So one of the things that I do in my position is to hire new property managers to work with our firm so as you can imagine when we post a job we get tons of resumes. So I was sent one that appeared to be a pretty qualified person, had a nice resume, well written, no spelling errors (we'll save that for a later blog) and I was sending a reply email to set up a first telephone interview. As soon as I hit the "reply to" button I noticed her email address "onecrazymama@something.net" and I had to pause for a second.

So when you are a kid, normally a nickname is something someone tags you with, not your choice. But at home, when no one is watching, and you get to pick your own email address from the infinite amount of possibilities, what does your email address say about you? Would someone judge you, and your ability to get the job done, by your email moniker? Have you ever looked at someones email address and wonder what kind of person they are?

So needless to say I never sent that email to that person who may have been the best employee ever but her email address lost her the opportunity. So when you are looking for a job, a new listing, a new account to manage, whatever your line of work-what does your email address say about you? I have no issues with creativity or freedom of expression, but not when you need to be as normal and professional as you can.

My advice? Change your email address to one that reflects you as a professional, serious person. If you have a crazy one, or a novelty one, keep that for personal use and get a new one for business. There are tons of free providers out there happy to give you a free email, so get two-they are cheap.

How much money do you think your cute or funny email address has cost you over the years?

Here is the easy answer: Probably not!

Why you say? Unlike commercial property management you need to be able to be flexible to when tenants and prospective tenants are available. Residential tenants normally are busy during the day, so the best time to show properties, inspect units, and gain access to property to perform inspections is normally weekends and evenings. Without being available after normal hours it is going to make your job a bit more difficult.

Could you be successful working 9-5 in residential management? Maybe-but it will be more difficult. Best managers are available nights and weekends, at least occasionally, to take care of their prospects.

So if your goal is to be more successful as a current manager or getting into the field of residential property management, remember to be flexible with your time and you will be more successful.

Its more and more common these days with all the electronic gadgets that companies and small business people have, like Realtors, that they now rely on technology instead of people to answer their telephones. Why? Ask them and they will tell you that it works better, they can be found 24/7, it is a great lead capturing technique, etc. But the real reason: They don't want to spend the money hiring someone!

But do you really save money or is it cutting off your nose to spite your face? Let me tell you about my friend the roofing company owner. I hired him to do a roof on a bank owned property because his prices are good, and he does good work. So I called on Monday to get an update on the job. I got an answering machine, with the standard press 1, press 2, etc. on it. So none of the choices I wanted were listed so I held, and then it clicked, beeped, more silence, then ringing again while the machine must have tried to find him. About a minute later (seems long when you are on hold) another voicemail came on and I left a message. On Wednesday they called me back, saying they were sorry but they found my message on their machine. Wednesday.

So here is the Business 101 question: Had I been a customer seeking a new roof, would I have left a message or just went to the next company I found on the internet or phone book? In the off chance that I would leave a message, would I have still needed a roof estimate 2 days later or would I have found a roofer? So is the $10 an hour they pay the receptionist that they saved better than the new roof they may have installed? 

Bottom line: How much money does it cost you to not have your telephone answered, no matter what your business is, if you are selling something or providing a service. If you have a listing, do you think they will leave a message or call the next person on the list? If you have a vacant rental ti fill will they leave a message or if you call back 2 days later will they say they found something?

So are you a morning person or a night owl? I tend to be a morning person as I can get a ton of work done before most people get up. No phones, no distractions like TV, no one to bug you. I just get up and get on the computer that never shuts off and get my blogs done, my clients emailed, my searches done. Then when the paper comes I read for a bit, hop in the shower, and off I go.

Of course I am dead by 8PM! I don't have an issue with it, but I am ready to go to bed early, around 9:30 or 10 and miss a lot of good TV shows. By Friday night I am pretty whipped and usually fall asleep after dinner on the couch. Works for me!

My wife, who claims she is a morning person and is not, gets annoyed that I fall asleep on the couch. But I am good with it. Bring on the sunrise and a good cup of coffee on a summer morning and I am good to go!

So in the world on condo management, the large communities normally have a condo office and a full time maintenance staff to handle the duties of maintenance, rent collection, tenant disputes, supervision, etc. What about smaller communities? What do they do?

Well, they normally don't have the money or enough units to have a full time manager so the option for many is to self-manage. Self management is when the board of directors, who are nomally residents of the complex, elect one unlucky person to become president and then they get to manage, normally for free.

That person then normally gets to field all the calls from their neighbors and/or friends, such as someone's is not picking up after their pet, or they parked in the wrong spot, or the weeds are in the bushes again. Most of the time its not too bad, but it certainly changes the walk around the complex for you.

The difficult thing to do, however, is dues collection and enforcement. It is difficult to have to collect dues when they are delinquent from your friends and neighbors. It puts a resident in a bad spot, but it is essential to the condo owners that dues be paid, and someone is going to have to talk to the resident, post doors, and file court notices if needed.

So I have a suggestion. Why not hire a part-time manager? You would be surprised how reasonable they are in cost, many working for as low as $10 per unit per month. This will free you up from the phone calls, the maintenance issues that happen, and the unpleasant task of dues collection and policing your neighbors and friends.

For more details about condo management, give us a call. We specialize in all forms of management for condos, homeowner associations, and properties.

So now what? Ghosts!

