Property — What busy work slows you down the most?

Question

Hey BiggerPockets, curious about what your day-to-day is really like as an investor or property manager.

I’m trying to understand which tasks take up the most time and distract from the high-impact work that really moves the needle. A few questions for discussion:

1️⃣ Which recurring tasks eat the most time each week?
2️⃣ Which reports or metrics do you update manually?
3️⃣ Are there meetings or calls that feel like a waste of time?
4️⃣ What tasks prevent you from focusing on acquisitions, deals, or growth?
5️⃣ Which communication or coordination tasks slow you down most?
6️⃣ If you could eliminate one busy work task immediately, what would it be?

Would love to hear your experiences — no links, no tools, just honest discussion about the day-to-day grind.

Jim Johnson · Answer

Good topic! Most of the slowdown isn't big projects, it's small repetitive tasks that stack up.

For many owners and PMs, the biggest time drains are:

1. Follow-up loops - Chasing vendors for updates, tenants for access or contractors for invoices. It's the back-and-forth, not the repair itself.

2. Manual tracking - Updating spreadsheets for rent, expenses or work orders when systems aren't fully connected. Double entry adds up fast.

3. Maintenance triage - Sorting urgent vs non-urgent issues, coordinating schedules and relaying info between tenants and vendors.

4. Tenant communication - Answering one-off questions, reminders or complaints that don't really require a decision — just time and attention.

5. Turnover coordination - Lining up cleaning, repairs, photos and leasing tasks all at once. It's a short window with a lot of moving parts.

If there's one thing many would eliminate, it's the constant follow-ups. When processes are clear and expectations are set that back-and-forth drops — and that's where a lot of weekly hours quietly disappear.