Every rental property owner will tell you that balancing work and business-related operations with a home and social life is a tall order. But not finding your ideal work-life balance will lead to inevitable burnout. The key to finding peace between both worlds lies in setting up the proper boundaries before you become overwhelmed. But if you’re already feeling the stress now, these tips will help you find a path to discovering your ideal work-life balance.
1. Set Yourself Up for Productivity Success
Work-life balance is only achieved if you can feel a sense of accomplishment at both work and life. Many busy investors say developing a productivity policy is a great first step. This means carving out times of the day and creating a space in your home dedicated only to work and rental property-related management tasks. When you’re at your desk, only focus on the property. During specific hours of your day, only worry about property or tenant concerns. You’ll find within those dedicated parameters set for yourself; you can be more productive. And you’ll feel less stressed about stepping away outside of those dedicated spaces. Think ergonomic environments with no distractions.
2. Managing Your Availability
You’re thinking; sure, I’ll set up a space and specific hours of the day for my rental property operations, but what about all those other tasks and issues that come up outside of those parameters? This is where a great availability strategy comes into play. You probably feel like you’re on-call 24/7, but you don’t have to be. It starts by setting expectations with your tenants about when and how they can reach you for non-emergency requests or questions. And you can explore call center outsourcing for those middle-of-the-night phone calls about the overflowing toilet.
There is nothing 9 to 5 about owning rental property. You’ll likely always be thinking about how to improve your investment, what to do about a current challenge, etc. And you will always have those out-of-the-norm requests and rental property emergencies that sometimes occur outside of traditional business hours. However, create your boundaries of availability and stick to them for the best work-life balance strategy.
3. Setting Tenant Boundaries
If you live near your Tampa rental property or within the multi-family unit you’re managing, it’s going to be hard to get away from tenant requests. The experts recommend that landlords do their best to avoid these close proximity scenarios. Instead, maintain a buffer where you aren’t physically available for demands on a whim.
It’s worth mentioning, too, to avoid becoming too friendly with your tenants. And yes, we constantly coach property owners to build great relationships with renters and keep an open line of communication. But blurring the lines of professionalism can create an unhealthy relationship. If your tenants feel like you’re their pal and not their landlord, they will be more likely to overstep their welcome with you with calls and requests. The idea is to create a comfortable distance where you’re still connected to the renters without compromising your home or personal time and space.
4. Look for Ways to Make Property Management More Efficient
Another key to finding your ideal work-life balance is by leveraging ways to streamline your efficiencies. If your work takes less time to complete and your tasks are easier to manage, you’ll feel less strapped to your property. You can look at implementing new software for scheduling and payment processing. And, of course, if you really want to get the bulk of your tasks off your plate, assign them to a rental property management partner. Working with a firm like ours will take heaps of stress out of the equation for you, making a work-life balance easier to attain.
Don’t spend another day feeling overwhelmed. Find your work-life balance by levering some of these strategies. And let us help with your rental property management tasks.
We intend to help you stay ahead of the rental market investment curve and in tune with the latest trends in the Tampa Metro area. If this particular topic is helpful or has you interested in learning more, sign up for our free webinar. You can discover other new strategies in our How to Streamline Your Rental Portfolio for Maximum Growth conversation! It’s another hot topic every investor needs right now!
You can also find relevant topic discussions by joining our Facebook group to converse with other rental property owners interested in ROI success. Exchange fresh rental management ideas and address common challenges with other property investment professionals. And if you have specific questions that deserve a more in-depth, tailored response, schedule a meeting on my calendar, and let’s connect!
