When you chose to be a Property Manager, I bet you never expected to utilise those multi-tasking or High School math skills you barely knew you had! But to effectively manage your property portfolio, it is important to be able to draw on a wide range of skills. Let’s take a look at the 7 skills that are necessary for a successful Property Manager.

The 7 Skills For Effective Property Management:

1: Accounting

Yep, you are a number cruncher! So your mother was right when she nagged you to apply yourself during Math class as they were vital skills that you would use later in life.

On the face of it, you wouldn’t think that you need accounting, but when it comes to managing the financial side of your client’s investments it is vital to know what you are doing. Being familiar with the tax rules around property investment will allow to to advise your clients on their obligations.

You will also need basic bookkeeping skills to look afte rent collection and ensure that any payments are made on time. There is an element of budgeting too. You will need to use the maintenance budget effectively to add value to the property without jeopardising your short term cash flow.

2: Legal Skills

Knowing the Residential Tenancies Act inside and out will give you the power and authority to act in the best interests of the landlord and the tenant. It also allows you to use the law to your advantage without being caught out by sneaky and underhanded tenants.

Being familiar with the law will allow you to act with confidence in your dealings with tenants, knowing that you are in the right and have the legal proof to back you up.

3: Tenant Manager

Your number one responsibility is to ensure that you find excellent tenants that remain excellent tenants over time. Take the time to build a relationship of trust and have open communication channels so that your tenants want to remain long term, respectful ones.

If a tenant’s behaviour begins to slip, then you need to deal with it swiftly and effectively. If the situation is unable to be rectified, then you need to remove the undesirable tenant to protect the cashflow of your client’s asset.

4: Maintenance Manager

You are responsible for the effective maintenance of the property. That means taking care of all those little (and large) maintenance tasks that pop up.

Not all of these tasks will be able to be planned for in advance. You can expect emergency calls late in the evening, or even in the middle of the night with maintenance issues that need to be fixed immediately.

5: Project Manager

How is your multi-tasking? Because you are going to need it.

Whether it is for coordinating a major kitchen renovation, or juggling the clean up contractors between tenancies, you will need to communicate with multiple different parties. It is important to manage the multiple contractors efficiently to minimise the time that the property is vacant for.

6: Debt Collector

This one is a necessary evil as the buck stops with you for collecting rent payments. You will have to deal with tenants who make late payments, those that say they cannot pay, and those who choose not to pay at all. Again, this is a task that needs to be dealt with swiftly to prevent the cashflow from being jeopardised.

7: Property Investment

Your number one priority is managing your asset to ensure a good financial return from it. It is easy to get bogged down in day to day tenant dramas and the repetitive tasks. But you need to keep your eyes on the long term goal of financial profitability. That will help you to make informed, well-thought-out decisions instead of knee-jerk reactions to immediate problems.

Hopefully you will have all of your different hats lined up and at the ready. While you may be playing debt collector on one property, you may also be managing a large renovation project on another. No two days are the same as a Property Manager, there is always a new and exciting challenge just around the corner.