Top 6 Things Landlord should do during the COVID19 Crisis: Tenant Management

COVID-19 has changed the way of life with lockdowns and curfews in several major nations across the world, including India. 185 countries are now affected by the virus and no end appears to be in sight. In a time like this, everyone is going into panic and desperation mode. Schools and colleges are shut, offices and malls are also shut. For property owners, Tenant management is also getting affected during this crisis.

The rapidly spreading virus has had a huge toll on property owners, delaying rent collections, indefinitely postponing maintenance and renovation work and, even while social distancing is being practised. No landlord wants to risk visiting a tenant and collecting rent.

The pandemic has even put a chokehold on rentals and handovers, making it tougher for landlords who want their properties occupied. If you have tenants, always remember to treat them with kindness as this saga plays out. With the situation changing form almost every day, stay informed on what’s happening so that you can get ahead when it comes to managing your tenants and your properties.

In a time like this, you, the property owner, must rise and prove yourself as an excellent landlord by honing your tenant management skills. With that mind, we are presenting you with six important tenant management tips that can help both you and your tenant during this crisis. 

Six Tenant Management Tips In The Time of Coronavirus

Switch to Online Rent Collection

From net banking to digital wallets, technology has empowered everyone to transact without physical touch. Ask your tenant to transfer their monthly rent via net banking or popular digital wallets such as PayTM or Google Pay or PhonePe to your preferred bank account. Remember that companies are now forced to cut employee salaries due to the crisis. So, if your tenant has had a pay cut, you could consider slashing your rent by 20-30% to make them breathe easier. Being a great landlord means understanding the troubles your tenant might be going through and helping them during that time.

Check-In of Older Tenants

Do senior citizens occupy one of your properties? They are most vulnerable to COVID-19, especially if they already have health issues. Keep in touch over the phone with your older tenants and check on their health and also ask if you could help them in any way. Older tenants will need help with shopping daily essentials such as bread, milk, eggs, vegetables or even medicines. You can arrange for delivery of these essentials on a weekly basis making the crisis just a little better for them. By doing so, you are not only doing a humane deed but also strengthening your relationship with your older tenants.

Prioritize Service Requests

With lockdowns being enforced all across the country, it will be impossible to handle maintenance requests as you did before. Sending service vendors to your properties will need to be done with a cautious eye. Firstly, you’ll need to ensure that your service vendors are safe from the virus. While professional contractors stress upon these details, individual workers do not. So, you should consider switching to hiring a service vendor from an agency – one that keeps its employees’ health and well-being at its core.

Tenant Management-Service Vendors

Meanwhile, you should create a list of all the necessary service requests and prioritize them based on their urgency. A re-paint isn’t the same as a plumbing problem. The former can be handled at a more appropriate time while the latter needs to be addressed immediately. You should also inform your tenants about the situation and ask for their patience. Keeping a clear, stress-free head during this time can in effect bolster trustworthiness as a landlord.

Enforce Social Distancing

Tenant Management-Social Distancing

Social distancing and reducing contact with other people are recommended measures to take to avoid the spread of COVID-19. While this may complicate your tenant management duties, it’s better to stay safe. Your actions will also save your tenants and their families from the virus.

Put off any and all maintenance checks and other routine tasks that you’ve scheduled. Once again, if you prioritize your tasks based on its need and purpose, you can protect yourself and others from the pandemic. Inform your tenants to not welcome relatives into the property. If you have property managers working for you, ensure that they also protected from the virus with masks and sanitizers.

Protect Your Tenants And Your Properties

Coronavirus spreads through contact. Hence, it is necessary to have your cleaning and housekeeping staff disinfect your property daily. If you have a commercial property, you should consider cleaning and disinfecting at least twice a day as commercial properties are visited by more people than residences. By having a sanitization plan in place, you can safeguard your properties and tenants from the virus.

You should also consider shutting down certain amenities as, during a time of crisis, it’s better to isolate the problem into a common area. If you own a commercial property, you can inform your tenants to close or remain open in minimum capacity so as to avoid a larger influx of customers.

