Blog

Tenant Screening: Five Keys

July 8, 2013 / Property Management

By Tracey March If you want to minimize the risk in your property investment business, you should understand that a key to your success isn’t just buying the right investment property–it’s finding the right property management–whether that’s you, or someone you hire. And a critical component of property management is finding the right tenant for your real estate investment property, which means tenant screening should be at the top of your priority list. Here are five things you can do to ensure that your tenant screening process helps you identify […]
What lengths would you go to in order to stop speeding in your community?

July 7, 2013 / Uncategorized

Almost every kind of community experiences a problem with speeding drivers at one point or another. Just who are the culprits in most communities? Residents, guests, vendors, teen drivers, elderly drivers, busy moms, distracted dads; almost ever...
Should Landlords Use Social Media to Screen Potential Tenants?

June 27, 2013 / Property Management, Tenant Screening

By Tracey March Landlords and property managers are using social media for many reasons, including resident retention. You might stay in touch and communicate with tenants using your Twitter and Facebook business accounts, posting useful information about upcoming maintenance and repairs, links to useful websites, and reminders. But have you considered using a social media review as part of your tenant screening process? Social media can provide all sorts of useful information about potential tenants, and can be particularly useful for confirming information on their rental applications. However, you do [...]
Being Green Might Be Less Expensive Than You Think

June 20, 2013 / Property Management

By Amanda Mathieu Property managers and owners know that the more energy efficient the building, the lower the utility costs and the greater the income. Further, energy efficient properties are good for the environment. But taking advantage of long-term gains takes near-term money. Given the high costs, few banks are willing to provide loans specifically for energy renovations. Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing is a private and public sector method for raising capital that can be loaned to property owners to cover the cost of projects like solar panel [...]
Preventive Maintenance: Are You Making it Happen?

June 13, 2013 / Property Management

By Tracey March A preventive maintenance plan, with regularly scheduled inspections, should be part of every residential landlord or rental property owner’s policies and procedures. Thorough preventive maintenance programs have significant economic benefits, namely: Lower utility bills Avoidance of costly emergency repairs Extension of the life of HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning), plumbing and electrical systems Any good preventive maintenance program includes: Annual inspection of your building and its systems: Find a preventive maintenance checklist and tailor it to meet your needs and those of the building. A checklist will [...]
Online Rental Scams: How Can Landlords Avoid Them?

June 6, 2013 / Property Management

By Tracey March My in-laws recently avoided a common online rental scam. They had found a great-looking rental on Craigslist and it was listed at a bargain price. They contacted the landlord, who said he was out of the country doing missionary work in Africa, but that they could go walk around the property and peek in the windows. If they liked it, they could wire him a deposit and he would send them the keys. Fortunately, they mentioned it to my husband, who told them it sounded like a [...]
Safety Tips for Landlords and Property Managers

June 4, 2013 / Property Management

By Tracey March My job requires me to stay up-to-date on news about landlords and property managers. Almost every day there is a report involving landlord-tenant violence or crime. Despite this, I’ve seen very little discussion of safety for property managers and landlords, who not only host open houses, but also deal with tenant complaints, collect rents, and process evictions–all of which can involve irate and emotional renters. Here are four tips from various landlord and property manager resources to get the conversation started: Don’t give out your home address. [...]
BREAKING NEWS: Senate rejects security-deposit bill in wake of CAA opposition

May 30, 2013 / Legislation, Security Deposit

Senate rejects security-deposit bill in wake of CAA opposition A bill that would have unfairly penalized landlords who make honest mistakes regarding security deposits has died on the Senate floor, thanks largely to opposition from the California Apartment Association. Click here to read the full story on CAA’s blog.
Guest Blogger: A Winning Craigslist Ad Is Priceless

May 29, 2013 / Marketing, Property Management, Tenant Retention, Tenant Screening, Tenants

By Justin Egerer In the old days when you needed to find a good tenant you called the local newspaper and spoke to a sales rep who’d help you craft a catchy phrase or two for a listing in the classifieds. Hardly any renters are reading the paper nowadays, so we landlords are on our own. Below are my thoughts on how you can become an effective Craiglist marketer. While I use Craiglist a lot because it works well for property management in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara, California, [...]
Free Professional Tools for the Smart Real Estate Investor

May 28, 2013 / Investment Property, Property Management

By Dennis Green All Property Management is proud to announce the re-launch of Rental Property Reporter, the Internet’s best “Do It Yourself Landlord” resource that combines quick tips to help investors manage their income property with nearly 15 years of in-depth how-to articles on real estate investing. This website is dedicated to helping owners grow their property portfolios, increase return on investment and improve operational efficiency. In addition to the new look, Rental Property Reporter now features an easy to use financial planning tool called the Investment Property Analyzer. While [...]