It's Time to Start Sharing your Property Care

We all have that friend—everyone has one or two—who loves to overshare. You know the type. Maybe they post too many Facebook updates or include too many details in that story told over dinner. Oversharing is a thing, and it’s easy to do. 

But when it comes to property management and care, the norm has been the opposite. Managers fail to build and organize robust property information, and not enough information is shared with property owners. Owners have come to expect more transparency and detail about how their home is being maintained, so now is the time to improve your property-care program and start oversharing the details of your service.

Frequent Property Condition Reports

The first step in a comprehensive property-care program is frequent inspections of the condition of the property. This is the best way to demonstrate continued attention for absent homeowners concerned about the state of their home. Managers are interacting with their owners’ homes multiple times a week, including cleanings, post-departure inspections, and routine maintenance repairs. Each interaction is an opportunity to demonstrate to the property owner the time that is being dedicated to their property. 

These reports can be as simple as quick condition reports or as thorough as a fifty-point housekeeping inspection report, as long as they are consistent, professional, and transparent. In addition to the efficiency gains the reports drive internally, property managers build trust with the owner and increase the owner’s positive interaction with the brand by sharing the reports externally with clients.  

Additionally, these reports provide a history of property care. Condition reporting builds over time, adding multiple data points for each element of the property on each inspection. In the aggregate, this demonstrates the type of consistent asset protection and management that is so valuable to property owners.  

Capture All the Details

Communicating the full value of property management requires tracking and sharing details about the exact services you provide. There are so many little tasks that go into maintaining vacation rental properties, like changing filters, light bulbs, and any number of small repairs in the course of the weekly turnover process. 

Much of this work may not require an individual service charge, meaning it doesn’t show up on the monthly statement and is never shared with property owners. Start using smart technology to capture and organize every touch point with each property and automatically add them to the property profile. Operational costs are too high to perform services without receiving credit.   

It has never been easier to be a “rent by owner,” with the growth of listing sites and online tools. If property managers are going to stay competitive, they need to show owners the hard work that goes into maintaining the property.  Don’t worry about oversharing, and don’t be discouraged if owners ignore your updates. Every touch adds confidence in the management service, particularly in an industry that hasn’t shared in the past. 

Seasonal Inspection Reports

Part of a thorough property-care program is a seasonal inspection. This provides owners with comprehensive insight into the condition of their property, should highlight completed maintenance issues, and introduces suggested repairs that the property owner should be aware of. 

An end-of-season property review and inventory has been the standard procedure for vacation rental managers for many years. However, most managers still complete this by hand using paper checklists or a generic digital checklist. Consider interviewing owners and including customized programs for each owner based on their specific concerns for the property. Impress clients with a seasonal inspection that is tailored to their property and highlights the special attention that staff paid to each unique feature of the property. 

Inventory and Property History Reports

The first step in a comprehensive property-care program is performing frequent, quick inspections of the condition of the property. This is the best way to demonstrate continued property care and attention for absent homeowners concerned about the state of their home. Managers are interacting with their owners’ homes multiple times a week, and each cleaning, inspection and repair is an opportunity to showcase their work. 

These reports can be as simple as quick condition reports or as thorough as a fifty-point housekeeping inspection report, as long as they are consistent, professional, and transparent.  In addition to the efficiency gains the reports drive internally, property managers build trust with the owner and increase the owner’s positive interaction with the brand by sharing the reports externally with clients.  

Leveraging all the information from routine condition reports and seasonal inspections, managers can easily create a full property inventory report for clients. At the end of the year when clients are reviewing annual statements and taking stock of their rental income, it’s powerful to remind them of all the work that was done to carefully maintain their home, and how well their property manager is best qualified to continue to care for the property.