While profitability is one great sign of success, there are also many other less tangible indicators that your real estate business is doing well. Following is a list of ten signs you’re running a good business.
 

Your vacancy rates are low.

Low vacancy rates can mean any one (and often a combination of) several good things: 1) that you’re doing a good job marketing your property to new tenants; 2) that you’re maintaining existing tenants; and 3) that your units are generally sought-after.
 

You receive referrals

When existing clientele are referring potential clients your way, it is a sure sign you’re doing things right.
 

You receive new tenants from referrals

With client referrals, tenant referrals speak kindly of your work and may also indicate that you have successfully instated a good tenant referral program.
 

Your Tenants Stay

It costs far less to keep existing tenants than it does to find new ones. If your tenants tend to remain in your units for multiple lease periods, chances are you’re pricing your units right and making tenants feel well cared for.
 

Other real estate professionals contact you for advice

While it’s nice to keep some secrets to your success, you should feel good about what you do every time another real estate professional seeks out your advice. Being viewed as an authority in the field speaks well of your skill set.
 

Associations and other professional organizations invite you to speak at events.

This is a no-brainer, but if professional industry organizations are asking you to speak at events, it’s a sure sign you are viewed as an industry expert.
 

You have an online marketing strategy.

The size of your online presence doesn’t matter as much as the fact that it exists in the first place. Maybe your company has a great web site. Alternatively, maybe you favor social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter for marketing purposes. The main goal is that you have some sort of online presence, large or small.
 

Rental agents approach you.

In some areas, clients use real estate agents not only to assist them in purchasing a home, but also in renting one. Because these agents are paid to know rental properties, no one has a better overview of what’s out there. If these rental agents are approaching you, chances are it means your properties stand out.
 

Potential tenants approach you even when you’re not actively advertising vacant units

This means your name and/or reputation has made a big enough impact that you’re a known commodity, available listings or not.
 

You like coming to work every day

If you enjoy what you do, you’re probably good at it. Contentment in the workplace tends to translate to better relationships all around. Everybody wins!

Find us online!

This should be on your mind every day. Why? Because real estate is an industry that can make or break you! As real estate professionals we are the ultimate in multi-tasking. We know that anyone can become a real estate professional, but the ones that truly standout are the ones that manage their building. Not the other way around.

There can be constant interruptions and challenges throughout any given day. The day starts out fine until you get a call about a flooded property, or an unexpected customer complaint. Now you need to drop what you are doing and attend to the crisis at hand.

As you begin to tackle this new challenge, it is best to keep reminding yourself that you manage the building, the building does not manage you! When the flood hits, do you have a contingency plan? Why is the customer complaining? The number one solution is to be proactive. Do all you can to prevent these issues from happening again. Manage it and do not just react to it!

When an issue arises, it must be broken down into small steps in order to find the reason or cause. Once it has been solved, it is time to develop a new approach or plan so that it can be prevented in the future. This can be as simple as more training in a specific topic. The solution needs to be developed, implemented, and then monitored. If a solution is developed but it is never put into action, or if it is put into place but no one follows up on it to make sure it is being implemented correctly, it will do no good and create more headaches for you later on down the line.

The point of managing is to anticipate and not wait for matters to arise. The entire premise of good management is to think about “What If” and anticipate everything. Constantly ask, “What is the worst thing that can happen?” or “What if this happens?” Then consider another important question “How should I prevent it or react if it does happen?” If you are prepared, it is no longer a crisis or interruption. Remember, the goal is to manage your property, not for the property to manage you!

Find us online!

Social media has so many benefits and ways to build your profile and your business — Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Linkedin, Pinterest, and the list goes on. If you’re not all over it, do it now. And if you don’t know how to do it, get someone to show you how.

With print advertising costs skyrocketing and the digital age blossoming, it makes sense to use this medium to your advantage. The added benefit is that it’s so cost effective if you’re working within a budget. So here are a few tips to promote your real estate business through social media
 

Make Sure You Obtain Full Reach

You need to also be strategic in your approach to social media by ensuring that you are obtaining full reach and get to your target market. This is very easy to do by researching what business you want to acquire (ideal clients) and when they’re most likely to be reading or watching what you post. Many of the social media sites have tools to measure this (e.g., Facebook Insights).
 

Manage Time Wisely

To ensure that time is also managed effectively when posting to social media, you need to make sure that your posts feed to all the social media sites that you want to use at the same time. This reduces additional entries and wasted time. Scheduled posts throughout the week can optimize the results you will get. But make sure these multiple posts are at the same time every week because the community will learn to watch out for your posts and expect them at certain times.
 

Be Different

Make sure you’re promoting yourself and your brand in a way that really gives something for nothing in a fun and exciting way. You might have differing opinions from the public or other agents, but hey, they talk and the word spreads, which is what you want.
 

Create A Blog

Create a regular blog and promote it through your current client base. Be consistent in your approach to this, though. You need to blog regularly and at different times of the day to reach varying audiences. Your blog and posts must give the public some value, because sending meaningless rubbish about yourself is pointless, and people will switch off and unsubscribe. Be informative. Educate, nurture, and build an audience that waits for more.

