Property rental is a profitable business for individuals, companies, and municipalities alike. If you manage properties, you need to ensure effective property management—whether you’re renting out a few apartments privately or managing a large portfolio as a company.

This article explains what to keep in mind with property management and how you can digitize your real estate management.

Property management primarily involves managing individual rental units. In this sense, a property management company is a business that handles the management of rented residential buildings, condominiums, and commercial properties. These properties do not have to be owned by the management company.

Property rental

As an owner, you are responsible for managing and renting out your properties.

There are external property management companies that support property owners with management or take over the process entirely. This means they ensure the properties are well-maintained and that operations run smoothly. They are compensated by the owners for this administrative work.

There are also many private owners who handle the administrative tasks themselves—especially when there are only a few tenants. This saves the cost of hiring an external management company.

A property manager refers to a self-employed individual who manages their own or others’ rental properties.

If you own and rent out multiple properties, it’s often wise to hire a professional property management company. These firms are usually experienced in real estate and have established processes for efficiently managing your rental units. Especially if you use your properties as an investment and have another full-time job, you often lack the time to take care of every property and tenant issue yourself.

In this case, you should consider whether the cost of external property management is worth it: The more tenants you have, the more worthwhile this becomes. You can specify in a contract exactly which tasks you delegate to the company and who is responsible for things like payment reminders, maintenance, or tenant communication. Of course, if you feel up to it, you can also handle all property management tasks yourself.

The more tenants you have to manage, the more worthwhile it is to hire an external property management company, which takes a lot of work off your plate as an owner. Despite high costs, real estate is a profitable investment in the long run, as property values rise and you can move in yourself if needed.

Sometimes, you can’t avoid professional property management and have no chance to handle all property matters yourself. Often, when you buy a condominium, you also acquire shares in common property (such as green spaces, stairwells, and roofs), which belong to the homeowners’ association and must be managed by a property manager.

Property management in homeowners’ associations

In this case, the management company also takes care of green spaces, for example.

The German Condominium Act legally defines which tasks the property manager must handle. You should keep an eye on whether the management company is fulfilling its duties properly to spot any untrustworthy companies .

The tasks of property management vary depending on the number and size of properties and are not to be underestimated. They go far beyond just monitoring rent payments and include all activities related to the property. These include selecting new tenants, communicating with tenants and service providers for repairs, as well as billing operating costs and reading heating, water, and electricity meters.

The tasks of a property manager are regulated by the Condominium Act and can be divided into various categories. This shows how diverse property management is and that it requires knowledge not everyone naturally has.

Business/Financial

  • Monitoring rent payments
  • Managing community funds
  • Checking invoices
  • Managing dunning processes
  • Preparing heating and operating cost statements

Technical

  • Ensuring safety (e.g., fire protection)
  • Maintenance work
  • Monitoring consumption (water, heating, electricity)
  • Modernization projects
  • Instructing and supervising service providers

Legal

  • Managing leases, rent increases or reductions
  • Enforcing legal requirements
  • Documenting move-in/move-out inspections

Organizational

  • Organizing owners’ meetings
  • Communicating with tenants
  • Selecting new tenants
  • Handling complaints
  • Communicating with authorities

Tasks of property management

The tasks of property management go far beyond just monitoring rent payments.

Property management involves many tasks, which can be a lot of work, especially for working owners. That’s why many private owners consider hiring an external management company to handle all tasks related to their rental properties. You should personally weigh whether outsourcing is necessary, as it means giving up a significant amount of control over your own properties.

Whether you rent out a few apartments privately or manage properties on a large scale, a software solution for property management must always provide a structured overview of all properties, tenants, payments, documents, and tasks. User-friendly no-code databases like SeaTable are ideal for this.

The more properties you manage, the harder it is to keep track. To collect all important information in one central place, a database with a graphical user interface is ideal. Always know who lives in which property and what needs to be done for each one. Bundle data such as address, size, and features of your rental units, and store photos and floor plans of your properties. With a well-organized table, you have an optimal overview, especially for a quick portfolio.

Here’s what a property management database in SeaTable could look like:

To always know whether your tenants have paid rent on time, you should centralize this data in your property management software. By listing your rental income monthly, you can immediately see if a tenant is behind. Store confidential information about your tenants (e.g., salary and creditworthiness) in a clear table as well.

As a landlord, you need to take care of repairs, modernization, and maintenance. To stay organized, you should document both urgent and regular tasks carefully. Record orders, repair appointments, and invoices in a table. Your tenants rely on a management company that reliably coordinates service providers so important issues—like a broken faucet—are fixed right away.

Technical tasks of property management

If you own multiple properties, coordinating contractors and maintenance can take a lot of time.

Property management software needs to do a lot. When choosing and testing software, ask yourself these questions: Can you use the software to…

  • clearly organize all information about your rental properties?
  • document your monthly rental income?
  • record confidential information about your tenants?
  • coordinate service providers and handle maintenance orders?
  • organize tasks and appointments (e.g., apartment viewings)?
  • store important documents like contracts and operating cost statements?

With the SeaTable property management template , you can easily manage all these aspects of your properties. Store contracts, invoices, inspection reports, floor plans, and photos directly in your SeaTable database.

Record photos and data of your properties

In a database, you can record photos and highlights of your properties (e.g., fully equipped kitchen, terrace).

Register for free to use the template and efficiently organize your data. Flexibly set up the table structure you need for property management to keep an overview of all your data and minimize your administrative workload.

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