It's easy to get distracted by the "big" expenses during unit turnovers. And while costs related to vendors, major repairs, and materials require attention, property managers can't afford to lose sight of the smaller expenses that have a habit of creeping up.
Make no mistake: the unit turnover process is rife with little expenses that don’t show up on an invoice but can significantly impact the cost of a turnover. From late purchase approvals to forgotten inspections, and change order confusions to missed repairs, these speedbumps can bump labor costs and delay a unit's ability to collect rent.
The upside is that technology can play a large role in spotting these problems at their source and help decision-makers take corrective, and preventative, action. Below are a few tips on how you can leverage software to reduce unit turnover costs.
Facilitating timely PO approvals
A recent SuiteSpot study indicates that 35% of jobs do not have their purchase orders entered, approved, and sent to the vendor by the move out date. The same study suggests these delays contribute to a 62% increase in turnover time, resulting in extra vacancy loss and a schedule that’s harder to manage. More often than not, the reason is because they are being handled at the end of a largely paper-based process where the people responsible for PO entry rely on the details given to them by the inspectors to be performed and delivered to them manually. This results in mistakes, lost or unreadable documents, and ultimately delays in getting POs to vendors. . Here's how a software that manages the process end-to-end can ensure orders are generated in the field, sent quickly to the right people for review and approval, and automatically send them out to vendors.
Avoiding missed repairs & requirements
Unit inspections are critical for scoping required work and putting together a successful project gameplan. However, failure to spot and assign repairs, replacements, or other work can add extra time at the back-end of the process. With mobile unit inspection apps, users can use pre-configured checklists to ensure they’re checking for all possible issues and backing up inspection results with the photos and notes that provide the proof.
Increasing chargeback recovery rates
There's a limited window for processing resident chargebacks. As such, not having an easy to implement solution for identifying, pricing, and recovering damages can end up costing you a significant amount of money. Here again, using mobile apps and unit turnover platforms can make sure nothing is missed and – more importantly – that residents are paying their fair share. In fact, according to our study, technology like SuiteSpot's TRIMM platform has been shown to result in a 25% higher rate of chargeback recovery.
Minimizing miscommunications
To err is human, but in the case of property management, sending wrong or incomplete info could result in extra work and expenses. Using mobile apps can help in this regard by keeping team members connected and communicating in real-time, and boosting the ability for your team to collaborate effectively on projects.
Managing workflow disruptions
Every project is prone to delays, be it a vendor that can't get to the job on time, assignment overlaps, missing resources, or other unforeseen factors. Without a well-defined and dynamic way of managing jobs, however, these delays can go unseen and unmanaged and create a ripple effect throughout the project. Herein, SuiteSpot TRIMM™ is designed to develop, manage, and track projects in-real time to keep everyone up to date on the project's status and their role within it.
Reducing “slack days” in vacant units
SuiteSpot's research indicates that over half of jobs had an average of four "slack" days in which work was not being performed in the vacant unit. Using technology to gain real-time visibility into workflows, vendor management, and scope changes can spot these "dead" periods before they start, and communicate changes that get everyone back on track.
Eliminating unforeseen costs
From scope changes to added parts, there are many reasons why new costs are incurred throughout a unit turnover. As such, the ability to spot and track these costs in real-time is critical to protecting the budget and smoothing out the bumps.
Whether it's a delayed vendor or a report typo, a missed repair or a late purchase approval, there is no shortage of "small" costs that can add up – especially when tallied across entire portfolios. Technologies like SuiteSpot TRIMM™ and our mobile apps are designed to catch these project speed bumps before they make an impact and keep projects on track from start to finish.
Check out the guide below to learn about more mistakes to avoid with unit turnover
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