If you’re like me you’re always on the lookout for new property management solutions, ideas that will make your property management run more efficiently and less expensively.

In today’s property management training article I’d like to share ten property management solutions I’ve personally used, along with tips on which worked well and which not so well.

Set The Right Expectations

Property management solution #1 is to set the right expectations with your investors, your tenants and your vendors.

This also falls into the time management category. I remember a long time ago somebody once told me, “If you don’t manage your time somebody else will manage it for you.”

How true.

If you’re working with building owners, set the right expectations for your weekly or monthly reports, distribution of owner funds, and follow-up calls and emails.

With tenants, be consistent with rent due dates, when rent statements are sent out, deposit of funds, and willingness to do repairs that maybe aren’t called for in the lease. After only a few months of setting the right expectations with tenants you’ll be surprised how everything falls into place.

Develop A List Of Reliable Vendors And Suppliers

I find that by paying the vendor early and by not nickel-and-diming the vendor, that in return I get very competitive pricing and straight-forward, reliable service.

Even if you only have one good vendor that you work with, they can probably provide a wealth of referrals to people they know that work in other trades. The fact is, people know and do business with people like themselves. If you’ve got one guy or gal that’s a great supplier, they will know others to refer to you.

Send Monthly Rent Statements

This is the #1 way to improve your cash flow and to move your cash receipts up in the month.

Many times we’ve taken over the management of a property where the tenants have fallen into the habit of paying just before the late date, say the 10th or the 15th.

By sending our printed statements 10 days before the due date of the 1st of the month, we’ve had a 100% success rate in getting tenants to pay by the due date and have dramatically changed the timing of the property’s cash flow.

On-Line Billing To Tenants

Most banks and off-the-shelf accounting software offer this service. As long as you have an email address for your tenants you can easily create a statement on-line and email it to the tenant along with a link for payment.

On-Line Payment For Tenants

This goes hand-in-hand with sending statements on-line. Your on-line statement to the tenant will have a link for payment which goes directly into one of the accounts for the property. You’ll save the time and trouble of opening envelopes and going to the bank to make those daily deposits.

One word of caution: Don’t spend a lot of money to set up a system like this. Most banks will do it for a few dollars a month, but I’ve seen pricier systems on the market as well.

If you survey your tenants and ask them if they’d like the option of paying on line, 99% will say Yes.

The reality is that many will still mail to you the on-line statement the printed or deliver payment to your office. The on-line payment option is nice to offer, but don’t spend a lot of money on one because the actual usage by your tenants will be a lot lower than expected.

Wellness Checks For Tenants

We’ll pro-actively do little things for our tenants: Replace burnt out lights, ceiling tiles, and check plumbing for proper operation.

This gives us the opportunity to chat informally with the tenants, maybe gather market intelligence, and in the case of a running toilet also keeps the water bill low for the property.

Direct Deposit For Owners

This is a great service to offer if you’re a professional property manager with several clients and properties under management.

Most banks offer this feature for a few dollars a month. You’re able to pay multiple clients on-line and get the owner its money the next day instead of waiting for the proverbial ‘check in the mail’.

If you’re in the property management business, this, along with timely and accurate reporting, is one feature that will build a lot of client loyalty.

Keep An Attorney On Retainer

I’m far from litigious, but trust me, as the market continues to get tough issues will start to pop up that you thought never would. It’s important to have a go-to person for legal advice and spending a little now will save a huge amount later on.

Websites And Internet Marketing

If you don’t have a website set up for your property, think seriously about doing it.

In today’s world so much marketing is done over the internet and if you don’t have a presence on the web you’re missing out on a lot of potential business and exposure.

Websites now days are amazingly inexpensive to create and maintain and will give you so much more bang for the buck than traditional ‘snail mail’ activities.

Real Estate Flyers

Just like with a website, you do not have to spend a lot of money to design a real estate flyer.

I find it best to create a template that can be used for multiple properties. All you have to do is change some copy and graphics for a property-specific or space-specific flyer, and in a few minutes, you’re up and running.

We have great results incorporating flyers into our property websites and in our other on-line marketing activities.

I hope this tips on property management solutions make things go smooth for your this year and that you continue to make moneyin real estate investing!

