Property investments only become profitable when you put in the time, money, and effort. Creating profitable commercial investments requires that you maintain your properties in good repair, keep them up to code, and rent to reliable tenants.
Of all the work required to become profitable, tenant management is most important. For example, you’ll never become profitable if your tenants are always late with rent or if you keep having to evict tenants for breaking the lease.
Digital tenant management is the solution
If you’ve been struggling to find and keep reliable tenants, or manage existing good tenants, digital technology can help. By using digital tools to manage tenants, you can thwart a host of problems before they begin. Profitable commercial landlords use digital tenant management tools because it gives them more time to pursue additional investments.
How do digital tools support tenant management?
- Automated decisions based on tenant screening results. Screening a tenant online is much easier than trying to submit background and credit checks manually. When you screen tenants manually, you need to look at the results and decide if they fit your criteria. This is time-consuming and frustrating when you’ve screened more than one potential tenant.
With automated tenant screening online, the system will crunch the data for you and determine if they meet your criteria. Instead of manually verifying incomes, credit histories, credit scores, and criminal records, a digital report will simply tell you ‘yes’ or ‘no.’
The only data you’ll need to process manually is checking rental history and references. - Generate fast rent payments. Commercial tenants are often busy and forget to mail the rent on time. For some businesses, paying rent late becomes a habit. When paying rent is easy and effortless, you’ll get paid faster. Allowing tenants to pay rent online with a mobile app is critical for your long-term profitability.
- Fewer phone calls at 3 a.m. When tenants can only reach you via phone, you’re going to get non-emergency calls at 3 a.m. Some tenants won’t wait until the morning to tell you about a hole in the wall or a backed up toilet.
You can eliminate non-emergency calls by setting up an online form for all repair and maintenance requests. A backed-up toilet isn’t an emergency, but tenants want to get the ball rolling and notify you as quickly as possible. Providing an online form for non-emergency reports gives tenants the ability to contact you immediately without waking you up at 3 a.m.
Digital tenant management tools save money on utilities
Part of managing tenants involves managing land monitoring utility usage. If you don’t have a property management company, utility bills can be shocking. If you’re new to commercial property and include water in the rent, you probably aren’t charging enough to make up for the usage. Water is expensive. If you can save money on water, your commercial investments will become far more profitable over time.
When water is included in the rent, tenants don’t actively conserve water. It’s not always intentional, but people are more aware of their water usage when they have to pay for it.
While you can’t force a tenant to conserve water, you can make changes to your property that automatically reduce water consumption. Not sure how to get started? Use this water savings calculator app to identify ways to reduce your water consumption. Sometimes it’s just a matter of changing some fixtures to reduce the flow of water.
Verdigris is another useful money-saving app that helps commercial landlords manage energy consumption per panel or device.
The more money you save on energy costs, the more profit you’ll keep in your pocket.
Automated monitoring alerts can prevent costly repairs
Remote facility monitoring is a digital tool every commercial landlord needs. Remote monitoring alerts you when your building has a water leak, an open window, excess humidity, or other similar problems that tenants may never notice. This gives you the chance to make repairs early, before the problem gets worse.
Digital tenant management tools support profitability
As a commercial landlord, your tenants supply your source of income. If you’re still paying off your mortgage, you’ll have to wait to become profitable. However, whether your mortgage is paid off or not, how you manage your tenants will impact your profitability. When you’re organized and have a smooth system supported by digital tools, you’ll become profitable sooner.
