According to statistics, over 75% of Kenyan landlords prefer to self-manage their properties. A big reason being the cost savings made when they take over the operations of their own property. However, this is not without its share of stress. Countless landlords I have spoken to quickly tell me how stressful self-management can be. On inquiring further, many of them lack a system that can help them ease this load. Without being properly organized, management can be a pain in the neck, but you can leverage technology to lighten this weight. In this blog, I will be providing you with a list of tools you can use to effectively self-manage your property.
Operations in Rental Property
For you to understand the need for these tools, it is important that you know what operations are undertaken in property management. These are the day-to-day activities that you will be involved in. They include;
- Property marketing – in the event of vacancies.
- Rent collection & Arrears – this involves having a way to collect rent and keep tabs on who has a pending balance.
- Record keeping – for all the paperwork such as tenancy agreements and statutory payments.
- Tax remittance – to stay compliant with KRA.
- Communication – useful when passing across information to your tenants.
- Maintenance – having a way to receive maintenance requests & how to handle them.
Tools to use in self-management
1. A caretaker
Your first and most important tool in self-management is having a good caretaker. This works well especially if you live far away from the rental property. A caretaker is someone you employ to take care of the property and relay tenant concerns on your behalf. They act in the interest of the property owner and represent you on the property. A caretaker can be anyone that you trust and who is physically capable of handling tasks like cleaning the property. In most landlord-caretaker agreements, you could pay them a monthly fee while waiving their rent completely. Characteristics of a good caretaker in my experience includes;
- Someone who is trustworthy
- A hardworking person who can handle physical tasks well
- Being responsible as they are going to be acting on your behalf
- Someone literate who can comprehend basic agreements
- A kind person who knows how to handle tenants with respect and professionally.
2. Facebook
For the sake of marketing your vacant property, Facebook is a good channel for you to use. Traditional advertising of property involved just placing a sign that says “TO LET” with your number or the caretakers number. However, this method takes longer for you to find a tenant for your unit as you solely depend on the foot traffic of people passing by your apartment to notice the sign. Taking good pictures of your vacant unit and posting them to your local Facebook group can help you get tenants quickly.
3. Microsoft Excel
Microsoft excel is a really important tool for keeping records and handling calculations. It of course needs some technical knowhow in operating it. But in my opinion, it is one of the best tools you can use because it brings together record keeping and calculations. For context, you can have your tenants’ details in one spreadsheet while including their arrears, calculating your tax and your net income, all in one platform.
4. A Hardcover Book
For those of you who like keeping physical records, getting a hardcover book dedicated to recording tenant details works really well. The reason I recommend having it as a hardcover is because of the durability. You don’t want a book that easily tears as this could lead to loss of records. When doing your physical records, just make sure that they are easy to follow through and clear in case you ever need to handover management to someone else.
5. A Box File
There are many documents that you will come across as a property owner. Documents like your tenancy-agreements, statutory approvals used during construction, payment records etc., All of this need to be kept away carefully in such a manner that they won’t be lost. Having a good box file where you punch in and store your documents will save you a lot of headaches when you need to retrieve them.
6. Kejafinder
In marketing your property, you can also decide to list them on digital platforms that are solely dedicated to listing properties. The advantage with such platforms is that they cater to this very purpose and you are likely to find a tenant faster here than on Facebook. And no better platform to list your properties on than kejafinder.com. Just give us a call and we will see how we can work together.
If you are self-managing many units, tracking the payments on excel or on a physical book can be quite tiring. In the age of technology, there are several tools that have been developed to cater towards rent collection and disbursement. One such tool is Kejapay, which I will link below for you to take a look at. Kejafinder is in no way affiliated with Kejapay, but I like giving credit where it is due.
8. KRA
Staying on top of your taxes can make or break your rental business. For you to stay compliant you need to be pay your taxes and pay them on time. I have prepared a good guide on all taxes you might need to pay in property ownership, so take a look at it to see what you are required of. To pay your taxes you will need stable internet and a good device that you can login to the KRA portal to file your taxes. In case you are overwhelmed, just reach out below and we will guide you on how to pay your MRI taxes.