The beauty of real estate investing is that it is in your control. You decide what to buy, where, at what price.  Then, you rent to tenants of your choosing–ones who are good neighbors and caretakers of their homes. You pay all the expenses from the rent you receive, and have some money left over for reinvesting, savings and profits.

But wait! that’s not what’s happening!

After the buying of the property, the rest is only fantasy. How did it get like this? Tenants do whatever they want and pay the rent when it suits them. Meanwhile money for mortgages, taxes, insurance and repairs gets shorter and shorter. And forget about the savings and profit part.

You wake up every morning and wonder, “what are they going to do to me today?”  Your investments are out of control. You may as well be invested in the stock market where you throw your money at a company and hope for good management. Real estate investing isn’t so beautiful, after all.

Who is in charge here? If it’s your tenants, you and your investments are in deep trouble. 

The disadvantage of rental property investing is that it is hands-on. You have to tend to it and watch over it.  If you can’t or won’t tend to it, you are better let a professional handle it.

The advantage of rental property investing is also that it is hands-on. It is entirely in your hands if you make any money at it.  No one else to blame, no economy to complain about, no corporate management, only your decisions about how you handle it.  If you do what you’re supposed to do, if you take control of your rental property, you will turn a profit. If your tenants are in control, you’ll lose money and wake up every morning wondering, “what are they going to do to me today?”

Decide—right now—to take charge. Be committed. If you don’t or aren’t, you will never gain or regain control of your investments.

First, decide exactly what you want to happen. These are goals. They have to be written, specific, measurable and with a date by which they will be accomplished. 

So goal number one might be tenants who pay the rent on time and take care of the property in every rental unit by January 1, 2013. Another goal might be showing a 10 percent profit by the end of the year.  They are your goals, though, so it’s up to you to pick exactly what you want them to be.

Know the outcome, or result, you want. Model what works by looking at what other landlords do to make their investments work for them. You find other landlords in apartment and landlord associations. Be willing to change your approach as necessary to accomplish your goals. Finally, expect to succeed.

What right do bad and marginal tenants have to interfere with your investments? You invested the money and took the risks. It’s past time to take charge of your rental property investments once and for all.

Call us for all your Rental Property Management needs!

Good News for housing!

New Home Sales actually INCREASED….

According to data released this morning by the Commerce Department, sales of new homes hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000 in October, up 1.3% from the previous month and up 9% from October 2010. While demand is still weak — in a healthy housing market roughly one million new homes sell each year — some experts see the uptick as a sign the long-suffering new home market may be on the mend. Call me now for your New Home!

I have been on the low carb diet for a month and have lost 15lbs. So I'm going to use these tip that I'll share with you on Healthy Eating During the Holidays!

During the holiday season, there are plenty of tasty temptations to derail the

eating plans of even the most disciplined people. Here are some tips to help

avoid dreaded weight gain while still enjoying the holidays: 

*Eat a light snack before going to a party. Arriving famished means you’re more

likely to overeat.

*Choose beverages wisely. Alcohol is high in calories, which are stored as fat.

 Watch out for calories in soda, punch and egg nog as well.

• Be physically active every day. A brisk 30 minute walk can reduce

appetite and burn calories. 

• Avoid recreational eating at gatherings. Use small plates, take  

small portions and don’t go back for seconds. When socializing,  

move away from the buffet table. 

• Reduce the fat in holiday recipes. Go for tasty low fat and low

calorie substitutes, such as skim milk and low fat cheeses. Use  

nonstick cooking sprays. Flavor dishes with lots of herbs and spices. 

• Maintain perspective. Overeating on a single occasion won’t make  

you gain weight, but days of overeating will! If you do over-indulge,

simply return to your eating plan the next day without guilt or despair.

Anytime you lease as many houses as me you have made a lot of mistakes. Hopefully we have learned from these mistakes and can help our clients keep from making the same ones.

Here are just some of the hard lesions we have learned.

 1. “Let’ set the rent high and look for an offer

Tenants make decisions on what to preview based on digital photos, property descriptions and asking rent. They look at 5 to 8 homes before they complete an application. They are comparative shoppers and know when the asking rent is too high. Setting the rent high, and waiting for an offer, will guarantee you a longer vacancy. Tenants are typically not good at negotiating. Filling out an application and paying a fee, “just to see what the owner might take”, is costly and time consuming. They won’t do it!

