Category: property

Reasons for Hiring a Property Manager

The dreaded phone call comes in that your tenant has a clogged toilet at 8pm at night. What now? So you scurry over to your rental property to determine if you can fix it. You check it out, maybe even try to plunge it. Nothing happens, still a slow drain and a gurgling noise. At this point you have wasted over an hour of your time, time that you should be spending elsewhere.

You shrug your shoulders and tell your tenant you will call a plumber as they will need to snake the drain. Giving your tenant the benefit of the doubt that there are likely roots in the main line which is causing the gurgling. You finally get a hold of a plumber that will be there sometime tomorrow between the hours of 1 and 4 pm… and you need to be there to authorize work. Ugh! Now what?

So you take the afternoon off of work and wait for the 30 minute courtesy call that they are on their way. You get the call! You head over to the rental property and meet the plumber, the tenant says that the slow drain and the gurgling is still happening. The plumber looks for the clean-out, but can’t find it and you aren’t sure where it is. So the plumber goes to the roof with his snake. 30 minutes later he comes down with a child’s small toy that had been flushed down the toilet. OK, not great, but at least it’s fixed for a couple of hundred dollars and not tree roots. The plumber goes back inside to test the toilet and comes back out with bad news… still won’t flush!

So now the plumber says, do you want me to pull the toilet? That’s another charge. You shrug your shoulders and say yes, because what else are you going to do. The plumber takes his snake inside and pulls the toilet. He starts his snake and out comes a headless child’s doll covered in toilet paper from about 1 foot down the pipe.

Now the plumber comes back out and says, here is what I found. Since the toilet is off do you want me to camera the drain in the case there are more items down there. Of course you say yes, cause if he puts the toilet back then has to come back to do it that is another charge.

Plumber comes back out and says the camera showed nothing else is in the drain. You sigh and he fills out his paperwork along with charges of around $300-400. He puts in his report the issues and the apparent abuse caused by the tenant. You ask him to put as much detail in the report as possible so that you can charge back to the tenant, and he obliges and says good luck with that.

At this point you are into this little project for over 4 hours of your time, half a day off work spent standing outside of your rental, and a few hundred dollars because your tenant’s child decided they didn’t want their toys anymore.

And people say Property Management is to expensive.

Granted you still probably would have paid the plumber, but at a discounted rate. The soft costs are your time, energy, paid time off, and the stress of the situation.

Property Management Made Simple

A fast, simple and effective way for landlords to manage their property portfolio with minimum hassle.

Being a landlord or a property manager can be an arduous task. There is usually an endless list of jobs that need to be taken care of, whether you’re managing a single property or a vast portfolio. There are several landlord property care apps offered by property management groups to help property owners in managing their property and keep everything running smoothly, taking the stress out of daily tasks.

WHY DO I NEED AN APP FOR THIS?

Downloading the app provides a simple and efficient way for you to manage your properties. It’s intelligently designed, easy to use features have been developed by the experts in app development to cater for your specific requirements. With its key features you can digitally take control of all tasks with a swipe of your finger.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Managing Tenants
  • Monthly rental payments
  • Utility management
  • Rent review
  • Property inspection reports
  • Annual safety tests
  • Lease management
  • Print yearly/ monthly taxable finances.

MANAGING TENANTS AND RENT

When it comes to managing rent owed and tenants the app couldn’t make it simpler if it tried! You go to the sub section you need, click the icon and straight away you can add new tenants, storing their personal information i.e. phone number and address, as well as their moving date and contract end. As for rent you merely need to select the property in your portfolio, specify the date, rental fee and Estate agents commission and you’re sorted. This saves a lot of time and productivity in the long run, meaning you’re not chasing any overdue payments or tenant details.

TAX MADE SIMPLE

Everyone knows that trying to keep on top of yearly tax returns can be a nightmare, but this is just another reason why this app is extremely beneficial. It allows you to do your own book-keeping on the move, by logging all of your income and expenses, when and where you necessary, to keep on top of your accounts. In the long run this will be more beneficial for your accountant or even for yourself if you organise your own accounting. Moving forward, this means you can review monthly and yearly reports with the tap of one finger, as well as track your taxes making your End of Year returns report easy to access, and print off for your benefits.

