6 Ways To Improve Your Property Management Techniques For 2016
Here are some ideas that you might want to add to your list to help get more students interested in your property.
1) Go pet friendly.
Many students have to turn places down because they can’t bring their furry friends with them. Pets really help students relax during school, and are a great sense of security for them. If you are nervous about going pet friendly, just think of how happy your tenants will be, and make sure to implement ways to protect your place. If you have a pet deposit in place, you will be sure to have all damages covered if the pet gets bored while the student is away.
You can also require that the student pay for professional carpet cleaning/professional cleaning of the whole place upon the end of their rent so that if some students want to rent who are allergic to animals, your place will also be able to accommodate them.
Allowing pets will result in more potential tenants, and they will be more likely to recommend your place to others since pet friendly places are still pretty hard to find.
2) Practice flexibility with the number of tenants.
Some property managers only allow one tenant per room, which can be financially unobtainable for many college students. If your place has rooms that would be able to fit more than one bed, why not be flexible with how many students can live there? You’ll still get your money, andmore students will be able to live in your place because if they need to share a room for cheaper rent, they’ll be able to.
If you are nervous about having more people, you can tweak your contract so each person is accountable separately, and you can require a co-signer for each so someone will be accountable for paying you no matter what.
This again will help promote your place because students will be telling their friends how awesome you are when they are living there and when they have to move out.
3) Update appliances.
Updating appliances is obviously expensive, so you won’t be able to do them all at once, but maybe you can make it your resolution to keep your appliances on an update schedule, so you can keep track of what you have updated, and what will need updates soon.
Updating your place will keep tenants happy, and can justify having a higher price for your rent. Students are willing to pay a bit more for an up-to-date place. Currently, I am living in a place where we are pretty certain the fridge is going to leak onto the floor any day now, and dealing with things like that is really stressful, especially on top of school.
If you can keep this stress away from the students, they will be very appreciative, and will be happy to live there.
4) Add a washer and dryer to your units.
A lot of places for rent only have a washer and dryer hook-up, but don’t include the actual appliances. Many students won’t be able to purchase these expensive appliances just to use for a year or two, so they might pass up your place if you merely have hook-ups.
The students have dealt with communal laundry places on campus and are surly sick of it, so I’m sure that many of them are looking for places that already have these appliances included. If you can add a washer and dryer to your apartments, it will bring your place up in value, and will allow more students to consider living in your place.
5) Consider alarm systems.
Living off campus can be a little scary for some students, or their helicopter parents, so why not have an alarm system installed? They can use it if they want to, and can pay the security company themselves, or if they don’t want it they don’t have to activate it.
The fact that you have it installed shows that you care about their safety, and they will be happy to have the option if they so choose to have it.
6) Install a pool or hot tub.
While both of these are more on the pricey side, a pool or hot tub might be something to look into if you have the means, because it will really bring up the value of your place. If I was looking at two places, and the only real difference was that one had a hot tub, I’d obviously pick the one with the hot tub.
You can also think of it as beneficial to you, because if you don’t have tenants renting over the summer, you can go to the place and use the pool or hot tub! Students will be all over this aspect, so you’ll be getting more students applying to your place.
These are just a few ideas as to how you can improve your property this New Year. Good luck!
Source: rent.uloop.com
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