15 Key Property Management Trends for 2020

How will Warner Robins Georgia property owners and property managers improve business operations and revenue in 2020? By watching the major rental trends affecting future business performance.

The top 15 trends to watch are dominated by the new software and tech electronics and all the amenities tenants want. It’s the demands of tenants who want technology that’s driving big changes for landlords and property managers.

Keeping on top of industry trends and improving your business should be a priority in 2020. Just being aware of stats, views, opinions and news in the property management can help keep you ahead of the crowd.

Please share this post on the trends with your Warner Robins real estate associates and friends.

Trends Impact the Bottom Line Quicker These days.

Trends tell your future. These changes are responding to landlord’s and tenant’s pain points.  It’s not the apps, services, etc. that matter. It’s the need for them that makes rental property trends so interesting.

Owners and Investors Need Insight

Property owners and investors who own these rental investments, in general, may not be housing demographic, technology nor customer service experts. Cultural trends and new software technology for instance, are invisible to them. However these will affect demand for their properties or how long good tenants stay.

Your choice of back office software and tools can have an effect on future rental property earnings, yet they won’t see these trend “trains” coming without continued education of property management.

Only you will understand the evolution. They’ll be relying on your forecasting and leadership here. Your expertise ensures their Warner Robins Georgia investment is protected and you know how to add value to their rental portfolio.

Property management companies will be looking for an advantage to beat you, and an authoritativeness about the “new property management market” might be their opportunity. Make sure they don’t get ahead of you on this.

Ready to make Double D Property Solutions your new professional Landlord?

Trends: In 2020, the most influential trends might arrive from many different sources due mostly to technology.  Phone apps, Internet connected devices and automation software are creating business advantages.

Fintech and Proptech are the buzzwords.   These technologies integrate well with modern property management software in a way tenants appreciate. Millennials like to do everything online. These programs allow repair work orders and payments to be made online without hurting their daily schedule.

2.   Demographic Trends: Millennial tenants are becoming more of the tenant market and what they want often requires high tech solutions. Without that technology, they consider you backward or irrelevant, even though you’ve got everything else nailed.

Without technology and growing property portfolios, some property managers may not be able to keep up, nor satisfy landlords and owners that you’re capable of growth and efficiency. They’ll likely know from their first visit to your website or conversation on the phone that you’re old school.

Can lack of these new technologies really be a problem? Well, renters love the ease of doing things when they can via their smartphone, on the bus or subway, at work, on the road in their car or at home.

3.  Rental Market Demand:Warner Robins Georgia housing new construction is still strong in 2020. Renters are always weighing the buy vs rent decision, and some will make the choice to buy a home. House buyers moving into Warner Robins and the surrounding area are finding it hard to find housing ready to move in. Even rental house availability are at an all-time low. Rental demand is still high, but many are just short term renters (one year or less) waiting for a house to buy.
4.  Booming Economy and Trade Tariffs:President Trump’s new tariff walls will likely mean the return of jobs across the U.S. including the long lost cities of the Midwest and rust belt. High employment and rising wages among Millennials who are mobile will mean no city has to be left out of the new economy. New single houses, townhouses and multifamily developments are popping up in georgia, creating opportunities for property management companies.

5 .  Government Restrictions: given how high housing prices are and how high rental prices have become in cities such as San Diego, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, the cries for rent controls will get louder in 2020. That’s a death sentence for many investors. From California to Texas, keeping an eye on state and local attitudes is smart. Atlanta Georgia has recently tried to ratify their own regulations on section 8 housing acceptance by landlords. .

6.  New Construction Trends: besides big growth in new construction, and government programs (such as the new $1 billion program in Vancouver, Canada) can impact your future rents and income potential.

Large multifamily buildings are the trend, due to so much pent up demand for units. Big developments near key transit locations will receive priority from government.

7.  Interest Rates and Inflation: financing, wages, utilities, and operating costs will rise in 2019 thus cutting into your net income.
8.  Software Technology: New software technology is offering improvements in simple accounting, time management, tenant screening, online payment, property maintenanceand repair services, and property management analytics. Some offer complete solutions while others are woefully inadequate. Some might impose on your business creating additional costs and adoption issues. Which solutions and apps should you adopt in 2019?
9.  Demographic Shifts:Baby boomers are finally retiring and the millennial generation is out of their parents’ homes and into renting their own apartments. Your rental products and management style will gradually be reshaped to suit them in 2019.
10.  Startup Property Management Companies: We’ve all heard about the growth in accidental landlords. Buying rental income propertiesis popular and many are realizing there is big money in property management. They will want to get serious about growing their portfolio and formally launching a property management company. These newcomers to property management won’t want anything to do with old PM practices involving spreadsheets, receipts, and check payments at month’s end. No, they’re not trained pros and they’ll want to simplify right away using property management software.
11.  Industry Consolidation:Big property management conglomerates are entering the independent property rental market. What are they looking for in properties or in property management companies they’d like to acquire? What services will they offer, e.g., maintenance).
12.  Specialization:Given growing complexity in PM licensing requirements, government legislation, lender regulations, insurance requirements, environmental constraints, and accounting and taxation property management professionals have begun to specialize. Will expertise in any area give you a business advantage? What training and licensing must you obtain?
13.  Insurance:Changes in legal liability means more renters should have their own renters insurance, and they will. Similarly, landlords will also need to be sure of their own landlord insurance. Is insurance coverage for them a value add for your company?
14.  Digital Amenities including Free Wifi:Here’s benefits tenants love. It’s for large multifamily buildings or large portfolio managers to either provide free wifi or create it as an affordable option for tenants. Wifi may be the coin operated washing machine of 2019.
15.  Smartlocker Storage:We’re in the era of Amazon. Amazon’s growing share of retail shopping is shocking. Tenants will need some way of accepting packages at their apartments, many of which don’t have suitable storage. Smartlockers allow them to pick up parcels when they can. The tenant receives a digital message and unlock code on their smartphone.

Technology is just trying to keep up with modern renters’ lifestyles. So you’ll need to keep up with property management technology.

These are just a few trends in property management to be aware of in 2020. If you are tired of being you own landlord, contact us.