Every day in the US there’s an average of 14,000 water damage related emergencies. On top of this, almost 1000 HVAC issues are detected in rental properties, and then there are the risks associated with stolen keys, break-ins, and unsecure buildings.
All of these scenarios are costly for property managers who are already facing increasing energy prices and economic uncertainty. Not to mention how the short-term and long-term rental industry is still trying to recover from a turbulent couple of years.
So, what if we told you these circumstances are completely avoidable? When property managers are equipped with the right tech and processes, risks don’t have the chance to escalate into hefty repair or replacement costs. Here’s how…
3 ways to protect your rental assets against damages
1. Monitoring sensors
Take the ‘when’ out of the equation. When will your water pipes decide to freeze over and burst? When will a leak occur – in the middle of a guest’s stay, or when a unit is vacant? When should you have your HVAC machine serviced?
Instead, install monitoring sensors for your water and HVAC systems, so you can proactively get ahead of risks such as leaks and be informed when your machine actually requires maintenance. The IoT-connected system of tech and hardware will send property managers alerts when issues are suspected, such as an increase in water consumption indicating a small leak.
And in more severe circumstances, such as a burst pipe or continuously running tap, the intelligent tech will automatically shut off the water supply using a valve to drastically reduce damages (this can save up to 200 gallons of water per day!) What’s more, since the technology is integrated into your platform, it knows whether or not the property’s occupant is home – so if your resident happens to be taking a long shower, it won’t automatically switch off the water.
Smart Water Valve + Meter technology has been proven to save property managers $7,500 on annual insurance fees in a portfolio of 10 single-family homes, and $2,000 in a multifamily property with 30 units.
Likewise, our research demonstrates how HVAC Management can save property managers an average annual saving of $250 per rental, by reducing unnecessary services and forewarning problems that have the potential to escalate into severe damage.
With these smart home technologies, you can control and monitor your water and heating systems from anywhere – so you’ll always know your assets are safe. Plus, soon short-term rental property managers will be able to monitor the noise levels of their properties too, so they can stay ahead of any complaints or citations from the surrounding community.
2. Access control
The simplest way to protect your short-term rental or multifamily property is through having full control of who has access to them. It sounds easy, only give the keys to your property to paying guests or residents, and any staff or maintenance personnel – right?
Not exactly. What if those keys get lost? Stolen? Or if someone forgets to lock up on their way out of the property? And what about multifamily communities? How can you keep track of and manage the distribution of keys on such a large scale? And how do you account for one-off visitors such as residents’ guests or delivery personnel?
Say goodbye to the old ways of property access. Smart locks and Community Access solutions that enable direct entry through an automatically created passcode, an app, or fob, erase all of these issues.
3. Embracing data
Data should be a property manager’s best friend. Why? Because it can help anticipate future issues and provide you with actionable areas of improvement, such as how to reduce energy or water usage to decrease bills (by 20% or more) and inefficiencies.
But, property data isn’t the only useful information you can harness to safeguard your business. What about prospective resident data? Set yourself up to succeed by ensuring only reliable persons make it onto your short list of prospects.
Using an advanced online screening service, such as CheckpointID, allows property managers to vet prospective residents in a matter of seconds. This means interested parties can seamlessly book Self-Guided Tours, and it also means your assets are fully protected. An added bonus is that a prospect’s verification lasts for seven days, allowing them to view multiple rental properties in your community without needing to be verified each time.
These are three small (but mighty) steps towards a more secure future for your short and long-term rentals: monitoring sensors, access control, and embracing data. Taking these steps will safeguard your assets while also improving cost savings and operational efficiency.
Find out more about the intelligent technologies PointCentral offer, here.
