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When you own rental property but you do not live in the same town or do not have time to manage it yourself, it is helpful to hire property managers to do the work for you.
The property managers you hire should keep up with the property, make sure bills are paid, and choose tenants.
For managing your rental property awesome in appearance,�property managers in Baltimore will do different things .
Surely, it will be good to know the sameYou are thinking the property managers will do the collection of your rent, and that is all, then you are making a bigger mistake.
They will do different things for managing your rental property awesome in appearance.
Surely, it will be good to know the same, and here you find the sum-up of all.When you are thinking to invest in somewhere else where you are not locating, then also you are allowed to do it and all just because of property management companies.
Surely, you find many organizations that are there to manage the works.
Their local existence will make things easier.
You just need to tell them about your terms, and you will find that everything they manage outstandingly.
Now, you can imagine how an important role they are playing in terms of making your property good.
No geographical limitation will be there for investing.
Have the smile on your face, and you can jump for purchasing the perfect one and start your rental business.For implementing everything properly, you should know the local laws.
If you have no information about it and just make the documents, it can be possible that it is used wrongly by your tenants.
Your investment can be a risk.
Are you okay with the same? Surely, you are not.
At the same time, understanding all will be also not easy.
So, this is highly needed that you get rid of the situation by hiring a property management company�in�Maryland because they have the proper information and the way they will manage all that will be good for your investment as they have the knowledge of the laws.
Don’t worry; find the best name to make it right process.The reputation of the property management companies�in�Maryland will be something that they have gained through the right services like handling the complaints on time, giving the right maintenance when the renters need, and more in the line.
Obviously, the importance of the same can’t be ignored, and you know how important these are when you try to continue in this business for more years.
They are also okay to receive the call anytime and also handle the emergency.
Now you can understand how they are just fantastic in their works.
So, it will be always a good decision to hire them for making your works organized and perfect.Investing in the property will never be the investment that you need make do one time.
You have much expenditure like repairing the damages and many more costs for the right maintenance of your property.
But you should know how you can control it.
Obviously, if you don’t be able to save in that, then it will be impossible that this investment will be fruitful.
For the right engagement and controlling the expenditure, then the property manager will help you to slow down the expenses through the regular inspection of the property so that no problem starts to bloom.
When the experts will inspect, then the issues can be traced early and spending will not be more.
Also, then have an expert team that can help you to do the works without asking for more.
Their experiences about various things can help you as well for controlling the same.The property manager will market the same and also they will find the right tenants for your property.
They have the information about the things you want, so they will find the right tenants establishing the faith that the person is good and capable to give you the rent that you are opting for.
Quickly, they can fulfill all your desire and properly will find that right person and that will be a minimum vacancy.
Talking with them related the terms and applying that will be also their responsibility.
Their marketing skills and knowledge of managing will make everything outstanding, no doubt about the same.
Gave the smile on your face and give the responsibility to the right people for managing your rental property just in the perfect way that you are opting for.Regardless, you have the idea that how the property managers help you to make the right experience.
Their expertise will enhance the appearance of your rental properly.
You are able to manage your property as well as the market.
Obviously, this reputation will help you a lot for making everything perfect.
So, it will be always a good call to hire the property manager and the way; they can serve that will be awesome; no question about the same.
Things will be beautiful and maintained.
But you should be sure that the hired property manager in Baltimore is good at providing the services.
Property managers are honored associates of the customer service industry.
They are seen giving helpful services like interacting with prospective residents, consulting about market analysis with home owners and etc.All property managers must have great customer service skills.
In this competitive market they have to do way more than just their duty in order to meet the demands of the renters, owners and all who seeks service from them.
There are several reasons behind the popularity and demand of the reputable property managers.
Generally the professional and successful property managers have a number of qualities which are common.�Attentiveness is one of the most important factors.
Paying the right amount of attention to all the requirements of the clients is essential.
Listening to their each and every word without letting the focus weaken makes a good impact.
The willingness of paying attention to the minutest of details shows the actual attentive approach.
Punctuality is also extremely vital, being on time for an appointment or meeting surely impresses the customers.
Sometimes understanding some unspoken needs of both the residents and the homeowners shows the real customer service skills.�Another aspect behind the goodwill of a property manager is the positivity.
It is true that staying positive and patient under pressure situations or the most challenging or frustrating circumstances are critical.
But being cool and taking things with a positive approach is what makes a difference.
Property managers meet with hostility head-on which often comes without warning.