 Price it right from the start!

2. “I’ll paint that blue bedroom when we get an offer”.

 Tenants notice unpainted walls, trash, dirty tubs, stained carpets, outdated wallpaper and blue walls. “If the owner will not make it ‘market ready,’ how do I know they will have it ready for me to move in?” None of us like to sit on a vacant house. Waiting is expensive. Resist the temptation of putting it on the market until it is ready, and paint the blue room. Don’t put the property on the market until it is “market ready.” Paint the walls, remove the personal property, and empty the crawlspace, garage and attic before you start marketing it! 

3. “Utilities cost too much on a vacant house; leave them off”.

Tenants preview houses after work, after dark, and on cloudy days. They want to “see” what it looks like. Bathrooms, closets, basements and laundry rooms don’t show well in the dark. Agents don’t like walking through a dark house with strangers. It is also important to have utilities on to facilitate repairs and cleaning during vacancy. Tenants need to “feel at home” when viewing a property. If it’s too hot in the summer, or too cold in the winter, they won’t like what they “feel” when they view the property. Lastly, a dark house invites vandalism.

We require the utilities on before we start marketing the property!  

4. “Call me when the lawn needs mowing”.

No. The lawn needs mowing every 10 days while it is on the market for rent (every 15 days in the winter months). If you want the home to show well, either put it on your calendar to mow it every 10 days, or give us the money and we’ll do it. Street appeal is the first impression they get of the property. Make it a good one. Mow the lawn regularly. Don’t wait for a call from us.

5. “I’ll clean the house prior to move-in”.  

If the house shows badly tenants think, “if they won’t clean it before marketing, I doubt they’ll clean it before move-in, or keep the house up after move-in.” Right or wrong, they are suspicious of dirty houses. Note: Houses never stay clean. Bugs die, kids track in dirt and leaves, dust gathers and it will need cleaning more than once during the marketing period, and just before move-in.  

Clean it before we start marketing and keep it clean. 

6. “I’m going to leave the paint cans in the basement/garage.

They will be useful to the tenant to touch up the walls when they leave”. Wrong! Tenants do not touch up the walls. Paint cans are “someone else’s stuff” and tenants don’t want to see it. Besides, if you don’t remove it, we have to … to an expensive hazardous waste dump … at your expense. It is very expensive for us to remove because it is considered “hazardous material”.

Get rid of paint cans and other stuff before we start marketing the property!

7. “I’ll consider pets when I see an application”.  

Tenants with pets will only preview houses where owners/managers make it clear in the advertising that “pets are welcome”. You won’t get tenants with pets previewing your property unless you advertise that pets are welcome. Seventy-five percent of our applicants admit to having pets. You are shutting out a big portion of your market to say “no pets”. Better to allow pets and get more deposit to cover the potential damages. They won’t look if you’re not clear in the marketing about pets! 

Conclusion:

 Putting a property in “rent ready” condition, with utilities on, is critical to getting an  application quickly. Don’t wait!!!! 

DL Morton Realty, Inc., is a full service real estate company offering sells and management. Call today for all you real estate needs!

Clean it before we start marketing and keep it clean.

6. “I’m going to leave the paint cans in the basement/garage. They will be useful to the tenant to touch up the walls when they leave”. Wrong! Tenants do not touch up the walls. Paint cans are “someone else’s stuff” and tenants don’t want to see it. Besides, if you don’t remove it, we have to … to an expensive hazardous waste dump … at your expense. It is very expensive for us to remove because it is considered “hazardous material”. Get rid of paint cans and other stuff before we start marketing the property!

7. “I’ll consider pets when I see an application”.  

Tenants with pets will only preview houses where owners/managers make it clear in the advertising that “pets are welcome”. You won’t get tenants with pets previewing your property unless you advertise that pets are welcome. Seventy-five percent of our applicants admit to having pets. You are shutting out a big portion of your market to say “no pets”. Better to allow pets and get more deposit to cover the potential damages. They won’t look if you’re not clear in the marketing about pets!

Conclusion:

 Putting a property in “rent ready” condition, with utilities on, is critical to getting an  

application quickly. Don’t wait!!!!

DL Morton Realty, Inc., is a full service real estate company offering sells and management. Call today for all you real estate needs!