Be Firm With Your Tenants On Social Distancing

One of the unwritten rules of tenant management is to be assertive and inform your tenants to not spend too much time outside or in the company of people other than their household. If your tenants have been to one of the affected countries since January 2020, you must ensure that they have been tested for the virus. Ignoring this could be disastrous. While it is possible for your tenants to assume that you are being controlled, they will nevertheless understand your concerns. Try convincing your tenant to stay indoors and spend more time with their loved ones.

Conclusion

In your role as a landlord, you can do your part by preventing the spread of Coronavirus. While this will affect that your monthly revenues, remember that everyone in the world is taking a financial hit as a direct result of this crisis. It is essential for you to stay informed on the situation and practice flexibility in your duties as a landlord. We hope that you will play the part of the superstar landlord and see yourself and your tenants through this crisis.

With OwnersTown, you can be a smart owner. As you can perform all your tenant management from your mobile phone. From collecting rent to sending important notifications and reminders, finding verified service providers, everything can be done with maintaining social distancing.

Sign up for free with OwnersTown and start managing your properties today! Contact us for more information and a free demo of our platform.

Top 10 areas in Bangalore for commercial property investment

Bangalore is indeed a hotspot for Commercial Property Investment. 

When you carry out Commercial Property investment in Bangalore, it provides great opportunities for investors to have a regular income. Commercial Properties yield a high return of investment making it the most happening real estate sector.

Adding to that, Since the commercial properties have a high rental end, investors now find the market pleasing enough to invest. 

Why Commercial Property Investment?

When there are residential property investments, why do investors have to choose Commercial Property Investment? If you are in here for the long run, you will know to choose commercial properties over residential is the wisest choice. The rents are high for a Commercial Property. To not forget, you are not dealing with someone who wants to buy, sell, or rent your property. You are dealing with the corporates which means you are out there for big deals. 

Let us give you some reasons as to why you should choose commercial property investment, 

1. Significant Growth in your career

You are in a Commercial Property Market, you will get familiar with a set of other businesses out there which makes it easier for you to seal a deal with much bigger clients. That’s what contacts are for, right? 

2. Dealing with Corporate Companies

Commercial Property Investment is a great market only because you will be dealing with Corporate Companies. This can be considered a great catch, you will be open to having conversations with more people from the corporate sector where if you target properly, they can easily become your clients. 

3. As a matter of fact, less competition

You don’t have to hustle every single moment trying to put yourself first. It means you have to work but do not have to take so much pressure, the competition is very less. All you need to do is figure out who needs a Commercial Property right away. There you got yourself a deal. 

A Big Sector with fewer Competitors does feel like doing a cakewalk. 

4. You can get great Income

A Commercial Property does bring good income than the residential market. That’s why investing in a commercial property can be a really great idea. 

If you are renting out a commercial property, no matter what the odds are, you will keep getting your checks for rent. They got to do business somehow, so the rent keeps rolling. 

Is Bangalore a Good place for Commercial Property Investment?

There is a demand for commercial spaces in Bangalore making it an ideal option for Commercial Property Investment. 

Commercial Property Investment in Bangalore has skyrocketed in the past few years and it will continue to do so. You can absolutely get in touch with a Commercial Property Management Company to guide you and provide you with leads. 

If you manage to Invest in a Top Commercial Property in Bangalore, you can easily earn a fortune. A good means of ROI is all an investor needs, Bangalore has been continuously serving a healthy ROI for quite some years now. Keep in mind that no matter what place, there is no place for the disappointment if you smartly invest in a Commercial Property. 

Top 10 areas in Bangalore for Commercial Property Investment

Given all the information about the Commercial Property Investment, you sure now know Bangalore and Commercial Property Market go hand-in-hand. If you can’t find a good Commercial Property to invest in, You do know who to contact, Ownerstown Property Management Company will be there for your aid.

 

Here, We will provide you with the Top 10 areas in Bangalore for Commercial Property Investment, 

1. Electronic City

2. Whitefield

3. Outer Ring Road

4. Domlur

5. Bannerghatta Road

6. Mysore Road

7. Koramangala

8. MG Road

9. Yelahanka

10. Indira Nagar

These are the established and the most sought after commercial hubs in Bangalore. If you happen to invest in Commercial Properties from any of the areas mentioned above, you can get in touch with the ownerstown Property Management Company. 

Why Does Location matter so much in a Commercial Property Investment?

