The Ultimate Property Managers Checklist

But first, here is a diagram of the 6 main steps that property managers take with each property that they are responsible for:

The following property management checklist has been designed to help property managers and landlords improve their management techniques in order to save time, money, and effort.

STEP 1 - Attracting and Finding Tenants

• Establish the rental rates ahead of time (know what the high and low rates are).
• Make sure that your rental advertisement stands out and is unique.
• Take good pictures of the property (use a good camera, avoid taking the pictures with the phone).
• Create informative flyers and include your contact details and information about the property.
• Go online and market the property on real estate websites.
• Schedule open houses or showings (open houses are much more popular and efficient than showings).

STEP 2 - Screening Tenants

• Ensure you pre-screen potential tenants before showing them the property. This way you make sure that they don’t come to see the property, only to be turned down. It will also save you a considerable amount of time.
• Show potential tenants the property.
• Answer any questions from interested parties.
• Make sure that the potential tenants fill in a rental application.
• Do a background check on the prospective tenants.
• You can also contact their previous landlord and ask them questions about the potential tenants.
• Make your decisions based on the rental standards that you have and try to be consistent.
• After the tenants have been selected, reach out to them and schedule a meeting to sign the lease.
• For the tenants who were not selected, send them a standard denial letter (a property manager should have templates for all the letters or documents that they need to send).

STEP 3 - Tenant Orientation

• During the tenant orientation step, the property manager meets with the new tenants to sign the lease.
• All the tenants’ information should be entered into a CRM (contact details, rent, security deposit, etc.). Be sure to have both physical and electronic files on the tenants.
• The property manager must also make copies of all the lease documents and mail them to the tenants within one week.
• Tenant must initial and sign on each page (one person should be reviewing these document in order to ensure that nothing has been missed).
• You will need a copy of the tenants’ driver licences.
• A security deposit (usually the equivalent of one month’s rent) needs to be collected from the tenants, as well as first month’s rent.
• The tenants must sign the ‘Utility Transfer Agreement’ before they move in.
• Depending on each property manager or landlord, a ‘Lead-Based Paint Notification & Booklet’ might be offered to the tenants.
• If applicable, the tenants must sign a ‘Pet Agreement’.
• The property manager must provide the tenants all the necessary contact information for the management team.
• A W-9 form & the security deposit will be sent to the bank.
• All the rules regarding the rent collection and the eviction process should be established upfront and respected.
• The keys will be handed over to the tenants.

STEP 4 - Retaining Tenants

• If tenants call to report an issue, a property manager is obliged to try and solve it. Using property maintenance software such as Bricks + Agent allows tenants and property managers the ability to report issues and find licenced tradespeople to visit a property for any repair and maintenance problems.
• Preventive maintenance should be conducted regularly. It is a good idea to do this quarterly and should consist of a property inspection, where the property manager can note if there are any issues that need to be addressed or fixed.
• Any issues found during the maintenance check can be posted to the Bricks + Agent property management platform and solved instantly.
• Lease renewals letters should be sent by the property manager 90 days before the expiration date of the lease.
• It is very important for the landlord, property manager, and tenants to document everything (e-mails, messages, calls, letters, etc.). By having a file with all these conversations, any issue can be resolved more efficiently and if you happen to go to court, you will have all the details in writing.

STEP 5 - Tenants Move Out

• Before the tenants move out, the property manager must do a complete property inspection and decide what needs to be renovated. It is recommended to take pictures during the inspection.
• After the situation is assessed, the property manager must determine what issues fall into the ‘wear and tear’ category and which must be subtracted from the tenants’ security deposit.
• A letter and the security deposit cheque must be mailed to the tenant 30 days prior to the moving out date.

STEP 6 - Unit Renovation

• Once tenants have moved out, the property manager can start the property turn around process. A schedule should be created and contractors must be hired. The best way to find qualified contractors is by posting the jobs on the Bricks + Agent platform.
• It’s a good idea to do some research and learn what property upgrades tenants love. Suggesting minor upgrades to owners can end up driving a lot of interest in a property.
• Once repairs have been made, the property should be inspected once more and you should hire cleaning contractors if necessary.
• Once the property is ‘tenant ready’, the property manager can take quality photos and post them online.

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