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So you have decided to become a Landlord. Congratulations!

But in order to become successful landlord, you have to focus and concentrate your resources (financial, material and mental) in many areas – starting from maintenance of your property, book keeping to tenant relationship. Oh, do not forget about marketing and legal aspects of Landlording too.

Today majority of issues, operations and activities can be automated by technology, i.e. computers, software and internet. In other words, you do not have to do the same daily routine jobs every time – everything can be automated. Lets review some of the points needed to be successful tech savvy Landlord.

1. Marketing & Advertising
Well, marketing and advertising is not the first step in the “food chain” of Landlording, but I do consider it as the most important one to success to rent out your property. Invention of internet changed the way people live, interact with each other and market their products and services. So why do not you take advantage of it?

- Internet web page – Get your name out there and your properties you want to rent. When you have the information on internet sites, you can attract a wider audience and get more potential applicants for the lease. To start with, you can create (or ask your friends, son, nephew to create for you) – small webpage with your details and properties you have for rent. Providing as much information as possible will eliminate misunderstandings on later stage. However, try not to scare your tenant – leave some room for your potential client to call you and ask some questions.

- Property listing sites – register with property listing sites or classified ads. Internet is overcrowded with property listing sites allowing you to register and provide details of your property. Be sure to choose the ones with the most traffic to the site. You will have guaranteed success if you have an ad interesting enough. Try to use catchy terms or rates. Pricing your rent at USD 777.88 will be standing out among USD 750 or USD 800 rates.

- Social Networking – People always like to create new relationships. Services such as Twitter, Facebook, blogging etc became very popular lately. Gaining friends and followers is the easy part and you can advertise that you have a place to rent through the marketplace on Facebook.

2. Management
So you have been successful in marketing and advertising your property and got tenant. Now the crucial part is to manage your property, tenant relationship, your finances, records, documents…. And here comes the property management software, which allows you to handle each and every aspect (or at least routine part) of your “management issue”.

 Again, just search online for “property management software” and you will be offered with million kinds of. In general, the software can be “offline” or “online” and each of them has its pros and cons, which we will discuss in another time. But both types will eliminate a lot of hassle in managing your properties, tenant relationship, your accounting, tax preparations, notices, reporting, maintenance handling and much more.

While technology can help you to manage your property and other activities, it also provides comfort for your tenants. By automating your management process, you can send automated notices to your tenants, reports, provide the ability to report any maintenance issues, and even pay rent online.  
 
You don’t need to have a degree in information technology to become technology driven Landlord. Do not be scared from Internet or property management software – once utilized in proper way they will be your friends. And when you have technology helping you out, you can give that benefit to your renters. This will keep them happy and you will be able to retain them for as long as possible.