Owning and managing a property can be a great experience. However, it can also be overwhelming when you truly boil down everything that is needed. As a Chicago property manager, there are a few things to keep in mind to help you avoid costly fees or trouble down the road. These five tips below will help you manage your condo safely and protect yourself during the process.
It is highly important in this day and age that you document each interaction you have with a tenant. This protects you and the tenant should a disagreement ensue. Make sure you’re documenting how much time is spent on each item, what the topics discussed were if you met with a tenant, and the resolution agreed upon. You should also document how much time is spent doing items such as showing vacancies and answering phone calls.
Having a schedule to go by will help you stay organized and efficient in your property management work. You want to ensure that you are using your time wisely each day. By creating a time schedule and using blocks of time for tasks, you can easily accomplish what you’ve set out to do each day.
One of the largest time wasters in the rental business is screening tenants that are not serious about moving through with the apartment or vacancy you have. By creating a pre-screening survey, you can see if they will be a good fit or if they’re just window shopping.
It is highly important that you have a team of vendors to help with everyday maintenance and repairs that pop up. By working from a trusted vendor list, you build relationships with the contractors. This can lead to a bulk discount rate and a great rapport for all of your maintenance needs.
The screening of potential tenants is an absolute must for any property owner or manager. A “bad” tenant can cause major issues and drain a lot of your time that should be devoted to other tenants in the building or to maintaining the building itself. That is why it is vital that you have a thorough screening process in place.
What makes all of this and so much easier? Working with Connected Management! Our Chicago property management team is here to help take the hassle and stress of owning and running a property off of you. We have a record keeping system that is second to none and provides you with thorough records of all that has been done in the building and with any tenant onsite. We thoroughly screen all tenants for you so all you have to do is sign the lease agreement.
Allow our team at Connected Management to help you with all your property management needs in Chicago. Contact our team today to see how we can help take the stress of your investment off your plate.