These 4 Mindset Hacks Will Make You a Better Property Manager

Successful property management is as much about attitude as it is about knowledge.

We’ve written a great deal about the technical and functional aspects of being a property manager. But knowing how to approach solving a problem is just as important as the solution itself. We know from lots of areas in life – diet and nutrition, money management – that how we approach a project has an enormous impact on how effectively it gets done.

It’s the difference between knowing the solution to a mathematical equation and the theory that helps you arrive at the solution: the theory you could argue is even more important, because it’s more broadly applicable. And as anyone who’s ever managed a property can tell you, there’s no predicting what kinds of problems will crop up over time.   

To put it another way: You need to be in the right frame of mind throughout the entirety of the task in order to be a successful property manager.  To help you get there, we’ve put together these helpful hints to “train your brain” to deal with the expected and impossible-to-avoid challenges of managing your own property. Not only will they improve your skills as a  property manager, but they’ll help reduce stress and give you time back for the other things in life that matter to you.

1. Reduce stress by de-escalating

Stress is an endemic reality with property management. It can come from anywhere – from dealing with maintenance issues, or because of personality issues with your tenant.   

Add to the stress of being a property manager the exacerbating effects of Covid. It’s making our tempers flare, as we go from 0 to 60 on the anger meter in a heartbeat. And that’s for people who don’t even have to deal with the pressures that come with self-managing a property. Even in the best of times, there is no shortage of reasons why a property manager might fly off the handle. 

If you’re going to self-manage you need to get ahead of the stress by slowing your brain’s response patterns down. Which gives you time to recognize what’s happening, so you can do something about it before it’s too late and the anger genie is out of the bottle.

Here are some great “temper-taming tips” from the Mayo Clinic.

2. Learn to expect and accept disappointment

Property management involves managing plumbing and electricity, of course, but it also always involves a level of managing disappointment. The rent doesn't arrive on time. The sink that the plumber supposedly fixed starts leaking again. The three contractors who promised you a bid last week have fallen off the face of the earth.

No one likes to feel out of control, which is what happens when your well laid plans go awry, and frustrations pile up. The best way to deal with disappointment is to take control of the negative thoughts, instead of letting them dominate you. Learn to accept, develop back-up plans, and maintain the practice of positive thinking. These tips from Healthline will set you on the right path. Managing your negative thoughts will work wonders in helping you manage your property.

3. Don’t strive for perfection

If you’re not someone who feels an urge to get things done perfectly, then you can skip this section. But if you are plagued by fears of the asymmetrical and less-than-ideal, and are you unhappy when you feel your personal standards aren’t met, by you or by others, then read on.

Perfectionism can be a recipe for stress and unhappiness, or even worse, depression, as this valuable article from Psychology Today reminds us. If you’re managing property, there will always – repeat always – be things that can be done better, or in a more timely fashion, or for less money. Obsessing over them will wear you down in a toxic way. Here’s a great blog we found on how to overcome the daily emotional wear-and-tear of perfectionism.

4. Don't feel the need to go it alone

You have a home you are invested in, either financial, emotionally - or both. It's understandable to think you need to take all the responsibility yourself, maybe even save yourself some money. But the realities of self-managing a property can be intense, so if you feel burnout coming on, the best thing to do would be to let go of the day-to-day. Let Belong take it all off your hands so you can focus on what you do best, instead of figuring out how to do it all. With guaranteed rent and a concierge available 24/7 to both you and your tenants, disappointment will be a thing of the past. Learn more at belonghome.com/homeowners