the “Net Promoter” question: “Would you recommend this property to a friend or colleague?” to benchmark how you are doing year over year.
6. Review your financials. Lastly, and probably most importantly, understand where your money is coming from and how you’re getting it by looking carefully at your Management Income Detailed report. After taking a close look at your property accounting, you might realize that you’re making more than you thought from fines, fees or convenience charges. You may even find that a slight increase in those fees will make a significant impact on your property rental management and profitability!
For more tips and tricks for streamlining your property management business, check out our free Proactive Guide to Scaling your Business. These tips should give you a big head start on property rental management moneyball! Check in and let us know how you’re doing!