Have you ever forgotten to do something? Forgotten something really important, such as having a tenant sign the smoke alarm disclosure or the property condition checklist? Maybe you’re a whole lot more mentally organized than I am and remember everything. But as for me, I will forget what I was supposed to be doing five minutes after I told myself I was going to do it.
I get sidetracked. I walk into another room, somebody says something and then I try to remember why I came in. The phone rings and I forget what I was doing before I answered it. The list of ways to forget something is endless. That’s why we have systems.
Checklists, procedures, double checking and careful attention to how every system in their business works are sure signs of a pro. Pros are scared to death to leave anything to chance, so they have worked out a system and/or procedure for every facet of their business.
There is an axiom that there is no such thing as a good surprise in business; so the pros try to never be surprised.
As a landlord or manager of rental property you do the same things over and over. You buy properties. You fix up properties. You find new tenants for properties. You screen tenants. You move new tenants into your properties. You move tenants out of your properties.
Every one of those procedures has numerous steps that can be overlooked if you do not have a system. What is important, especially in the screening process and the move-in process, is that you do it the same way every time, never forgetting a single step. Forget a step in the screening process and the devil’s cousin moves into your rental property. Forget a step in the move-in process and you could find yourself unable to keep any part of the security deposit after the tenant trashes the place and moves out.
How, then, do you come up with systems and procedures? If you’ve been in the business a long time you already know everything to do, all you have to do is figure out how to remember it. Pick a procedure. Write down every step you need to take. Let it sit over night, then look at it again to see what you left out. Then have someone else look at the list to see what you left out.
That done create a checklist and make copies of it. Use it every time you have to go through that particular procedure.
If you are new to the business or if you don’t feel like you can come up with a checklist, look back through old issues of the Rental Property Reporter. We have a slew of them for different things. Or just as good, join your local apartment, landlord, or rental owners association. Chances are they have, or there are members who have, systems for managing their properties all worked out that they will be happy to share with you.
Watch carefully that you don’t get surprised in your rental property business. The surprise will come at the worst possible time and cost you the most money. Think of all the procedures you do, then come up with procedures for the procedures. Don’t be like me and forget everything first chance you get.
