Of the nation's 122.8 million households, 36% are renters. If you're a rental property owner or a property manager, you know how challenging it can be to keep up with your rental population.
Whether it's a rent payment or communicating about maintenance, it needs to be easy and convenient for all involved. A tenant portal addresses many needs of renters and those who own and manage their properties.
Read on to learn more about the benefits of offering an online tenant portal.
Tenant Access
They are called tenant portals for a reason. A tenant portal increases access to information and functions without needing someone on the other end of a phone line.
In addition to working as a rent payment portal which can reduce late and missing rent payments, it also provides various other functions.
These include:
- Creating maintenance requests
- Accepting scheduled inspections
- Creating tenancy ledgers
- Reschedule inspections
New prospective tenants can set up accounts and upload rental documents.
Owner Access, Too
In the same way, a tenant portal works for tenants; it can also work for property owners. A portal can work to provide property ledgers and access to information about their property.
The tenant portal can allow the owner to:
- Create maintenance requests
- Approve maintenance work
- Choose a quote to work on their property
- View the rental history of their properties
Owners can monitor renters and their history with the properties, too.
Increased Transparency
A tenant portal increases transparency for both owners and renters. All information related to the property is available.
The renter creates a portal account and can see all information about rent payments, fees, and maintenance.
The property owner has an account listing their properties. It allows them to see the ledger for their property, what's rented, what's not, and what monies are coming in and going out related to the property.
Property managers will often take on the responsibility of paying owners' mortgages, insurance, and other bills. The information about what's been paid and what isn't is right in the portal.
Increased Opportunity for Communication
There are a few ways that tenant portals work to increase communication. It allows the property manager or owner to post communication and property information for renters.
It also works as a venue for communication between the renter and the property manager. A renter can message the property manager like you might with an email.
Yet, there's no need to chase down emails. The communication remains visible in the portal for both parties to see.
Accessibility
One significant benefit of a tenant portal is the accessibility it provides. No longer does a tenant need to worry about mailing rent or bringing rent payments to the office.
The portal can offer several rent payment methods so that online rent payments can be made at the renter's convenience.
They can also make maintenance requests at their convenience instead of only being able to call during office business hours.
Consider a Tenant Portal for Your Renters and Owners
There are a host of benefits for both renters and owners when there's a tenant portal available. Convenience goes a long way in finding quality renters too.
If you're a property owner and hope to find a property manager, we can help. Contact us today to learn more about our property management services.