There are 3 Musts in Managing Your Self-Storage Business

There are 3 key things that you should make automatic in self-storage. You should always have the same system in place for when you are renting to a new client. You should always have automatic rent increases; you should always have automatic withdrawal.

To begin with, if you are not consistent with the way that you rent to each new tenant, there are chances that things can slip through the cracks. For example, what if you are not consistent with showing people to their units. What if they end up with their belongings in the wrong unit. Now that unit isn’t paying rent. What are you going to do when you auction off the wrong belongings? This happens. Don’t think that you are immune to mistakes.

Another reason to make sure that you follow the exact same steps is so that no one can accuse you of discrimination. If you treat one client differently than another, they may be offended. You don’t want to open yourself up to a lawsuit.

You should automatically increase your rents every 6 to 9 months. By having automatic rent increases, you guarantee that your property value stays high. You may not be in the market to sell today, but time and circumstances change. In addition, you make sure that your bottom line continues to grow. Most people are not going to move their belongings over a few dollars rent increase. They have their belongings settled and they don’t want to think about them.

Finally, you do not want to make a profit on late fees. This is a terrible way to make money. You want your tenants to pay on time. One of the best ways to ensure this is to have them on automatic payments. There is always a chance that they had to change their card because they lost it, the card expired, or that they don’t have money in the account, so it is declined. However, you would rather risk these rare circumstances than waste your managers time chasing down people who just don’t remember to pay their rent. You want your managers focused on getting more renters not collecting from the ones that you have.

While these seem like simple things, they will add to your bottom line and prevent potential problems with unpredictable renters. Put systems in place so that you can make sure things are always done the way that you want them done. As always, happy investing.