Find us online!

To achieve retention, you must build a loyal, skilled real estate team. Then, using that team, you have to build a loyal customer-base. What follows are six strategies that guarantee client retention.
 

Consistent Client Induction

Just like you induct your team, you must induct your clients too! Any affiliate service (and tenant!) you deal with must be inducted into your way of doing business. Why? Because your way of doing business is what makes you different from your competition. You cannot expect your property owners, tenants, and contractors to cooperate with your practices if they don’t know what they are.
 

Consistency of Service and Culture

Does your business offer the same consistency of service and culture to your clients? You need to invest in processes, resources and training for your business. There are no shortcuts to success: All three elements must coexist.
 

Consistent Reporting

Are your reports consistent in layout, design, and wording? Do they align with your brand and reputation? Do they contain relevant and meaningful information your property owners require to make informed decisions? Are they consistent with previous reports?
 

Consistency of Maintenance

You, as the business owner, must decide which service providers best align with your business’ values, service standards, brand, and culture, and you must then ensure your business uses these chosen service providers each and every time.
 

Market Knowledge

This means your team needs to undertake ongoing and in-depth analysis into the market and provide stockbroker-like advice to your property owners. Your team also needs to know the market area by building up market-related facts, including appraisals.
 

Professional Service and Advice

The bottom line is that property owners want a professional service and professional advice from the real estate team they hire because investment properties are, most likely, their single most expensive assets. Therefore they want advice and a service that protects their property.

Find us online!

So what can you do to grow your property management sales? Here are some tips to follow to achieve property management sales success:
 

Tip 1

Recognize the fact you will be inundated with business-related tasks. Now, get to it.
 

Tip 2

Remember that a sales goal without a sales plan is a sales wish.
 

Tip 3

Stop panicking.
 

Tip 4

Discover how big the rental and real estate market in your area is.

You have to figure out your Total Obtainable Market, which is the number of rental homes or units in the area. Once you know your Total Obtainable Market, then you can write your sales plan.
 

Tip 5

Figure out your Total Obtainable Market in dollar value.
 

Tip 6

You have to develop your mission statement, and you have to believe in it so much that you will sing it to the gods. Keep in mind, you have to put this in writing so you can discuss it with your prospects, clients, and employees it will also be part of your sales plan.
 

Tip 7

Develop your strategy. This is nothing more than a simple list of your daily activities that you will use to go after these customers. Some examples can include create advertisements, distribute these advertisements, ask for referrals, get to know local homeowner insurance companies, and even more
 

Tip 8

Review your progress. You’ve worked very hard, if you followed our tips. Now review what you’ve done so far.
 

Tip 9

Wrap up what you have reviewed into a written sales plan used to measure your success. Refer to the plan periodically and see what works, and every couple of months ask yourself:

What should I continue doing?
What should I start doing?
What should I never, ever do again?
 

Tip 10

Don’t forget to rest!

Find us online!

When it comes to mentoring new property managers, you must give them the best training you can possibly give. You’re building a team for the long haul.

You should have a good idea as to how to pick a great property manager. Make sure you get those steps right before you get to this stage, or you’ll fall behind. Each step in the selection, interview, recruitment, and induction stage is also a training stage, and those steps must not be missed. Guidelines, performance indicators, minimum performance standards, and policies and procedures on each of the steps within your business are essential. Be sure to start the mentoring process soon after induction.

Mentoring is about spending quality time with your new hiree. This is about showing them in detail how to become a better property manager. Take the time, demonstrate how you complete your tasks, set your expectations, watch them do it, and repeat. It doesn’t have to be a long time as long as it is quality time. The worst thing you can do is rush through this beginning phase. This will cause problems as you will end up not explaining the process or why its done that way. New hirees need a strong foundation.

Remember that your biggest weapon is to communicate early and be crystal clear. This is an important time for your success and should not be taken lightly. Again, be very clear on your expectations of your new property manager. Make sure they communicate to you as well. Encourage them to ask questions if they are unsure about any aspect about the job.

Mentoring is about nurturing your team member into an outstanding property manager. You want them to be better at it than you, so show them how you do it and get them to improve on that.

Find us online!

Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, aka the “Military Clause”, strengthens and updates earlier statutes that had provided certain civil protection for military servicemembers. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), enacted into law December 19, 2003, replaced the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act (SSCRA) of 1940. The SCRA was passed to help ease the economic and legal burdens on military servicemembers inducted, called to active duty, or deployed to new duty stations.

The purpose of the SCRA is to postpone or suspend certain civil obligations to allow servicemembers to give full attention to duty and ease the stress on the servicemember’s family while the servicemember is deployed. Reservists and members of the National Guard in active federal service are also protected under the SCRA.