But distinguishing between being positive and sounding misleading or ironic is important, so the one who can identify the difference and act accordingly turns out as the best manager.�Being amiable and personable is also a factor which makes a good property manager.
Relating righteously to the tenants, owners and the employees bring out the actual skill of the manager.
They try to empathize with the clients to understand and respond to the unique situations.
Getting treated in a polite and friendly manner is what the customers desire for.�Keeping calm is a characteristic of the property managers which takes them to a great height.
Most of the time residents and homeowners enter a property manager’s office in distress.
These are situations which need to be handled in a calm and stress-free way.
Not only the manager but the entire team working in a residential property management company requires to be composed and calm.�Neatness in the office and at work shows the actual nature of the effort the property manager is going to deliver.
Even messy spaces cause anxiety and more stress.
All the reputable management services make their workspace peaceful and inviting for the residents and owners to visit.�Maintenance of all these factors in their day to day work, had made the residential property management companies see improvement in resident retentions, referrals, positive online reviews and after all fully satisfied customers.
If you have a rental in another state, property managers can be an effective way to manage the home.
Instead of taking on all of the responsibility, consider letting the professionals take over.
When you own real estate it�s an investment.
You want to make sure it�s managed right.
Hiring property managers to handle this investment for you is a great way to take the worry off your mind.
There are many landlords who hire property managers for managing their rental properties.
But there needs to be a proper selection process for the screening of the prospective managers who could take the responsibility in the right way.All prospective rental managers need proper probing and screening before they could be handed over the property management work of a client.
So to make it work you would require to write a job description, thoroughly screening prospective managers, and then prepare a suitable property manager agreement.
Herein below we will discuss about the legal and effective ways of doing so.�Step 1: Screen the prospective rental managers.
The process should include the following:Do the screening of the candidates over the phone.
Once a candidate calls you, be ready to describe the entire job responsibilities, payment terms and work hours to him or her and also inquire about their views and commitments.�One-to-one interview with good candidates.
Look for only able candidates who meet your job requirements for in-person interviews.
Ask proper questions so that you understand the work abilities of the candidates in the best possible way.
Along with this do not forget to ask for a complete application.�Check for reference.
It is very important to talk and discuss with the former employers of the candidates.
Find out the applicant’s previous job responsibilities, strengths and weaknesses, character and personality qualities and the reason behind leaving the job.
Make sure you collect all the information that would be needed by you to decide on the selection of the applicant.�Check the credit history of the applicant.
You are well aware that your property manager would sometimes need to handle money matters.
So surely check the credit history of the candidate in order to be confident.
Also, don’t forget to take the applicant’s consent before ordering his/ her credit report.�Step 2: Decide on the duties, work schedule and pay structure of the rental manager.
Some of the factors that you must consider which related to the recruitment of the manager are discussed below:�Determine the responsibilities of the manager.
Ask yourself the question as to why you would require a rental property manager.
Making a list of all the job responsibilities that you want your manager to handle will make the hiring process more objective.
This would also give you ready ethics to measure which applicants are the most qualified and best suited for the job.�Decide the work time schedule of the manager.
You may require a full time manager or may be a part timer, so this prior decision will help you select the exact candidate who can serve you according to your time parameters.�Finalize the payment structure.
Your payment scheme may be on an hourly basis or a flat salary.
The amount you pay would also depend on the manager’s responsibilities, the number of hours he or she works, the regularity of the schedule, the core benefits you receive and the current rate in your local market.�So choose your manager sensibly and with proper vigilance.
Sometimes if you find it difficult to rely on a particular person, hiring a rental property management Service Company can be of great help.
If you are considering renting your home or even looking into investment opportunities, you may want to consider researching property managers.
Most people are so busy with all of the things going on in their lives that they just don't have the time to make sure that the house is well taken care of and everything is kept up as it should be.
This is the perfect alternative to make sure that someone stays on top of your rental.
Managers and employees work in habitual patterns and will resist change unless they buy into it.
Build a "Lets Beat Our Best" change philosophy into the culture of the organization.
Positive change brings positive results.
Real change should be satisfying -- and fun!
December 7, 2004 � ...
to a recent survey of vacation rental Brokers and property managers from ...
regions of the U.S., most ...
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on the Internet and cited aDecember 7, 2004 � According to a recent survey of vacation rental Brokers and property managers from different regions of the U.S., most expressed the value in advertising on the Internet and cited a generous return on investment as their biggest expectation from it.
