The no-touch Property manager for Georgia – Coronavirus fix

Covid-19 has caused a lot of the every day activities we are used to doing to become a biohazard. Crazy right? These tricks may help you as a property manager to get past the hurdles of not being able to meet with your clients and tenants.

Coronavirus hurdle for Property managers

When you have a rental property in Georgia that goes empty, it requires some hands-on activities to get it occupied and producing again, right?

You have to inspect the rental property before the old tenant leaves. You need to clean or replace items in the empty rental property to get ready for the new tenants. Next you have to market the property and meet prospective tenants to show them the rental before they get approved to occupy the unit. Finally, you meet with the qualifying tenant to sign the lease. That’s a lot of close-quarters-contact.

Being a Georgia property manager during the covid-19 pandemic is a real hazardous pain. What if you catch something? Can your business run without you? Here are some tips that may get you thru this coronavirus social distance stuff.

Know your covid-19 enemy.

The corona virus is just that, a virus. They are publishing new information about this pandemic every day. A good property manager stays on top everything that can affect their business in Georgia. This means checking the news and articles about covid-19 as much as the fair housing laws.

Peroxide has been reported to kill coronavirus on contact and Clorox wipes will take care of the surfaces you need to touch. Since most reports show the virus is passed by fluids that come from coughing and sneezing, a good face mask will protect them from you and distance will protect you from them.

Stand back and let your tenants go

Tenants don’t get their deposit back until you inspect the unit. No one said you have to check the property with them there. Let them move out and do your inspection after they leave. Mail them a check to their forwarding address. This will reduce your risk of social distancing. “What if the tenant does more damage than the deposit will cover?”, Two problems there;

• You (or your property manager) didn’t screen the tenants well enough
• You (or your property manager) didn’t do periodic inspections to see this coming

Now you have their forwarding address. They can settle up or be served notice.

Stand back and let the prospective tenants go too

Lots of pictures can help build a demand for a rental property before they get to the unit. Try to sell them form just the listing. This will help reduce the interacting. When they come to see the rental, all they are doing now is verifying what they already saw.

Depending on the type of rental properties you are managing, your prospective tenants should be grown enough to show themselves around. Schedule all your showings at the same time and let them go thru one by one. Leave some applications on the counter. Then wipe everything when they are done. If you are really worried about getting something when you go to sign a lease with your new tenants, try sending them a PDF copy by email. They can sign it and send it back.

Double up on your screening

Many good property managers like to talk to the prospective tenant in person. This is where body language is soooo important. Good property managers can get a “feel” for the new tenant in person to help decide if they are a good fit for the rental house and the area they are applying for. Not being able to interact with the prospect is a hurdle that needs to be addressed.

This is where doing an extra good job of studying the prospects credit report and background become more important. You can tell a lot by a credit report. It tells how they spend their money, how well they manage their money and how responsible they are. It requires a property manager to really study the report and “read between the lines”.

A little extra preparation and you can keep your rental properties occupied and running smooth. IF you decide managing rental houses is not for you, give us a call and talk to us about being professional landlord.

Good Luck