How do I get set up as a property manager?

Lacey B.
  • Updated

Do you manage on behalf of an owner?

Do you fall into one of these categories? 

  • Agents, brokers, and managers who manage rentals on behalf of a property owner

  • Family members who support the management of their other family members

  • Real estate investors who support the management of other rental owners

Hemlane was designed as a single system where rental owners, managers, agents and tenants can collaborate together,  with a great degree of efficiency for ALL parties.

 

For best results, owners should have a Hemlane account

While you may be the decision maker with the property, we recommend inviting the owner to your Hemlane account by adding them to the "Your Team" (on the left hand panel). Benefits include:

  • Easily route payments to and from the owner: Owners on Hemlane can easily receive payments for rent, maintenance reimbursement, etc.. The amount can be directly deposited into their bank account. And, as the manager, you can control which payments routes to the owner's account.

  • Eliminate trust accounts: Since Hemlane allows managers to route payments, they can eliminate the need to hold owner's funds for any period of time. This:
    • Eliminates the need to maintain a trust account
    • Eliminates the need for trust account reporting
    • Allows owners to get access to their rental income faster

  • Real-time reporting statements: There may be no need to send statements and reports to owners, as they have access to all of the important details real-time in Hemlane.

  • Additional support to owners: When owners are on Hemlane, questions can be directed to our support team, saving you the hassle.

  • Increase transparency: Owners have access to all operations that you are conducting in real time, including:
    • All the listing details and when a property is marketed
    • How many prospects showed interest, attended a showing, and applied
    • Financial transactions on a property in real-time
    • All maintenance requests and progress on them

  • Greater Trust: Because owners can see what is going on with their rentals in real-time, they have more trust in you as a manager (without having to bother you)

  • Higher Satisfaction: Owners will generally have a higher degree of satisfaction from the increased transparency & disclosure.

 

Step-by-step guide on how to configure Hemlane for each case:

1. Requesting Rent

1a. Owner uses Hemlane

This is the preferred method that provides transparency through the process:

  • Add the owner under the Your Team tab
  • The owner will add their bank account securely in their Banks & Cards tab
  • The manager (or owner) requests the rent. As the manager, you have the option to:
    • Route the rent to the owner
    • Route the rent to you, the manager

To collect a management fee:

 

1b. Owner does not use Hemlane 

Rent deposited to the owner

  • The manager obtains the owner's bank information:
    • Account holder name (as it appears on bank)
    • Routing #
    • Account #
  • The manager sets up the bank account under their Hemlane account in order to route funds to owner's bank account.
  • The manager will see financial reporting, however, the owner will see no financial reporting (only their personal bank statements through their bank).
  • The rent is sent directly to the owner's bank account.
  • Note: Any payment between the owner and manager will need to be done offline through an alternative payment system (such as checks or online banking).
    • These payments from the owner are recorded as the "Management Fee" in the financial ledger:
      • Select your Financials tab
      • Click "Track offline transactions"
      • Select [Other] from the "from" and enter the owner's name.
      • [Select] purpose as "Management Fee"
    • Your payouts to owners will be tracked in Hemlane and visible in any statements you make.

Rent deposited to manager

  • Manager request rent from tenant
  • Rent is then sent directly to manager's bank account
  • The manager will see rent collected in their financial ledger
  • Any payouts to the owner will need to happen offline (online banking etc.)
    • These payments to owners can be recorded as "Owner Distribution" in the financial ledger

 

To collect a management fee (owner does not use Hemlane):

  • Rent routed to owner's bank account in Hemlane: Collect management fee offline (bank transfer, check etc.) and record new transaction in Hemlane to document offline transaction.
  • Rent routed to you (the manager): Record new transaction as owner distribution and send offline payment for owner's portion to the owner.

 

2. Paying for Maintenance or Other Fees outside of Hemlane

2a. Owner pays directly (recommended)

 

2b. Manager pays on behalf of the owner

 

3. Administering Security Deposits

3a. Owner holds a security deposit 

3b. Manager holds security deposit

4. Financial Statements 

4a. Owner uses Hemlane

4b. Owner does not use Hemlane

  • Download transaction data
  • Open in Excel (or another spreadsheet application) and modify as needed
  • Send the offline report to the owner 

 

 

Keywords: set up as a property manager, owners that use Hemlane and do not use Hemlane, set up account

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