If you are set out to find yourself a good place to invest in a Commercial Property, all you need is the right location. Because businesses are searching for places that can help them grow. Why would someone run a business in a place no one is aware of?

The location you choose should be beneficial for the businesses when they rent. Also, the location you choose to invest in a property will decide it’s resale value. 

You should be careful and smart or maybe take help from a Property Management Company before doing so. 

What are the factors to look out for before investing in a Commercial Property?

There are three things that you need to analyze before investing in a Commercial Property, 

● Great Location

● Ambiance

● A property that is Properly Maintained

If all of these are set, you are good to go. 

Key Benefits of Investing in a Commercial Property

The Commercial Property Market has greater risks than the residential Property Market. We mean to say that the Commercial Property Market requires a huge investment than the latter. 

But to top that risk, there are some interesting benefits of investing in a Commercial Property.

Some key benefits are, 

● High Income

● Greater Equity Potential

● Commendable Appreciation Value 

● Guaranteed Returns

Bangalore is a city full of entrepreneurial dreams everywhere around the corner. They all set out in the quest for finding the best Commercial Properties for their business. This is where you pitch in with a great price and lock the deal. 

Even though there is uncertainty in the situation right now, businesses are taking advantage of this opportunity to find a great place for their company. 

As you know that there is going to be a rush for businesses to find a great commercial property in a great place, you can go ahead and invest in a Commercial Property.

Closing Notes:

There is always a thirst for commercial properties and that makes commercial property investment a reliable choice. You can find great commercial properties with excellent amenities from Ownerstown Property Management Company, one of the best Online Property Management Companies in Bangalore. 

Happy Investing!

Top 10 Frequently asked questions before buying a property in Bangalore

The Property Market in Bangalore is still stable in comparison to the property markets in other big cities across India such as Mumbai, Chennai, etc., these cities are the places where the prices have hiked over time and find no place for an economical budget to buy a property. 

The Online Property Management Companies are said to have an array of properties with different budgets and that makes it possible for everyone to buy a property they love under an impressive price. 

You can find great value for the residential as well as commercial properties in Bangalore. As a buyer, you must have different reasons to buy a property like, it could be for investments or you think it’s an ideal home for you to live or for business or anything for that matter. 

Buying a property involves all kinds of risks including your savings. Some buyers have reported their awful experiences after buying a property without proper discussion and research. 

A wrong decision in investing a property can totally kill your financial planning. There have been many such cases in almost all the big cities and it will continue to be so if you do not change today. Sometimes taking a wrong decision could be stopped if a Property Management Company in Bangalore is involved. A Real estate deal can involve risk, but if the time favors you and you have done enough research before buying a property, then the property must yield greater returns.

Here, if you are a buyer and you're investing in a property, it is absolutely essential that you draw down some questions to the developer or any concerned person and require satisfactory answers in return before involving in the talk of buying. 

 

There are certain things that you should know before buying a property and so you are free to ask the respective person before bringing the pen to the agreement paper. 

The questions you should ask before buying a property in Bangalore, 

1. If it’s an apartment, ask how many units have been sold?

2. Explain the cost breakdown involved in the property?

3. Are the materials used to build the property of good quality?

4. Does the location have all the essential amenities nearby?

5. What is the size of the property?

6. What would be the payment plan? 

7. If they are a reputed builder, what are their projects in the past?

8. What would be the non-builder cost?

9. Is the property free from ligation?

10. Can I see the occupancy and the completion certificate?

Either you can ask the above-mentioned questions before buying a property in Bangalore or you can employ a Property Management Company to do the proper assessment of your property. 

Some of the best places to buy a property in Bangalore:

Bangalore city has some of the hottest locations where you would be interested in buying a property. To know more about the opportunities in buying, selling, and renting of the properties, Visit the Ownerstown Platform, a Property Management application made in the interest of providing the consumers with good experience in searching for an ideal property. The application is launched by an Online Property Management Company in Bangalore, Ownerstown. 

The best locations in Bangalore to buy a great property are as follows, 

● M.G Road

● HSR Layout

● Koramangala

● Indira Nagar

● Jayanagar

● Sarjapur and much more

If it’s an apartment, ask how many units have been sold?

