What would you do without your smartphone?
It’s hard to even imagine. That’s how much we’ve grown to depend on our technology, and whether you’re always looking to download the latest app or you have a love/hate relationship with all your gadgets, technology is both necessary and a distraction. It’s also always improving upon itself.
When it comes to property management technology, we’ve seen a lot of growth over the last decade. Nearly every Colorado Springs property management company now offers an online portal, accepts online rental payments, and syndicates every listing when it’s time to market your home.
The technology we invest in helps us to manage your property more effectively and more efficiently. Automation saves us money, which means it saves you money. We can do a better job of communicating, documenting, and serving both owners and tenants.
Our team has always looked for the best and most efficient ways to deliver our services. We embrace new technology that helps us improve our processes and keep costs down for our owners. The software and systems we use contribute to the better management of your investment, whether it’s one rental home or an entire portfolio.
Let’s take a look at how it helps us manage your Colorado Springs rental property with transparency and accountability.
Colorado Springs Property Management Technology Facilitates Communication
Nothing is more important in our relationship than communication. And, technology makes our communication with owners, tenants, vendors, and other professional partners a lot more responsive. We never miss a message, and we’re able to remain available when you need us. That’s thanks to the communication tools we use.
You can call us. You can email us. You can text us. We’re even happy to have in-person conversations. Before we begin working together, we’ll talk about communication expectations and the best way for us to reach you. We’ll discuss what you need from us; if you like for your property manager to check in from time to time or if you’d prefer to leave everything to us.
With a robust investment in technology, we’ve been able to leverage many different methods of communication. We work with a large population of tenants who prefer texts and emails to phone calls or in-person meetings. We use our online system to track and document all correspondence, keeping us organized and compliant with all state, local, and federal laws.
You’ll have a portal, where you can keep up with all the information you need and send us a message if you have a question.
Our ability to communicate with advanced technology is especially beneficial to our investors who live out of the state or even out of the country. We can respond to questions and get in touch without worrying about time zones, cell signals, and schedules.
Colorado Springs Property Management and Online Portals
You’ve likely grown accustomed to conducting business online. We use websites, mobile apps, and social media platforms to shop, research, and communicate. We buy groceries online. We make dinner reservations without ever talking to anyone.
Why not adopt similar online technology when it comes to renting out your Colorado Springs home?
There is where the online portal comes into play. Online systems and portals provide more accountability and transparency. We’re able to respond to tenants and owners with questions, and we can provide more information to more people.
If you’re thinking about hiring a Colorado Springs property management company, make sure there’s an online portal for you and your tenants. It should be user-friendly, secure, and capable of providing all the information and value you need.
How do we use portals at Muldoon Associates? We like them because:
- Our tenants prefer to pay rent online, and we find that rent is paid on time when it’s paid through their online portal.
- Tenants can schedule routine maintenance requests, providing details and photos when something is wrong. This helps us diagnose the problem before we contact our team of vendors. It also allows us to better document the work that’s done at your property.
- Owners can check in on all of their accounting, bookkeeping, and financial statements and reports. You’ll see income and expenses and easily access tax forms.
- Owners can follow maintenance invoices and see when rent was paid.
- Owners can also access inspection reports and ask us questions.
- Correspondence is kept in every portal and it’s an easy place for both owners and tenants to access lease agreements and renewal offers.
Setting up an online portal is easy, and we’d have a hard time managing your property well if we didn’t have this effective technology.
Property Management Technology Improves Leasing and Screening
The benefits of technology in the leasing process are evident long before the lease is signed. It helps us to price your property more accurately and to market it more effectively.
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Pricing
The rental value attached to your property has a huge impact on how long it’s vacant and what types of tenants you attract. You can go online and see what other homes are renting for; sites like Trulia and Zillow and Zumper might give you a general idea. But, you’ll be far more successful with reliable data that’s based on what properties actually rented for, and not what they were listed for.
Our systems and technology provide that data.
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Marketing
Marketing your rental property is a lot easier with online advertising and the ability to syndicate your listings across all the most popular rental sites in and around Colorado Springs. Our marketing system allows us to post your vacant home on our own website as well as all the sites that potential tenants are using to find their next home.
With technology, we are also more responsive when it comes to scheduling showings and following up with prospective tenants, and answering their questions. We make it easy for tenants to see your property on their own schedule. They’re more likely to fill out an application, and our efficient process leads to fewer vacancies and better tenants.
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Screening
Screening applicants is not always easy, especially if you’re an independent landlord trying to navigate best practices, fair housing laws, and the intense background checking that needs to be done. There’s a sense of urgency when it comes to getting a tenant approved, and while you want to work quickly, you don’t want to skip any important steps.
Technology helps us screen tenants faster and more accurately.
A legally compliant screening process requires us to collect a lot of financial and personal information – even on tenants we won’t approve for your property. Good property management software helps us to stay compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and keep everything organized and documented.
With an automated, consistent online application process, there’s no risk that one application will be treated differently than another. Every applicant is held to the same standards because we have a well-documented screening process. Everything is automated to the point that there’s no room for accidental discrimination. The online system we use helps us remain objective.
Not only is our screening process safer from a fair housing standpoint, it’s also faster with the best use of our technology. Instead of waiting for a week to find out if they’re approved, most of our tenants hear back from us within a day or two. This gets the entire process moving a lot faster, which is better for you financially and better for your tenants as they make their moving plans.
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Move-In Conditions
We also have online systems to inspect, photograph, and document the condition of your home before a tenant moves in. We take and catalog photos, videos, and notes. All of this documentation is loaded into your online portal, where you can easily access it. We also use it when the tenant is preparing to move out, and we need to conduct a move-out inspection and make determinations about the security deposit.
Using Technology to Maintain Your Colorado Springs Rental Property
It’s easy for tenants to submit detailed maintenance requests with their online portals. They prefer this method of contacting us, so there’s less danger that unreported repair work will be left to grow more complicated and expensive.
The online reporting process allows us to respond quickly, which is something tenants appreciate. It contributes to better retention and less turnover.
Once we receive the online request, we evaluate the issue, assign the repair to a qualified vendor, and follow up when the work is complete. It also provides a documented list of what occurred during the reporting and repairing process. We have a record of when the request was made and what we did about it.
These are just a few of the ways that technology helps us manage your Colorado Springs rental property better. We love investing in new platforms and software that we know will better serve your needs.
If you’d like to hear more about the work we’re doing on behalf of you and other Colorado Springs real estate investors, please contact us at Muldoon Associates.
