property management: How to Choose Property Management Software: 11 Tips
- 02/07/14 04:21 AM
By Matt Donnelly, Buildium, Boston, MA You’ve joined or started a property management company and put in place a solid property management sales strategy. Now the business is coming in. Fantastic. But how are you going to handle the business? The answer is simple: Property management software. You know by now that there are numerous benefits of property management software. But how do you choose the property management software that’s right for you? These 10 questions can help you make a more informed decision: Is the software installed or cloud-based? Installed software has to be, well, installed. Cloud-based software does not, giving you access anywhere, anytime. Does the … (5 comments)
property management: Why Property Managers Should Use Green Pest Control
- 01/08/14 04:47 AM
By Beth Clymer, North Fulton Pest Solutions, Atlanta, Georgia Green pest control is here to stay, and property managers should take note. Green pest control is the wave of the future for property managers. (Flickr/Wonderlane) For years, pest control was associated with harsh chemicals, noxious fumes, and routine and regular spraying (done by a masked technician complete with ominous goggles and fitting rubber gloves up to the elbows). However, with the onset of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) movement, this image is beginning to change for the better. Marketing your property as a clean and environmentally responsible environment for children, pets, and the elderly with … (0 comments)
property management: How to Grow Your Property Management Business
- 01/08/14 04:44 AM
By Loretta Morgan, Jam Property, Caloundra, Queensland, Australia You’ve chosen a career in property management, and you’re passionate about what you do. Maybe you’ve started a property management company. Now you want to be one of the best and to grow your property management business.
Growth is possible for all property management companies. (Flickr/crdotx) But how? This post will give you the tips and advice to get you there. Get a Track Record, Get Experience A key aspect to becoming a great property manager is simple: Do more.
How can you do that? Be eager to learn … (4 comments)
property management: What Property Managers Need to Know About 1099 Forms
- 01/08/14 04:37 AM
By Salvatore J. Friscia, San Diego Premier Property Management, San Diego, California For property management companies, the month of January signals a time to prepare and issue year-end statements to their clients for tax preparation purposes. Consequently, each January the IRS requires that any taxpayers who have made payments in excess of $600 for services to vendors or workers that are not considered employees must prepare Form 1099 – Miscellaneous Income. Property managers need to know about Form 1099. (Flickr/MoneyBlogNewz) Property management companies are also federally required to file Form 1099 for their clients who have received in excess of $600 … (2 comments)
property management: Video Blogging for Property Managers
- 12/12/13 10:19 PM
By Loretta Morgan, Jam Property, Caloundra, Queensland, Australia Why use video blogging as part of marketing your property management company? There are a few simple reasons: It’s a fun and exciting way to captivate and engage your audience. Its a great way to get your message across and educate your community. You can build trust and rapport with your viewers. You can become and authority in your field and the go-to agent in your area. Content marketing is so important, and video blogging makes your content stand out above your competition. Ready to get started? Let’s go behind the scenes of my agency’s … (0 comments)
property management: Tenant Screening Tips for Property Managers
- 12/12/13 10:15 PM
By Elicia Chen, Happy Inspector, San Francisco, CA The 80/20 rule of the landlord-tenant relationship dictates that 20% of your tenants will be responsible for 80% of your grievances and headache. Since a few bad apples will end up consuming the majority of your time/energy, and in turn stunt your efforts to grow your business, a proper tenant screening should be at the top of your mind when it comes to filling your vacancies. Solid tenant screening can spare you many headaches down the road. (Flickr/dailyinvention) This blog post will help you as a landlord or property manager to be as … (2 comments)
property management: Property Management Software: Why You Need It
- 12/12/13 10:11 PM
By Matt Donnelly I don’t have to tell you that property managers have a lot on their plates. From late-paying tenants to vacancies to compliance with local, state, and federal laws, it seems that the merry-go-round of property management never stops. The good news is that there’s a new breed of property management software to help you manage your properties. Property management software makes life as a property manager much easier. (Morguefile/krosseel) More than just managing your properties, property management software is designed to make your life easier. It’s designed to help you easily perform those routine tasks like collecting rent … (0 comments)