If you are buying a property in the apartments, you should know how many properties have been sold. If you don’t feel like asking directly about all these, you can ask them how many inquiries they receive in a day. Having a Property Management Company like Ownerstown can be really helpful since they already have all such details for you about the property that they had confirmed beforehand.

 It’s very well known that the person who’s trying to sell a property will not say the exact amount of flats that’s been sold. So it’s wiser to ask them questions like this. 

Explain the cost breakdown involved in the property?

When you are trying to buy a property in Bangalore, you can visibly see that there are various costs involved apart from the building cost. You can ask the builder about the complete breakdown of all the expenditure in the building. It will make it easier for you to calculate all the costs that are linked with the property that you are planning on buying. 

Are the materials used to build the property of good quality?

Being aware of the products used in building the property is important. So, You should discuss this with the builder before buying the property. Right from the cement quality to the paints and attachments. 

Does the location have all the essential amenities nearby?

When it comes to buying a property in Bangalore, you should know about the location first. There should be all the essential amenities near you like schools, colleges, grocery shops, hospitals, etc., You can employ a Property Management Application to seek an ideal location for you. Also, Bangalore traffic is to speak for itself.

What would be the payment plan? 

You should ask them about the plan of the payments. Some sellers have a connection with the banks to help you out financially. And you should pay the desired amount in the informed time. Else, the property will become someone else’s. It is best to take guidance from a Property Management Consultant if you are stuck somewhere in the process of the payment or happen to have some financial issues. They will help you sort it out. 

If they are a reputed builder, what are their projects in the past?

Never fail to ask for the builder’s projects in the past. This will show you how potential the builder is. 

What would be the non-builder cost?

As you know that there are taxes included apart from the builder cost, discuss the non-builder costs before buying the property. 

Is the property free from ligation?

Make sure the property is free from ligation or any other legal issues. Demand for the proofs. If you have a property Management Company, they will check for the necessary proofs here on your behalf.

Can I see the occupancy and the completion certificate?

You must see the occupancy and the completion certificate before buying the property. They play an important role in buying the property.  An occupancy certificate is provided to make sure that the property is handed without any problems to bank loans. The completion certificate is provided once the project is over and is issued by the respective Municipal authorities. 

CLOSING NOTES:

Without interrogating the builder, some customers buy the property and also lose lakhs together. So it’s very important for you as a buyer to ask questions to the seller for the necessary proofs before buying. 

Never forget to ask the seller the required questions! Employ a Property Management Company and reduce the burden on your shoulders. 

To pay rent, or not? Top 5 ways to handle Tenant-landlord conflict during coronavirus outbreak

The worst time for all of us. Mainly to the renters out there who are struggling to bring food on their plate amidst the pandemic.

If you are a renter and you still think you can pay the rent and the income is normal as ever, you should pay the rent. But these unprecedented situations have affected the relationships too. Be it internal or social. Because the problem here is money! It will just get ugly and ugly if the conflict keeps on happening.

The best suggestion would be to take advice from a Property Management Company over the issue you are facing if you are a Landlord. Since landlords play the most part, it will be great if they get to know what is actually happening around them and what the Professional Consultants suggest.

What do you think, To pay rent or not?

If you are subjected to pay rent, then you should. You can request your landlord for a concession or reduction in the rent amount or wavering it until the situation gets back to normal.

But, it’s completely the decision of the landlord and you can’t do anything about it. And still, the landlords are surprisingly supportive for many renters, however, there is an exception.  Certain landlords can’t just be cool about it, there will be the problem of liquidity. So, if you could, please just pay the rent off. The landlords are equally damaged in a situation like this.

Having a Property Management Company or Consultancy can be very helpful in this situation. You can stay rest assured and they will take care of it.

To be on point, this pandemic situation is beyond anyone’s control, and the lockdown rules and the orders just add the pain. Facing reality, this is the time the banks have given us extra time to pay off the debts but the interest they impose on you is the ultimate use of the untimely pandemic.

Don’t you think this calls for someone who’s actually better at managing the property and can give us guidance? To put it straight, the Property Management Consultants are a straight away rescuer for you from all your property-related issues.

So, the bottom line is, if you could just afford to pay the rent, please pay them off! It later will add a burden to you!

