property management: How To Avoid Applicant Scams - 07/17/12 08:24 AM
Today I was talking to a current customer who uses our property management software to manage the various rentals she owns.  One of her homes became vacant and she was reporting the great success she had using our simple built-in advertising & application features to generate traffic for this vacant home.
In our conversation, I mentioned that we provide our customers access to tenant screening reports - such as credit and criminal background - and it was very easy to pull instant reports from her program.  Unlike some areas in the country, this landlord is in an area where rentals are in … (5 comments)

property management: The Crazies - 06/26/12 09:37 AM
Today, when I was helping a new customer get his properties setup in our property management software, we took a little time to talk "shop" - you know, the sort of thing you do with your clients that has nothing really to do with business, but matters when it comes to your business relationship?  He was going in 15 different directions, only one of which involved our software, and was struggling to pull all his professional pieces together, even though he was obviously a sharp business person.   At the end of the day, it's our relationships that get us through the … (10 comments)

property management: Flooding in June? - 06/22/12 10:58 AM
I'm guilty.  I ignored my own advice.
When we bought our home four years ago in sunny Southern Oregon (home to Rentec Direct’s rental software), in the middle of June, we were very excited about our new digs.  Don't get me wrong, it was a total wreck of a house in need of a complete overhaul, but it was ideal for us - room for improvements, rich farming soil and affordable acreage close to town.  We walked the property, the length of the creek and throughly investigated the neighborhood.  Everything seemed to check out perfectly. We were happy to learn we did … (1 comments)

property management: Is It Nice To be A Capitalist? - 06/12/12 09:09 AM
Sure it is!
After most of the country landed upside down following the 2007 economic crisis, entrepreneurs looked at misery and found opportunity.  Creative folks started turning nothing in something.  It became cool to share things, to scavenge, to re-purpose. You weren't a slacker anymore to rent a basement in someone's house, or shop at the Goodwill. Hippies turned into hipsters almost overnight.  Superfluous spending became careful spending (isn’t there an app for that?) and hot new businesses geared towards conservation suddenly were not operating out of the back of their VW vans.  Collaborative Consumption was born as a social and … (9 comments)

property management: I TOLD YOU SO! (Mother's failed landlord career) - 05/02/12 05:23 AM
I  just got off of the phone with my mother.  Her two renters just gave notice to move, her property manager is threatening to quit and her live-in maintenance man can not be reached.  And it was all I could do to not say "I told you so."  
My mother has a giant, soft heart and it gets a work-over often by wayward souls.  This time it was Bob.  Bob the maintenance man.
Bob and my mother lived in the same small town and he seemed like such a nice guy.  She had a good "gut" feeling about him.  (We all … (12 comments)

property management: New Flavor of Property Management - 04/20/12 07:53 AM
I have seen a trend emerging as I assist new customers with our Property Management Software and I can't help but wonder how this is shaping the rental industry as I use to know it.  
Daily, I receive calls from new customers telling me that they are opening a new style of property management company - one that caters to Landlords who desire the option to manage the daily operation of their property while having someone else handle the back end (bookkeeping, financial reporting, tracking of leases, marketing...)  They are offering this type of management service for 3% of gross rent … (4 comments)

property management: How To Find A Good Contractor - 03/21/12 10:02 AM
Have you ever hired someone to work on your property and been horribly disappointed?  Possibly have to hire a second person to clean up the mess the first one made?  Having been a property manager, landlord, general contractor and now consulting for online property management software,  I can tell you I’ve encountered a slew of unprofessional, undependable,  over-paid, irresponsible, unethical and down-right skill-less people who claim to be “professionals.”  
 
There are some basics you should always employ when hiring a vendor.  If you are a property owner, or work in the property management/real estate biz, I recommend you develop a list of … (9 comments)

property management: The Unstoppable Power of Media & You - 03/08/12 08:37 AM
Lately, I've been coming across a common theme when reading and it has to do with the collective mind, the power of the media and the concept of the humanization of technology. From social to political to environmental, our perspectives are no longer controlled entirely by those that hold the purse-strings. Our world is moving towards a true global community whether or not we like the pieces that make up the whole platform.
In my daily life working with web-based property management software, I am surprised how many times I will get the same question, in one day, over and over, from … (8 comments)

property management: Caught With My Pants Down! - 01/31/12 09:53 AM
To blog or not to blog... it's been the question on my mind this month yet I've failed miserably with follow-through as this is my first blog ALL JANUARY!  Usually my creative juices flow, I can get in blog-groove pretty easily and inspiration flows like honey, yet January has proven to be more of a black-hole-groove.  
How many of you started 2012 with blogging intentions only to be caught exposed with nothing to show?  Days gone by, filled with plenty of activity, yet nothing shared with your online community and nothing gained by SEO work.  
Blogging is a constantly growing medium … (4 comments)

property management: I hereby challenge you! On your mark, get set....GO! - 12/22/11 10:56 AM
It's hard to imagine that 2011 is almost over and a whole new year is lurking around the corner... full of expectation. Oh what will I do in 2012 to enrich my personal life and my career in property management software???
If you're like me, you enjoy the cornerstone of a new beginning - the jumping off point where you can see success and imagine goals coming to fruition. I found this totally inspiring short talk on TED that I have been sharing with friends because it seems to offer a simple, profound and achievable way of looking at challenges. I encourage … (6 comments)

property management: Are you posting horrible Craig's list Ads? Stop! - 12/07/11 12:38 PM
Are you guilty of posting boring & generic online property advertising for your properties?  
Why do you even take the little effort you do?  
Every heard of Newton's law of energy - "for every action, a reaction"?  Well, little effort renders little results in almost all cases, except when it comes to a little SMART effort.  In the case of advertising your property, you could end up with an excellent reaction if you simply seek out affordable and easy-to-use tools to help you stand out in your housing market.
Below is an example I pulled off of Craig's List today for a … (14 comments)

property management: Dangerous Tenants - 11/16/11 01:57 PM
I'm a big believer in personal freedoms.  You won't see me filling out any ballots that limit the rights of individuals to govern themselves. What someone does with their own life is their business.  What someone does with yours, is your business. That being said, Landlords should exercise their rights to protect their property from economic damage from dangerous tenants.  
Let's be clear.  I'm not taking about breaking any fair housing laws based on any "bad feelings" you get from Joe Blow that applies to rent your property.  That's just silly, plain wrong and off subject.  What I am talking about is how you, … (9 comments)