Eighty-eight percent of those Brokers advertise their vacation rentals on the Internet and most (41%) spend between $1,000-$5,000 dollars per year on Internet advertising.
All but one of the 27 Brokers surveyed said they had their vacation rentals listed on their own website and would therefore benefit from the use of RentJillsHouse.com�s advertising options and direct link to their website.
When asked how many website click throughs must occur in order for a reservation to occur, most had no idea.
Less than half of these Brokers can calculate their return on investment and do not track Internet user activity.
The majority (69%) of those surveyed said that it takes them approximately 1 to 5 phone calls to result in a rental reservation being booked.
This means that the most of these people would benefit from a toll-free phone number provided to them on their ad.
RentJillsHouse.com conducted this survey in October 2004 at the Vacation Rental Managers Association 2004 Conference (VRMA).All of the advertising packages on RentJillsHouse.com include a Broker logo that clicks through to their website, and a trackable toll-free phone number.
Calculating return on investment is easy with RentJillsHouse.com�s detailed and thorough tracking.
With this reporting feature, Brokers can determine the number of times visitors viewed their property, clicked through to their website, called their property and the length and duration of each call.RentJillsHouse.com is the ultimate online solution for advertising vacation home rentals and properties.
The site is user-friendly and offers information on thousands of vacation rentals in popular U.S.
destinations ranging from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to Lake Tahoe.
The website's purpose is to bring vacation homeowners, Brokers and vacationers together through the ease and convenience of the Internet.
Headquartered in Norfolk, VA, RentJillsHouse.com is part of Trader Electronic Media's family of over 15 websites, which includes TraderOnline.com.
Trader's high-traffic websites receive millions of visitors each week.
The sites cover virtually every used vehicle and general merchandise category, including apartments, homes, employment and hotel lodging.
Trader Electronic Media is a division of Trader Publishing Company.
For more information about RentJillsHouse.com, call toll-free 866-369-8611 or visit www.RentJillsHouse.com.
### Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com
Property ...
A simple strategy to increase client loyalty Property managers who ...
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tohelp property owners and anchor tenants reduce ...
costs, willmoProperty Management: A simple strategy to increase client loyalty Property managers who pro-actively employ advanced techniques tohelp property owners and anchor tenants reduce operating costs, willmost certainly be considered a more valuable business asset.
Whenyou can achieve this with lower administrative functions and no out-of-pocket cost to you or your client�s, you�ve created additional benefits.
In the world of commercial and apartment properties there resides a constant un-ending challenge for property owners � As a savvy professional property manager, you have the opportunity to meetthis challenge and potentially save your client�s considerable money.The �constant challenge� of course is how to effectively controloperating costs and potentially increase the N.O.I.
on any commercialor apartment property.
These factors are paramount and fundamental to commercial investments and they can weigh heavily on the propertiescapacity to support preferred level financing as well as future value.
In a professional setting and as an investment property owner and developer, I understand the importance and the impact that effectiveproperty management can have on real estate and property owner�s.
The outstanding P.M.
that pro-actively controls costs is the company that creates ongoing loyalty, gets referred more often and prospersfinancially.
The opposite is also true! You may not be aware that you have available to you right now,a resource that you can add to your current menu of services that canpotentially and very effectively reduce your monthly administrative responsibilities in a specific area of property management and similarlypotentially save your property owners hundreds if not thousands of dollars in monthly operating expense.
Every month when you are paying trash waste collection invoices, you are very likely overpaying by 20% to 50% more than you should to haveproperty dumpster trash hauled off.
Contract or not, even if you believeyou have negotiated cost effective waste contracts for your properties,there is a good chance you�re throwing money away.
More important,owners could be throwing away their money.
The waste removal business is a lucrative multi-million dollar industry.They have the opportunity to easily take advantage of customers.
Yourwaste bills can be inflated through many hidden areas such as; excessivepick-up intervals, incorrect container sizing, service levels, fuel serviceincreases/surcharges, landfill increases, hidden extras and so forth.
Simply asking a trash hauler to lower their fees for you � won�t work!The potential magnitude of this problem has been the topic in a numberof prominent publications.
There is an excellent solution to address this problem which you canuse to compliment your current practice.
It takes a specialist to analyzewaste removal needs, audit statements and negotiate competitive serviceseffectively.
Most property owners are not aware that waste service canbe competitively open bid out and regularly audited.
The only exceptionwould generally be (city contracts) where the property owner is stuckwithout options.
For all others the process of auditing and negotiating waste removal services can potentially save thousands.