Here are the things that a Landlord can do to ease the pain of a renter,

• Reduction in the rent.
• Wavering off the rents for a while
• Be there for each other
• Make sure to help a renter and don’t evict one because of the situation that is caused by the pandemic
• Relax the lease

I’m again stressing it out, while the landlords take risks to do all of these things for you, the renter, you should help them out too. You can pay the rent in divided amounts or be supportive otherwise. We can tell you some ways to handle landlord-tenant conflict during the Coronavirus outbreak.

However, the government and the other media houses are concentrating on the problems faced by the tenants and the landlord’s problems are just pushed aside.

Truth be told, the landlords are not just taken into consideration. So landlords are left with no option than to get adjusted to the situation whatever it is.

The tenant is also not at fault, after all.

A Property Management Company in Bangalore could deal with this problem, if and only if, the property of the landlord is under their maintenance. So, if you don’t have one, then it’s the right time to approach them.

The tenants will have a problem in the flow of the cash and rent becomes harder to pay so you may just have a word with the tenant as a landlord so that you can sort it out and not have a conflict. Unpopular opinion, you can make use of the property Management Applications designed by the Property Management Companies to help you.

Top 5 ways to handle landlord Tenant conflict during Coronavirus outbreak

Landlords who will be able to afford a total or partial wavering of rent may want to consider offering such steps since you can modify some things from the existing lease agreement.

Some modifications to handle the conflict between the landlord and the tenant may include,

1. Extension of the terms
2. Loosening some agreements from the lease
3. Reduction in the rent
4. Bring in a Property Management Company
5. Be a good negotiator

Let’s see how these modifications work and refrain problems from happening between the landlord and the tenant.

1.Extension of the terms

The best and the easiest way to contain the conflict from happening is that you can just extend the terms in the rental agreement. This could be a little difficult. But you have no other go. You must go past this situation without getting crushed. A Property Management Consultant will tell you how to do it without losing control over your property.

2. Loosening some agreements from the lease

You can go on to free some agreements from the lease since everyone is facing a difficult time.

3. Reduction in the rent

How about reducing some amount from the rent and just get off with the situation? Because the ultimate problem of a renter is to find funds for the rent during this pandemic. So if you could just consider it and reduce some, half of the problems would be gone. You may get a piece of productive advice on this issue from a Property Management Consultant about the percentage of the rent you can reduce. The Property Management Consultant being a professional can help you check the background of the tenant and suggest to you the percentage of waiver you can push on rent.

4. Bring in a Property Management Company

This is the best time to bring in a Property Management Company so that they can take charge of the properties. When they take charge of your properties, all the decisions and regulations regarding the property will reach the renter through the Property Management Company, themselves and it’s by far the best method to escape from the conflict with your tenant.

5. Be a good negotiator

If your tenant wants to start the negotiation about the rent, be considerate. You should be a good negotiator also the condition outside is worse, you can’t evict your tenant as well. So, try to get the best deal. Or leave it to the Property Management Consultant, your work here is done!

CLOSING POINTS:


These are some of the most effective ways to handle the landlord and tenant problems during this lockdown. Make sure to apply all of these. At least one or two of this so that you don’t have to involve yourself in a conflict. The best way is to make way for a Property Management Company to do its job. We hope you find this blog helpful.

How Does OwnersTown Property Management Application Work?

Property Management Applications have become an absolutely necessary part of Property Management Companies to make working with them easier. The role of the property management app is to help owners and property managers with managing the properties. The property management application must be designed to have strong organization skills. In short, the applications must be able to help landlords and property managers in managing, selling, and leasing the property or leaving the property for rents. On the other hand, the property management application will allow the renter to check for the properties that are appropriate for their needs and rent down the respective property.

What is the purpose of the Property Management Application?

If you have to install a Property Management Application, you obviously have to know its purpose at least as an audience. Why do you need a Property Management app? A Property Management Application is said to have the following functions that make it absolutely essential for you to install,

• Evaluate property expenses and income
• Advertise your rental properties online
• Manage rents
• Abide by the landlord-tenant & real estate laws
• Mainly, maintenance of the property
• If these factors didn’t help you employ a rental management application, what else will?

What are the works that a Property Management Application is in charge of?

