Climate Change Could Swamp East Coast Real Estate Rising sea levels are changing the way people think about waterfront real estate. Over the past five years, home sales in flood-prone areas grew about 25 percent. This has made state lawmakers in Massachusetts and New Jersey to begin pushing to impose new rules on real estate agents and others, obligating them to disclose climate-related damage...
Home rental services are here to stay, as they provide extremely valuable services to both investors and renters. Usually offered by property management companies, there are several reasons why you should consider using them- no matter which side of the fence you’re on. Benefits for Renters When you’re renting a home, you may be living someplace previously occupied by the owner. If that’s the...
Property managers do well on their own, but they do even better when they can connect, learn, and invest together. A property managers association can provide these types of benefits. By being a member, they have access to the most current skills, professional certifications for their business, and access to continuing education credits. But how can you determine which property managers...
We’ve talked about the benefits of instituting smoke-free policies in your properties and covered the specific reasons why smoking tobacco in a rental unit lowers the quality of life for residents and costs more money during turnover. As the percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes continues to decline, many former smokers to turn e-cigarettes for a seemingly safer way to get a nicotine...
Smoking has fallen out of fashion in the U.S. The number of Americans who smoke is at the lowest rate in over sixty years. According to the CDC only 18.1% of American adults smoke cigarettes, down from 41% in 1940 and 26% in 2000. Smoking is prohibited in indoor public spaces in 28 states, and banned in any establishment that serves minors in another 12 states. Following national trends toward...
One of the worst hazards to navigate happens before a tenant even signs a lease: rejecting a rental application. If your pre-screening process is pretty stringent, this may not be as much of a problem- but, every now and again, it happens and handling it the right way is pretty important. Everyone deals with this in different ways, depending on the situation. Some might choose to send a reason...
When I mentioned writing an article on Surviving The Turn, most people had visions along these lines: Or maybe even: Unless, of course, those people worked in property management. Surviving the Turn means something very different to most people than it does us, doesn’t it? Each and every year- whether you are a property manager, a landlord, or even a tenant, you have to deal with the end of...
Being a property manager means that you handle quite a number of individuals money. Rental payments, down payments, bill finances, and security deposits are all yours to maintain and keep track of. While opening separate bank accounts for each property may seem like an easy idea, balancing just one banking account can be a hassle. So why attempt to keep 20 or 200 of them balanced singularly...
Every rental property manager has encountered the problem of tenants leaving your property in what you would consider less than ideal shape. A good way to avoid this issue would be to create a checklist for your residents to know what condition the rental should be left in after their departure. When Tenants Move Out If your tenants never complete a move-in inspection sheet then you lose out on...
What could be more appealing than an apartment building with the comfort of having businesses, stores, and offices right below it? A mixed use property offers exactly that. Offering simple and close commutes to work or the grocery store will likely keep your building occupied but can also add to the risk of being the cause of a fire or bug infestations. It’s better to be aware of what questions...
Hopefully, where you live, the time for spring cleaning is upon you. In many parts of the US, the weather’s still cold, even though it is March. During this time of year, you really find that the “property” aspect of property management becomes key. You may be looking to move some dead tree limbs, get rid of leaves and other debris, aerate your lawns and plant flowers. However, what if you’re...
The Cigna Insurance website offers the above chart to help you better understand these changes and the associated penalties. They also offer several informative PDFs for further reading.
You probably already know that using Craigslist, Zillow, and Trulia are effective ways to advertise your rental listings. However, how you present your property on there will make a big difference. You want your ad to be effective in attracting the kind of tenants you want, while also saving you some time in the prescreening process.
Now, more than ever, as a property manager you have many options in providing community newsletter to your tenants or clients. The best place to begin is considering what your needs are and ultimately, what will be right for your business.
We’ve just added support for all of RentPost’s awesome property management features in our Aqua plan, starting at only $29/mo. We’ve heard from many smaller property management companies and others just getting started that they needed a cheaper entry point. Well, we’re announcing just that. So, now you can get all the great features of RentPost for even less...
Providing housing for every man, woman, and child is the social and humanitarian goal, and thus, a government concern. Consider the following: [Government involvement = Regulation] and [Regulation = Risk for PM]; thus, according to the Transitive Property of…Property Management…Gov’t involvement equals risk to property managers. The Fair Housing Act protects the rights of those seeking homes, and...
I was just speaking with a property manager, and somehow we ended up having a lengthy discussion about the seemingly accelerated effect that technology has on business and life in general. Before dismissing this as “duh," (for lack of a better term)…[re]consider a few specific words I included in this otherwise over-generalized statement: “…accelerated effect that technology has on business..."...
Today we field a great question from one of our RentPosters in California. It’s a great opportunity to discuss the ins and outs of condo investments, the current real estate market, and the future of the U.S. economy. Read closely, you will not want to miss this one, as we review the economic forecast for the coming decade. “J” from California writes: Tony, I am a very...
In a statement released May, 2011 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Rosie Rios, Treasurer, formally ended the use of paper checks for Social Security and federal benefit payments. ONE HUNDRED TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS! The simple change keeps $120,000,000 in taxpayer pockets, saving “more than 1 billion [taxpayer dollars]” over the next ten years. The electronic payment solution implemented by...
Few felt the financially tragic effects of our economic collapse in a way similar to commission-based real estate agents. Many aim to endure the economic storm with hopes of brighter days to come; however, if agents ignore the market shifts, the sun may never shine again. Changes are many and all of different origin, some direct and others indirect; regardless, time to assess what has happened...
Today the Witt leaves rent’s history for a spell, and the Rent Lobster makes a dash from advice to bring a more interactive piece regarding real life experiences to assist both tenants and landlords. Naturally, tenants only speak of landlords when angered, seldom giving any praise. However, this is to be constructive on both ends as we all seek to improve in the ever growing world of rent...