property management: Property Management Companies and the Affordable Care Act
- 12/03/13 11:28 PM
Guest post by Michael Cahill, Vista Health Solutions, Suffern, NY The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a big and complicated piece of legislation with a whole lot of small details. How relevant is this law to you as a property manager? You may be wondering things like how this is going to change the health insurance you provide your employees, or if you will be required to provide your employees with health insurance. This post will answer these questions and more, so you can understand just how this law will affect you — whatever size your business is. The Employer Mandate … (1 comments)
property management: The Janitor Did It
- 03/27/13 09:35 PM
By Colin McCarthy, J.D., Robinson & Wood, San Jose, CA "The childish propensity to intermeddle was the characteristic which the [property possessor] should have taken reasonable precautions to guard against."* Sometimes the courts come up with lyrical gems that get right to the heart of the matter. Through pages and pages of drivel, more often than not there is one pithy sentence which sums up the whole case and rule. I often wonder why the esteemed appellate justices do not just give us the facts of the case and the one pithy sentence. The books would be a lot smaller and … (1 comments)
property management: How to Clean a Hoarder's House
- 03/26/13 09:35 PM
A guest post by Sara Thompson, Gresham Sanitary Service, Gresham, Oregon You have probably seen these homes on TV, or maybe you’ve seen them in person. People known as “hoarders” compulsively accumulate any and all kinds of things in their homes until it is packed to the ceilings with their every possession. Hoarders usually have an inability to let go of unnecessary items and clean their environment. In some cases, hoarders' homes become dilapidated and dangerous. If you are managing such a property, this can present a serious problem, but with careful planning and consideration, your house can be habitable once … (2 comments)
property management: Serve But Be Insured
- 03/21/13 01:44 AM
By Colin McCarthy, J.D., Robinson & Wood, San Jose, CA One of my practice areas is insurance coverage work. I represent people and help businesses work out issues with insurance companies regarding whether a particular lawsuit, loss, or claim is covered by insurance. For many people and businesses, insurance is a must and coverage is a matter of everyday life and business practice. Drive a car, get insurance. Own a home, get homeowners insurance. Run a business, purchase a CGL policy. Get business interruption coverage. A gray area is when we are not quite acting as a person or a business. … (0 comments)
property management: Why It's Okay to Outsource Your Property Management
- 03/20/13 12:42 AM
A guest post by Brooke McDonald, Apple Valley Property Management, Minnesota As we all know, outsourcing is a risk that can turn out to either be the best decision you ever made or the worst thought to ever cross your mind. When it comes to property management, you have to decide: Am I willing to put the care of my rental property into the hands of a stranger? Will the investment be worth it? The stereotyped and semi-popular sitcom Outsourced didn’t last long on NBC, but it aired long enough to remind Americans of a poignant truth: Any kind of outsourcing … (0 comments)
property management: With Immunity Comes Responsibility
- 03/13/13 11:57 PM
By Colin McCarthy, J.D., Robinson & Wood, San Jose, CA That's not the quote, is it? No that's right, it's not. The quote is "With great power comes great responsibility." Notwithstanding, we discussed the immunity provisions granted by the California Civil Code with respect to a volunteer director's conduct that might be considered a "tort." So what the legislature gives, it also gives duties. That's not the quote either. It's something about what the legislature gives it also takes away. My right hand does not know what the left is doing, either, by the way. But I digress. Are you still … (1 comments)
property management: When Property Management Goes Bad
- 03/13/13 04:12 AM
By Steve Boudreault, Buildium, Boston, MA In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy are found guilty of assassinating the Chancellor of the Klingon High Council and are sent to the penal colony known as Rura Penthe. Upon arrival, the administrator of the facility informs the arriving prisoners, "Work well, and you will be treated well. Work badly, and you will die." This sentiment, paraphrased and without the threat of death, is a guiding principle of property management. If tenants behave themselves and follow the rules, the property manager can make their tenancy a pleasant one. If … (2 comments)