The main idea of Property Management applications is to lessen the burden of the property managers and landlords. Now, in this case, everyone with the application will expect automation in the functions or the Property Management Application will pose no use!

The works that could be taken care of by the application are,

• Collecting & Managing rent
• Checking for the repair requests and timely maintenance
• Exposure to the Landlord-tenant law
• Keeping the responsibilities in check
• File taxes
• Monetary Management
• Managing the tenants

How to manage the stress of Property Management?

As a property manager, you will have to face a unique kind of stressing out.  You will have to face both the Property Management Company and also the property owners. That makes your position especially difficult.  To reduce your stress, the property management companies are introducing property management applications now, one such application is the Ownerstown Property Management Application.

You must know where you are hanging over your properties. Ownerstown Property Management Company will always provide exclusive services to its clientele. Employing their Property Management application will expose you to the benefits the company provides.

Here, we’ll see the features, overview of the ownerstown property management application, services provided!

Application Review – OwnersTown Property Management Application:

The OwnersTown Property Management Application poses to provide a one-stop solution for property management. You know how stressful property management could get, so to reduce your stress and simplify the work, the ownerstown property management company designed this Property Management Application that suits everyone. The Ownerstown application will not only look after your properties but also do everything to take your property online and provide a path to sell them.

The application helps in providing all types of services that are required for the properties and guide you in accordance with the law. The ownerstown property management application lets you register your property with them at ease. You will be expected to provide the basic details of a property like the age, location, the rental, area of the property.

Once you enter all the details, your properties will become visible to the users. You are now a registered member of the Ownerstown Property Management Company.

Features of the Ownserstown Property Management Application:

Some of the notable features of the Ownserstown Property Management Application would be,

1. Managing the accounts
2. Manage Documents
3. Manage Tenants
4. Update and complete tasks
5. Provides Performance Reports
6. Managing the vendors
7. Provides a Secured dashboard (for Property Owner, Property Manager, Tenants)
8. Reminders for rents & maintenance

1.Managing the Accounts

Managing your account with the ownerstown property management application will be a breeze to work with. A structured and easy interface allows you to manage all your transactions in a single place. The Property Management Application allows you to record, manage, and share property-related transactions online without having to do any paperwork. That’s how simple it is.

The Ownerstown property management application provides encrypted transactions and helps generate invoices in a jiff.

2. Manages Documents

The ownerstown Property Management Application helps you in managing all the property-related documents of the tenant and the owner. It’s a place where you can store and find all your documents. Also, if there comes any need to download the document, feel free to download it from the ownerstown portal. You can just drag, drop, and share your documents with anyone you would like to share.

3. Manage Tenants

Ownerstown helps in managing your tenant cycle. They will help you right from marketing your property to renting it out. Thus, this rental management application keeps your property alive.

4. Update and complete tasks

Create and assign tasks for your property from financial to maintenance, from rental to vendors. Having a streamlined task process allows you to have complete knowledge of all the work which is pending, on hold, and completed making property management easier like never before.

5.Provides Performance Reports

After running with the application for a while, you need to know how far you have made it. So, performance reports are absolutely necessary to evaluate. Performance reports provide an in-depth report of all your rental, lease, and maintenance allowing you to have a better understanding of your property and provides a game plan for what needs to be done next.

6. Managing the vendors

Just in case, if your tenant happens to experience any problem with the property, they will be allowed to raise a request. For, ex: it could be for plumbing issues, electric issues, civil, etc., That’s why this ownerstown property management application understands the problem of the tenants and collaborated with genuine and verified vendors for timely assistance.

7. Provides a Secured Dashboard

Ownerstown provides you a secured dashboard where you can see the health of the property. Having an overview of every detail at a glimpse allows you to make decisions faster and with precision. Be it transactions or managing your property, everything is completely encrypted.

OwnersTown provides dashboards for the Property owners, managers, and tenants.

8. Reminders for rents & maintenance

The application sets reminders for timely scheduled maintenance and collecting rents. Also, an automated invoicing feature has been integrated into the platform allowing rent invoices to be sent automatically within the scheduled time.

Notifications either through the application or email

Any problem with the property or any kind of updates, you will be notified with a message through the application or through email.