Property Management Fundamentals

About this ebook

Run rental property professionally, keep good tenants and protect your investment.

Run rental property professionally: tenants, leases, rent collection, maintenance and finances. Written by Ephraim Nyadowa for readers in Zambia and across Africa, this complete eBook has an introduction, 10 full chapters and a conclusion, each chapter ending with key takeaways, action steps and a worksheet you can fill in.

About 27,248 words · 84 pages · instant PDF download after payment.

Who it’s for

Landlords, caretakers, aspiring property managers and estate agents.

Preview

Walk through any neighbourhood in Lusaka, Ndola, or Kitwe, and you will find rental properties in various states of health. Some are well-kept, with tenants who have stayed for years, paying on time and treating the place like home. Others tell a different story: paint peeling, gates hanging off hinges, "TO LET" signs that have faded in the sun because the last tenant left owing three months' rent and nobody has moved in since. The difference between these two pictures is rarely luck. It is management.

I started SALE-RITE ENTERPRISE because I kept meeting people with the same problem. A civil servant in Chelstone had built two rental units from years of saving, only to watch them sit empty because the rent was priced wrong and the adverts were poorly done. A widow in Kabwe had inherited a block of flats from her late husband and had no idea how to screen tenants, so she kept getting the wrong ones — people who disappeared after two months, leaving unpaid bills and damaged fittings. A young man on the Copperbelt wanted to start managing properties for others as a business but had no idea how to price his services or what a management contract should contain.

These are not rare cases. They are the normal experience of landlords across Zambia and much of Africa, because property management is rarely taught. You learn to drive before you're allowed on the road. You train before you open a shop. But landlords are expected to simply know how to run a rental property — set the right rent, find good tenants, collect money consistently, handle repairs, manage disputes, and keep pr

About the author

Ephraim Nyadowa is the founder and Managing Director of SALE-RITE ENTERPRISE in Lusaka, Zambia. He holds a degree in Computer Science and has spent around six years helping individuals and businesses with technology, digital services and practical skills. He writes and teaches to make useful knowledge simple, local and actionable.