If you've got at least a general idea of what the life of a DIY landlord looks like, you probably know that the hardest part of being a landlord (either accidental or professional) is to effectively manage your work day and boost your productivity. Throughout the day, you need to accomplish numerous tasks from dealing with minor home repairs to resolving urgent maintenance issues and even evicting tenants. There's no room for procrastination, and you'll need to go the extra mile to succeed in the rental business.
Fortunately, there are tools that make the overall process of managing rentals easier- like these advanced technologies that can help you stay on top of your business.
Let's take a look at the top four digital tools every DIY landlord should consider:
A Property Management Software
If you're managing rentals on your own, it's almost impossible to have everything covered. That's why an all-in-one property management software is a must for DIY landlords. It helps you stay organized and predict further business progress (or potential mistakes). If you're not planning to hire a property manager, you might be interested in a property management software.
TenantCloud is among the most popular property management software systems that help thousands of landlords to better manage their rental properties and interact with the tenants. TenantCloud provides its landlords with a number of helpful features like full accounting, online payments and maintenance requests, automatic invoicing, online rental applications, financial reports and customizable lease agreements.
Related: Automate Your Rental Business With Us: Planned Property Management
Online Leases
Using online leases instead of paper ones is a great solution for any landlord. It not only saves time, but also allows you to make changes and update the information without having to renew the current document. Your tenants will probably want easy access to the lease agreement to double check the terms and conditions or remind them of what the late rent payment policy is.
Additionally, online leases go hand-in-hand with e-signature, which is one of the most attractive features for prospective tenants since they won't have to deal with paperwork in-person.
Signing leases online also makes your business more eco-friendly. Going paperless means sticking to digital documentation and therefore saving the environment.
Online Rental Applications
Make sure you're moving in reliable renters by requiring them to fill out a rental application. Most rental applications include questions regarding personal information, employment and income history, previous addresses and landlords, evictions (if there were any), other public records. With a TenantCloud account, you can easily set your screening policies and create additional questions, receive application fees, and run background as well as credit checks.
Digital Payment Methods
Digital payment methods are more secure than accepting rent in cash or with paper checks. Nowadays you've got a great variety of online payment options that eliminate the need to meet tenants in-person for rent collection. The main benefit of online payment tools is that transactions can be made from anywhere. It's also easy to keep track of transactions and calculate security deposits, management fees, etc.
Whether it's Credit card payments or TC Payments powered by Dwolla, TenantCloud users have a chance to select the option that suits their rental business. It often depends upon the location of the properties as well as the tenants' citizenship (TC Payments powered by Dwolla is available for U.S. citizens only).
Related: Best Way to Collect Rent: Cash vs Online Payments
Can you recommend any other digital tools for DIY landlords? Share your thoughts and ideas by leaving comments below. We'd love to hear what you think.:)