The same format is used when logging Expenses, again these are all kept in one place, and you can easily input property expenses through their individual property details and log important expenses such as Interest only mortgage, Capital Mortgage, Repairs, Insurance, Cleaning, agents involved etc.

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT

An additional benefit is that you will have a dedicated support team which promises to assist you with any technical and non-technical help that you may require. This gives you reassurance and trust that your portfolio details are in the right hands, and that all information is deemed confidential, to which you will only have access to, and none of which will be shared to other Property Managers.

8 Tips for Tenant Improvements

The best type of tenant improvements are those that not only make the place look better and the tenants happier, but those that improve your revenue thus increasing your ROI. These improvements can take on many faces and investments of time, but in the long run if things are made better, then they are truly worth your time and money.

But, are there ways to make tenant improvements fulfill both of these needs? Absolutely! In fact, here are several tips that can make the road of property improvement easier.

1. Do your own homework. Take the time to determine what changes need to be made and what the priority is for each. Talk to those who will be affected and learn when would be the best timeline.

2. Stay involved with the planning process. Be sure you understand the blueprints and design plans so that you can fully understand what changes will be made.

3. Be sure that lease agreement ensures that all the parties involved get the best deal possible. Take time to study the lease agreement to ensure that your proposed improvements are a fair deal and that it provides the rent that works for you and the tenant allowance is realistic.

4. Walk through the space with your contractor and be sure that the scope of the work and all the details are understood prior to signing anything. Anytime changes are made after the papers are signed, it will cost you time, and quite often more money!

5. Be flexible. As you do the walkthrough, be open to ideas and alternatives in materials or use of the spaces.

6. Think about the present as well as the future in regards to your lease. If you are considering a long list of tenant improvements, it may be possible to space them out over several years, thus making it possible to recoup some of your investment sooner rather than later.

7. If you are new to the tenant improvement process, be sure that you understand the zoning regulations and that the contractor you work with knows you expect them followed.

8. Be upfront about your budget. If your contractor understands that adding on a multitude of extras is not going to happen due to budgetary restraints, they will be less likely to push you towards something that is not achievable.

Tenant improvements do not have to be the things that nightmares are made of! Due diligence and patience will go a long way towards making the process simpler. Talk to your local contractors to learn more about to make this process easier and more efficient.

Real Estate – A Great Career Option for Women

Real Estate was believed to be a tough, demanding job that can be handled by males which require hunting down houses for sale, connecting with clients and customers, etc. but in last few years, the statistics have proved that women have grown tougher and dominating this field.

You would be surprised to see a young, high school female graduate working as a real estate agent because of its extensive career opportunities which make it a great option for women as they can work independently and earn cash without many hassles.

But one needs to understand that every job has it’s demands and requirements that’s need to be filled or else there will be an imminent failure.

Unlike, the office job where you are hired and trained for a position as you have to attend your boss and his demands.

Real estate has it’s risks too as this is one career which is to be shouldered independently with no initial training, so one needs to be ready for what is to come and how to deal with it, yet it makes you your boss with no one to answer to.

So what makes Real Estate, a great career option for women? Here are few points that will get you reconsider if this is the option you were looking for:

• Freedom and flexibility:-

Women are believed to perform outstandingly when they are granted liberty and this career grants you that opportunity. Being women you have to balance family and career all along and if any job provides you with flexibility and freedom along with real cash, what else do you want as it’s a granted wish for every woman.

• Being independent:-

It’s such a big relief when you don’t have to rush in every morning and present an excuse for your blunders as you are your boss and independent working and earning according to your efforts and investments.

• Technology:-

Nowadays we are living in a tech-savvy world where you can post your ads asking your customers to get in touch if they are looking for some real real estate is the easiest way to reach them. Good response and connecting socially will also succeed you making it one of the best careers for women.

• Good service to clients and customers:-

Leaving an impression on client and customers will be a huge benefit to your career which comes naturally to most women as this will encourage them to deal with you again and even refer you to someone else.

• Growth:-

You may start as a real estate agent, but soon you will realize that you may need more staff or an assistant. Real estate is a field where income depends on a number of efforts invested and if you need an extra effort then don’t think about growing your real estate agency and adding people as this will lead you to more income.