How To Get Your Rental Business Back on Track after the Quarantine
States are slowly opening back up, and everyone is waiting for the property market to return to normal. Landlords have been receiving reduced rents, or in some cases, none at all. Yet landlords have still had to pay their fixed expenses, like maintenance and mortgage payments. So what should you do to get your existing tenanted properties back in the green, or fill a vacant property that’s been sitting empty?
To help your rental business bounce back (and thrive) post-pandemic, here’s a checklist of things you should start thinking about now:
1. Get Your Finances in Order
- - Plot payment schedules in your calendar vis-a-vis your fixed costs to help you manage your finances more efficiently.
- - Find ways to cut down on unnecessary costs.
- - If you’ve made any payment adjustment agreements with your tenants, make sure that these are well-documented, so you can hold your tenants accountable
- 2. Disinfect Your Advertised Property(s)
- - Allocate enough resources to thoroughly disinfect your property.
- - Sanitize all frequently touched surfaces (i.e. doorknobs, countertops, bathrooms, etc.), deep clean fabrics, and consider using UV lights for disinfection, too.
- - If you will be allowing professional cleaners into the property, ensure that they follow strict physical distancing and hygiene measures (e.g. face mask, gloves, etc.) to prevent the risk of transmission.
- - Document all this in case prospective tenants want proof.
- 3. Rethink Your Marketing Materials
- Tenants’ priorities are now changing in the world of the “new normal,” so make sure that your marketing materials clearly communicate how you’re adapting to the times:
- - Update all property descriptions to highlight the fact that strict sanitization and disinfection measures are being implemented.
- - Does your property offer a lot of privacy or distance from neighbors? Highlight this in your description, too.
- - With the recent surge in remote work environments, tenants will also be looking for bigger spaces that can accommodate a good work/life balance. Highlight features like spacious kitchens, entertainment facilities, and spaces that can accommodate leisure activities in your marketing materials.
- 4. Look to the Future
- - In the event of another crisis or shutdown, how will you keep your business going? If there’s one takeaway we can all learn from the coronavirus ordeal, it’s the importance of rapid response and flexibility in adapting to digital or remote processes. You should be prepared in the event of a similar shutdown situation recurring again in the future.
- - This is a great time to start working on a business continuity plan that can help you mitigate risks, maintain operations, and build your resilience capabilities. Here’s a simple 3-step plan to get you started.
- - As you start building on your business continuity plan, don’t be afraid to ask for help, too. Talk to other business owners and industry contacts (e.g. Any associations or groups you may belong to) to learn more about the steps they’re taking to manage the crisis. This could also be a good way to explore any potential synergies in the future.
- 5. Coordinate with Your PMC
- If you have a property management company, ask them what their arrangements are for all of the above, and how their new operational procedures will impact you. Ideally, they will have already communicated to you early on about how they’re adjusting and responding to the current crisis. If not, don’t hesitate to reach out to them with all of your questions and find out how they can support you.
- Your plan will vary depending on the industry you’re in - for example, student rentals will require different actions than SFRs or MFRs to optimize your business’s return to normalcy. But using this time to identify the things you can do, and acting on them, is the best way to get your business running smoothly (and fast) once the crisis has passed.
Image courtesy of: Cottonbro
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