According to Harvard Business School professor Laura Roberts, your professional image is the set of qualities and characteristics that represent perceptions of your competence and character as judged by your key constituents (i.e., clients, superiors, subordinates and colleagues).

You must take a strategic, proactive approach to managing your professional image. "If you aren't managing your own professional image, then someone else is," says Roberts. Since your constituents are constantly observing you, sizing you up as a professional, Roberts says, "It's only wise to add your voice in framing others' theories about who you are and what you can accomplish."

The first thing you need to do is determine how you want to be regarded. Most working professionals list things such as highly committed to work, competent and dependable. These are fine attributes, but keep in mind research shows that some of the most valuable traits are broader, such as trustworthiness, caring and humility.

As you make out your list of attributes, it might help to distinguish between a desired and undesired professional image. The desired image is what you want your constituents to say about you. The undesired image is what you don't want them to say.

The next step is a dedicated campaign that incorporates and exemplifies your values in an authentic and credible manner. One tactic: Identify values that you and your constituents share in common. If one participates in fundraising walks, do more than donate — join them. This is a great way to communicate common values and create a positive professional image.

While working on your professional image, be careful to avoid any false steps — literally the meaning of a "faux pas" — that undermine the image you are seeking to project

U.S. foreclosure filings rose an average 7 percent in October compared with September but remain below last year's levels, a new report shows.

Filings rose more dramatically in the Carolinas last month.

The data add to a growing belief among real estate experts that more foreclosures are on their way as the banks work through paperwork problems that led to a temporary moratorium on foreclosure filings last year.

"The October foreclosure numbers continue to show strong signs that foreclosure activity is coming out of the rain delay we've been in for the past year.

South Carolina's foreclosure filings also rose sharply, jumping 36 percent between September and October and rising 19 percent from the same time last year.

The big leaps don't mean the Carolinas will suffer more foreclosure woes than the rest of the country.

Instead, picture the filings like an ocean wave.

In the last 12 months, we've been in a period of calm. Now we are starting to see the waves come in. It's not that the Carolinas are going to get hit harder. It's just that they're getting hit this month. It's more like a set of waves that will come in versus one huge tsunami."

State rules can also govern the pace of foreclosure activity. Some states' court systems require more paperwork be filed, for example.

Nationwide, one in every 563 housing units had a foreclosure filing in October. Foreclosure filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, were issued on 230,678 homes, according to RealtyTrac.

Even with the increases in foreclosure filings, North Carolina ranks among the states with the lowest number of foreclosures, coming in at No. 34. Filings were issued on 2,939 homes statewide last month.

South Carolina, which saw more than 3,600 foreclosure filings in October, moved up to No. 13 from No. 16 in September.

In North Carolina, Guilford County had the highest foreclosure activity -- with one out of every 549 houses having a foreclosure filing. Mecklenburg County had the third-highest activity -- with one in every 632 houses having a foreclosure filing.

In South Carolina, Dorchester County had the most filings followed by York County, where one out of every 319 homes had a filing.

Behind Existing-Home Sales Stats

The existing-home sales report is released on or near the 25th of each month. Behind the stats, you will find four important factors that help explain how existing-home sales are configured.

Why existing-home sales are calculated on a seasonally adjusted annual rate. Seasonally adjusted annual rates are used in reporting existing-home sales data to factor seasonal variations in resale activity. For example, home sales volume is higher in the summer than in the winter, primarily because of differences in the weather and family-buying patterns in the U.S.

How seasonally adjusted annual sales rates are calculated. When calculating seasonally adjusted annual rates, the sales rate for a particular month represents what the total number of actual sales for a year would be if the relative pace for that month were maintained for 12 consecutive months.

Why median prices are compared with the same period a year earlier. Median prices in the existing-home sales report are not calculated on a month-to-month basis because seasonal changes and family-buying patterns in the composition of sales data can distort the median price. As a result, median price comparisons for existing-home sales are compared with the same period a year earlier. This is viewed as a more accurate and valid comparison of existing-home prices.

Why condo prices tend to be high. In a given market area, condos typically cost less than single-family homes. But in the existing-home sales report, condo prices tend to be high because there's a concentration of condos in high-cost metro areas. In fact, the national median condo price — which excludes the concentration of condos in high-cost metro areas — is usually lower than the median single-family price.