SCRA protections include certain provisions for:

• Termination of pre-service lease agreements
• Evictions from leased housing
• 6% Interest Rate
• Court Proceedings
• Installment Contracts
• Enforcement of Obligations, Liabilities, Taxes

Contrary to what many military members believe, the SCRA, does not automatically break a lease when receiving transfer orders. There must be a provision in rental agreements to release the military member from obligations in the event the lease is terminated prior to its normal expiration.

This is something that must be requested from the landlord at time of signing. If your landlord doesn’t have this service available, simply visit your housing office and base and they should be able to assist you.

Here are some other important things to know if you are military and need to terminate a rental lease under SCRA:

• Orders must accompany a written request to terminate a lease
• Orders must be permanent and 90 days or longer
• Spouse and family are also protected under the SCRA Act
• 30 days notice must still be given, in writing and you are still required to pay for the following month’s rent (i.e, if a tenant delivers notice to the landlord on the 20th of the January, and normally pays rent on the 1st of each month, the lease ends on 1 March, the tenant must pay for February’s rent).

Security deposits are fully refundable if you break the lease under SCRA; however, the provisions for security deposits under the landlord/tenant act and any damages you cause to the rental home still apply.

Find us online!

One of the trickiest and yet most crucial parts of being a landlord is getting tenants to pay their rent on time, and in full. In an effort to avoid slow payers, you probably send out friendly reminders when rent is soon-to-be due. However, the key to getting people to promptly pay their bills, a study finds, is providing them with multiple (technologically advanced) payment options.

There is a growing shift not only in how people are choosing to pay their bills, but also a transformation to a more digital bill payment world. It is important as a landlord to stay ahead of these changes because those who pay bills online fall behind less often and incur fewer late fees than those who pay offline or by mail. Not only should you be offering digital payment methods to your tenants, you should be encouraging the use of them as well.

Additionally, according to a recent survey where everyone paid bills on a mobile phone or tablet, 50% of them said they did so to save time, 44% said they did so because it offers anytime access, and 43% said they did so because it was most convenient when on the go. Also 69% of Americans who used electronic billing services said they preferred electronic billing because of the convenience, and 31% said they liked electronic bills because they received an email reminder each time a new bill was due.

Your tenants most likely want to pay their rent online, and you should want them to as well. Not only can it lead to fewer late payments, but also can go improve your tenant relationships. In fact, according to the survey, 37% of Americans who received electronic bills in 2012 said it improved their relationship with the company from which they received the bill.

Don’t let yourself fall behind on technology. Your tenants will appreciate it.

Find us online!

Typically for landlords, between the 1st and 3rd of the month, tenants drop off their rental payment in the mail slot or simply mail it in. Then from the 4th of the month all the way to the sending of a “Five-Day Pay or Quit” notice, a line of people forms at the front door. Each person’s conversation starts with “Here’s my situation…” and then continues. Uh oh, here it comes: they can’t pay the rent for various reasons. Then you begin to chase the rent check.
 
Remember that the buyer (aka the tenant) is the customer. Now take a look at the lease and all of the remedies included to evict. But wait a minute! Then you’d have a bunch of empty units and a lousy vacancy rate. There must be a better way to get tenants to pay.
 
Now picture this: accountability. What you need to do is create a system that holds tenants accountable. Keep your approach simple: meet with the clients who consistently fall in this trap of late payments and ask each of them two simple questions: What’s going on? How can I help you pay your rent on time?
 
You may be surprised as to how simple the answers are. From our research with other property managers and landlords, many find that the most common excuses from their tenants include “I didn’t realize being late was a big deal” or “Other things came first” or “I just can’t manage money.”
 
You still have to help them become a reliable and accountable tenant. So, give your tenants the tools and help they need to pay their rent on time consistently. Make it clear that you’ll hold them accountable if they don’t. That is called tough love.
 
Try this piece of advice next month. You might be surprised by what you hear — and the results you get.

Find us online!

To create positive relationships with your clients, landlords must write, implement, and manage effective policies and procedures so your tenants get what they need from you and you get what you need from your tenants.

But what makes policies and procedures effective? When they cover legislation, agency culture, agency standards, processes, and relevant codes of conduct.
 

Write Legislative Requirements

Write legislative requirements into your policy so your business operates compliantly and its brand and reputation are protected. For example, legislation might state that certain communication must be in writing and on the prescribed form, so into your policies and procedures it goes!
 

Know Your Business

Know your business’ values, beliefs, vision, and personality. Don’t fall into the trap of copying other businesses. Determine what points of difference your business offers and create your unique brand around these points of difference…then uphold them by way of your policies and procedures.
 

Set A Standard

For example, a standard could be that your all tenants must be greeted in the same manner. Another could be the quality of the property your business is prepared to manage. When you create these standards and write them into your policies and procedures, you get consistency. This means that your clients know exactly what to expect — and that you and your team know exactly what to deliver!
 

Establish Processes

Processes are the way tasks are carried out through to completion. Processes organize tasks, allow them to be shared between your team, and provide the means to manage them.
 

Establish a Code of Conduct

Your policy must refer to the code of conducts you are to follow. No exceptions.

Find us online!