So I have a 2 family and unit 1 was vacating because they found somewhere else to live, and they did not get along with the tenants in unit 2. So the week they moved out the tenants in unit 2, 2 college men who shared a place called and said they wanted to move early because they were not getting along. I said that they needed to honor their lease. So about a week later one of them shot themselves in the apartment and committed suicide. Wait-it gets better!

So a few weeks later I rented unit 1 to a family, and unit 2 has been cleaned and rent ready and is on the market. So yesterday the new tenant in unit 1 calls and wants to know if I rented unit 2. I said no, why do you ask? She said that they think someone is living there as they have heard voices talking in the bedrooms upstairs.

Checking the unit, there is no sign of entry, no unlocked doors or windows, and no signs of anyone getting inside. What do you think I should do now? Do you believe in haunted homes? They also told me they heard a woman singing a child to sleep. It's actually freaking me out. Any ideas?

Got a new place in with an anxious owner who wants his places rented about 2 weeks ago, sound like most of yours? So ran a special, had someone take an app, look at the place, and love it! They like the special on the rent, and would like to be in this weekend since they want in before the holiday. Sounds plausible, and my client is in love with the idea, and she seems nice enough-good income, decent dress, decent car.

So I pull her report. Nothing out of the ordinary shows until I hand run the eviction report, which shows a current eviction with a court hearing on the 14th. Hmmm.... So of course I ask the tenant what is up, and here is the story of the week:

There is no way that is me, I don't even know where those apartments are! Oh, wait...I helped my cousin get an apartment last year and signed for her and her friend and that may have been there. I had no idea that she was being evicted, wait till I get my hands on her. Is that eviction going to be on my record and not hers? How long? This is totally unbelievable!...

So my rental property owner friends and clients: What would you do? Without tailing her or following her and waiting in front of that ddress to se if she lives there, how would I know it is her or not. I suspect it is her, and I suspect this is a good story and hard to disprove, but my gut tells me this is her eviction.

So what would you do? Would you rent to her? Is she a dead deal or is there a workaround? I have already made a decision on her and am curious to see if your decision would be similar to mine, given the details of the story that you have.

It's probably the number 1 question I get asked all the time when I talk to new property owners venturing into real estate investing. So let me give you the "book" answer then my real answer!

1. We look for 3 things in a tenant:

1.  The ability to pay is very important. Our guideline is rent is not greater than 31-35% of their gross monthly income. The standard rule of thumb for many is income is 3 times rent. If their income is non-taxable income then we can give a little on this since we compute based on gross taxable income and not take home pay and if they pay no tax their take home is a bit higher.

2.  Rental history is checked and very important. They need to have no evictions in the past 5 years, and have at least one good landlord reference in the past 24 months. Word of caution: Check who owns the property that the tenant rented last as many bad tenants will have their friends pretend to be the landlord and give them a good reference. If they fake this, it is easy with a few questions to trip them up.

3.  Last, and not least, we check credit. We are not looking for good credit, as we understand many times the difference between tenant and homeowners is credit history. What we are looking for is collections from landlords, collections recently, and recent good or bad pay to see if they are trending up or down.

So what really matters? Rental history! They can be great on paper but a really bad tenant, or they can be bad on paper and a really good tenant. I tell my clients the way they treat their landlord is the way they will treat you! So the key is to get an honest landlord evaluation and beware of the landlord who wants them gone and gives good recommendation. Figure out a reason to visit them at home, a form you want to drop off or something, and see how they live there. If its a mess, then yours will be a mess. If they live good and treat the landlord good, they will treat you well.

Good luck to you and let me know if I can help!

So I got a flyer from my Allstate Inurance agent offering me a "free membership" in their Roadside Assistance program. Sounds like a pretty good deal since I don't have one of those, and you never know when you need a jump or have a flat tire. So I called my agent and they said they would sign me up and there was no charge unless you use it. If you have a flat they charge you when they get there!

So I said "Excuse me?"  I had a membership in a club that is free as long as i didn't use it? Kind of like having free membership to Wendy's as long as you don't eat there. It would be like having a lifetime membership with the woman that cuts my hair, and its free until I get my hair cut.

What a brilliant marketing idea! So I am offering each of you lifetime free property management service as long as you never own an investment property. If you do, then you simply pay for any services you use. Sign up today as this is a limited time offer.

Brilliant!

So who got the tenant from hell this month? I had them, then they passed to another. But the real question I want to ask is "Why don't landlords screen tenants effectively anymore?"

A few years ago if someone wanted to rent they would fill out an application and a landlord would check them out before renting to them. You would call their previous landlord, see if they had any evictions, pull their credit, check their police record, etc. until you had a well screened tenant. If I had a bad tenant, I would tell you if you called me, a kind of heads-up to another landlord kind of thing.

Now, we get a bad tenant, we take them to court and evict them. Mysteriously they move out before the hearing, on to some other landlord. But the issue is that no one ever called me from the new landlord checking them out. So, bottom line, someone now has that tenant without knowing the plague they will bring with them.

So why is that? Are we too busy to check out tenants? Do we rely on computerized checking programs that spit out a number and say they are approved? Are we too desperate for a tenant that we don't even care? Its baffling!

So, as a professional property manager let me give you some advice. In most cases no tenant is better than this tenant! Make sure you screen your tenants. If you have a manager and they rely on computer scanning that does not place calls to a previous landlord, get a new manager! Computers do not screen effectively and only tell you what has been filed as a public record, and many tenants know this so they move before court. Unless you want this tenant next month, screens your tenants!