Smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices are indispensable to modern business management. On mobile devices, business becomes portable.
Real estate is no different. With dozens of responsibilities and daily tasks to accomplish, portability is more than a convenience for landlords and property managers. Mobile devices open an entire world of possibilities for digital rental management.
With property management software, you can even manage your rental business with your phone. The best short term rental property management software platforms offer a range of useful functions and features to replace your disorganized spreadsheets, paper files, and cash or check payments.
Many property management software companies offer mobile apps for both landlords and tenants.
Here are a few ways to take advantage of the possibilities offered by mobile rental management.
1. Tenant Communication
The primary purpose of your smartphone is to communicate. Yes, smartphones now have many other functions, but communication is still fundamental.
You can communicate with tenants directly from your phone with property management software. Most platforms offer a chat feature, which centralizes all your conversations with tenants in one place.
You can also send tenants links to information, specific pages on your website, or anything else they may need.
The benefit of the mobile app format is that you can stay in touch with your tenants no matter where you are. Whether you manage your properties from another state, are traveling out of town, or simply going away for the weekend, a mobile app ensures tenants with urgent problems or concerns can still get ahold of you even when you’re out of the office.
2. Online Payment Convenience
Many property management software companies also offer a mobile app for tenants. One benefit of this feature is that tenants can submit rent payments from any place or time convenient for them.
Mailing a check or scheduling a time to meet in person is tedious and unnecessary. Since tenants have their own responsibilities, it can be almost impossible to coordinate last-minute payments when paper exchanges are involved.
Instead, let your tenants pay rent on your software’s mobile app. They don’t even need to be near their computer—whether running errands, at a sporting event, or out of town, tenants can make last-minute payments on the app at the exact moment they remember.
3. Accessible Records
It can be frustrating to talk to a tenant in-person about a concern while unable to reference their payment ledger or lease details.
A mobile app solves this problem as you always carry these documents wherever you go on your smartphone.
For example, say you conduct a routine inspection, and a tenant mentions a problem with a recent payment. Instead of waiting until you’re back in your office to investigate the issue, you can pull up the tenant’s records on your smartphone right in the moment with them. The tenant can point out the problem, and you might even be able to resolve it on the spot.
4. Maintenance Management
Finally, a mobile app version of your property management software simplifies maintenance management.
On most maintenance management features, tenants can upload photos or videos of the problem to be viewed by your maintenance staff. Without this feature, tenants must take the extra step of transferring and uploading their photos to their desktop.
A mobile app eliminates this hindrance. Tenants can take photos on their smartphones and add them directly to the maintenance portal.
A mobile app also makes management easier for landlords. You can receive push notifications when tickets are submitted or have been filled, and easily communicate with your maintenance staff, no matter where you are throughout the day.
Go Mobile with Rental Management
Smartphones and tablets aren’t a replacement for desktop computers, but they do provide increased accessibility and versatility to your property management software. Recognizing the benefits of a portable software management tool is crucial for upgrading your business model to meet digital environments. With instant communication, payment management, records, and maintenance capabilities, you can’t go wrong selecting a property management software platform with a mobile app.
