Is property investor retention important to you? We hope you’re saying yes! Let’s look at why it’s essential to retain your customers and how you can make sure they stick around during a seller’s market.
Why retaining property investors is important
Hanging onto your customers is no easy feat. Owners want to know they are being taken care of and trust that you know what you’re doing. They want your undivided attention to handling their assets, regardless of how many other customers you may have. Just like any relationship, developing trust takes time. Without owners, you may not have the ability to pay your employees or worse, have a business at all.
Imagine a property owner consulted your property management company to manage their rental units. Success! It’s 2022, a seller’s market, and a property owner wants your property management skills to handle their investment properties. You’re one of over 300,000 property management companies registered in the United States — and they came to YOU! How would you respond? You would assure them that their properties would be tended to and managed carefully. But how will they know that you’re trustworthy? Why shouldn’t they sell like the market is trending?
How to keep property investors happy
The ultimate question with a cliche answer: what do property owners want from your property management company? They want to be happy. Giddy even, with the assurance you’ll make them more money than they could themselves. So, what kind of value can you provide them so they’ll choose property management instead of selling? Give them a reason to stay.
Communication is key.
In any business, communication is one of the most critical tools in a process. Without it, progress sits at a standstill, and nothing happens. Rent collection is overlooked, owners have no idea what’s going on, and things fall apart.
Imagine a property maintenance issue without communication between key players in the process. Residents call you, the property manager, to fix their leaking toilet. You take a mental note to call the plumber, but you forget. In fact, you discover weeks later the toilet bowl is cracked, and you should have replaced it. Your owner is not happy and they are questioning your abilities. This would be avoided with a smart maintenance system in place.
Implement property maintenance software.
Plus, the importance of a streamlined process in any part of property management is critical. Your owners expect nothing less than knowing how you are handling their assets. And residents and vendors want an easy way to schedule a maintenance request. Offering a smart maintenance web-based solution to your owners, resident, and vendors is the answer to concise communication and superb transparency they deserve.
With software, you can give your owners access to dedicated tools for them to stay in the know — with as much transparency as you want to give them. When it comes to maintenance, they can approve (or decline) spendy repairs at their fingertips—convenient clarity of where their money is going.
Help them make more money.
At the end of the day, a potential owner/customer is looking to achieve one thing: make more money by doing less. Ultimately, they want to minimize involvement in their investment properties and maximize potential profit. They will look to your property management company to do just that. Be the consultant they pay you for, and in return, they will have a passive approach to raking in the big bucks.
Predictions into the real estate market
According to Rocket Mortgage, the country’s real estate inventory is low. With fewer homes available in the market, sellers are at an advantage. Homes are selling faster and at top dollar. It’s no secret that we are in a seller’s market and mortgage rates are likely to rise. Bankrate chief financial analyst Greg McBride expects “mortgage rates to climb to 3.75% during 2022 before falling back to 3.5 percent by the end of the year.”
How does this benefit your owners? More people are choosing to rent due to the combination of increasing home prices and rising mortgage rates. This means more residents will be in the rental space, more competition will arise, and less chance of vacant rentals will occur.
Providing value to your property investors will present an opportunity to retain them. Give them a reason that now isn’t the time to sell, but a time to invest in a property management company like yours.
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