property management: Insurance and Immunity for HOA
- 03/07/13 03:23 AM
By Colin McCarthy, J.D., Robinson & Wood, San Jose, CA I like insurance law. Not many people do, but I do. But then again, I like heavy metal and not many people like that either. (Their loss. And my hearing loss. I digress). I like insurance law because it feels good to help policyholders obtain insurance coverage, and I am also rewarded when the insurance contract is upheld to enforce the mutual agreement of the parties -- insurance coverage is denied because there was no agreement to cover a particular loss. I work with both policyholders and insurance companies and I … (1 comments)
property management: Simple SEO for Property Management Sites
- 03/06/13 01:32 AM
A guest post by Joe Dawson, PrintingPeach.ca, Toronto, Ontario, Canada If you run your own property management company's website, you have likely heard of search engine optimization (SEO). One popular scheme that low-rent SEO companies use is to add blog comments or send unsolicited emails to website owners claiming that they can get your site hundreds or thousands more visitors every day by optimizing your page for search engines. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true ... So what is SEO and why does it matter to you? SEO determines how search engines categorize you in terms of what … (0 comments)
property management: United We Stand, Separate Interests We Sue?
- 02/27/13 11:32 PM
By Colin McCarthy, J.D., Robinson & Wood, San Jose, CA Continuing my theme of misquoted quotes and special rules for HOAs, let's talk about the individual unit owners. The HOA can be sued for issues in the common areas that lead to injuries or damage. What about the person who owns the unit near the common area? Doesn't he also -- as a tenant in common of the condominium project -- own an interest in that common area? Can he be sued as well? Ordinary principals of duty would suggest he could be. Take the prior case example about the unit … (3 comments)
property management: Don't Quote Cookie-Cutter Services! Part II
- 02/20/13 01:52 AM
By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL I came to the conclusion very early in discussions with potential new property management clients that an initial drive-by, preliminary meeting with the owner, if possible, and compiling facts about the property on my own internal “Real Property Inventory Profile” was the best approach for me to take in determining the information necessary. Keep in mind, this approach is only necessary with local owners who were typically comprised of a partnership of local individuals or related persons who pool funds to invest in real estate. If the potential prospect is an institutional-grade client, the … (1 comments)
property management: Condominiums, Covenants, and Restrictions
- 02/14/13 02:12 AM
By Colin McCarthy, J.D., Robinson & Wood, San Jose, CA Everyone has their own story or has heard the stories. Those living in condominium complexes cannot so much as hang a Christmas decoration outside their unit without the blessing of the HOA or the CCRs. Everything outside the four interior walls is the condo owner's and everything outside is a "common area." The ins and outs of who can do what and who is responsible for what is subject to precise analysis of the CCRs and HOA established rules and regulations for each particular complex. But the general gist is that the … (0 comments)
property management: Don’t Quote Cookie-Cutter Services! Part I
- 02/13/13 12:23 AM
By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL When I was on the front line, running a full-service real estate firm, I would be the point person on all new business calls. The first question from a potential client would almost always be "How much will you charge to manage my property?" Or "What percent will you charge to manage my property?" It was a frustrating position to be in, but one that was easily answered: "There's no fixed quote to manage your property." Of course, the argument would be that they called several other management companies and were quoted X or … (0 comments)
All things property management is a one stop destination for folks interested in learning more about managing real estate. Broken down into a variety of targeted columns, the information that you are looking for is easily accessible — from investing tips and best practices in The Intelligent Investor to the real-life dilemmas of property managers in Stories from the Front Lines. We’ve brought on contributing writers from across the country to share their respective expertise with you, whether you’re a landlord, a professional property manager, or an association board member. Your feedback, participation, and comments will help us deliver the information you need most. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in contributing.
By Matt Donnelly, Buildium, Boston, MA
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