How Landlords and Property Investors Maximise Profits Using Technology?

As all landlords will tell you: every day is a new challenge. Property investors and home owners who wish to maximise the yield and profit out of their home by renting out, can be faced with pitfalls on a weekly basis.

Tenants will constantly request a series of maintenance-related requests, complaints or building issues. There will be a great deal of paperwork to get through, particularly if you have more than one property.

Are you keeping spreadsheets to keep track of all the incoming rent and monies going out? No? You should be. There are several ways where technology can help landlords keep a lid on their business and maximise profits by getting the high-paying right tenants on board.

Keep Your Head in the Cloud

It really wasn’t that long ago when landlords had a huge cabinet full of important documents: leases, deeds, rental agreements, health and safety notices for tenants and energy certificates. Any mailed correspondence between the landlord and tenants would also be placed in a box file and stored away in an office cabinet somewhere.

As we move into the 21^st century with some advancement, filing cabinets should be assigned to history. All of these important documents can be kept on the Cloud and it really does not matter how many properties you own, the Cloud can easily store them all.

The best Cloud options are Google Drive, Media Fire, DropBox or One Drive from Microsoft.

Try Online Marketing

Think how long ago you saw a sign outside a property that said, “For Rent”. Using local newspapers and putting up “For Rent” signs are still effective but its days are very much numbered.

Online marketing is rapidly becoming the new winning formula for advertising your property for rental. It is also a dynamic way to sell your home or buy a new one, should you wish to expand your portfolio.

Where Should i Post My Rental?

Try using online marketing and advertising sites like Zillow or Craigslist. You will need to take plenty of photos and as long as you can hold your smartphone steady, images of your home straight from your own device should be more than sufficient.

Do not forget to post pictures on the inside and out. You should also list all of the local amenities. Is there a bus route nearby? How far is the town centre? If you are expecting students to rent, then how far are the local universities and colleges situated?

Portfolio? Start Building a Website

If you have arrange of properties it is important you create a website and use it accordingly to market your portfolio and advertise for renters. Websites can be created for free or purchased from professional web development businesses.

Never forget about Social Media

Social media is still the tool of choice among so many people in business. It guarantees streams of visitors and is a popular platform regardless of which one you may choose to utilise.

There are the usual suspects here: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and Snapchat. However, you should not overlook setting up a contact phone number on one of the VoIP sites like Skype, Viber or Facebook Messenger. Another popular platform is WhatsApp where images, short videos and text messages can be sent for free between users.

There are a number of video and photo editing apps landlords can use to make those images look professional. Try a Colour Story or VSCO Cam with all those features to make your photos look as though they have been taken by a professional.