Without any added expense or time you can utilize the specializedservices and skill of a waste auditing cost containment company toeasily and quickly verify the current status of all monthly waste bills,discover how much can be saved, obtain new service bids for anyproperty and have a cost savings audit completed and you can do all of this through the internet with a click of the mouse andno cost.
Take a look at (www.wasteauditing.com/commercial).
These specialists fight for commercial property owners like yoursIn the area of reducing the amounts paid haulers on a monthly basis.They can re-negotiate service contracts, audit bills, handle accounting and many other related services and take over this monthly responsibility.The best part for you and the property owners is that they work on a �shared savings� compensation.
There is typically no additional out-of-pocket cost to the property owners or to your company.
Themoney they will save you goes right back to the owners bottom line.An excellent win-win concept that you can provide for your clients with substantial potential savings in cost and a reduction in administrative duties for your company.
Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com
Most of the programs fail to manage change within organizations...Here�s why managers & supervisors are not the best face to face communicators during times of change.
Whether dealing in commercial or residential real estate, property managers need free real estate forms and templates to ensure the best communication with their tenants.
From initial leases to move o...
Property management can take place on site or from a far, but regular monitoring, maintenance, and administration must take place in order to be legal and responsible managers.
It is the task of property management to not only represent the owner of the structure in financial and legal matters with the property but to also tend to the administrative needs of the client so they can sustain equitable use of the structure they are renting or leasing.
While any good lease will outline the information essential to both the property owner and renter, using free lease forms for rental properties allows you to keep your expenses down.
Organisations in both the private and public sector undergo major changes on average every 3 years.
Such changes can be brought about by growth, technology change, customer pressure, shifting markets etc.
During these, sometimes difficult changes, interim managers use their skills and experience to assist in re-alignment, performance managment and motivation.
Hey fellow BP investors!Is anyone working with, or has anyone ever worked with either BRIAN GOODMAN at Michigan Property Managers, OR SHERRI PICKETT at RCH Brokerage Legacy Inc.??? I am a Canadian resident and I am working on tenanting a duplex in Detroit.
So far it's been (let's just say) different from what I expected.
I want to see if I can find some feedback (GOOD, BAD, ANYTHING) on the two candidates above.
Please be respectful in your comments, or if you really have something to share, message me personally.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND ADVICE!!! Brandon
Just yesterday, I met with a couple who owns a vacation home, and just hearing their story makes my blood boil.Create an account today to get BiggerPocket's best blog articles delivered to your inboxThere is an old saying, “One bad apple spoils the bunch.” Well, one bad property manager can spoil people’s opinions about a whole industry of people.
This young couple bought a vacation home 2 years ago to enjoy while their children were still very small.
The property manager promised to rent their property out for them, but every time he called them, he was asking for money.
He blamed the bad economy, lack of amenities in the unit, newer properties renting their houses for less, etc.
as just some of the reasons why this house had never rented.While visiting his vacation home, the owner was contemplating taking it off the short term rental market and just using it for him and his family; after all, he would save money since the property manager was never renting it out.
This is where the story gets interesting.
The next day the owner of the property asked a guy who was renting long term next door what he thought about him taking it off the rental pool.The guy who lived next door was shocked, saying that the unit had guests in it all the time; he thought the owner was making a killing by owning the property.
The owner laughed and said he the property manager has told him there were never any bookings in the house.
The owner’s next step was to call the local utility company and ask for a history of the utility usage on the property (now, even though he owned the property, the account was not in his name so this was not that easy to obtain).
He was shocked to see that the electric bill did in fact show the property was booked all the time.Related: 4 Revealing Questions to Ask Prospective Property ManagersNow, this is the most blatant case I have ever seen of a property manager not reporting bookings to a homeowner.
Most of the time an unethical property manager will skim a booking or two here and there.
In this article I would like to show you some ways you can make sure you are getting paid for all the bookings going into your vacation home.This sounds simple, but your monthly utility usage should go hand in hand with your online booking calendar.
After all, when guests are staying in your house, the electrical usage should go up.
This is a very easy check and balance to put in place.There are many lock boxes on the market that have wifi capabilities.
These lock boxes allow the owners of the vacation home to change the lock box codes all the time, and they also have the ability to send a usage report to the homeowner on a weekly or daily basis.
If the lock box is being used all the time, then the owner knows someone is staying in the property.
These lock boxes can be purchased for around $350 to $500.We recommend all owners set out a guest book on the kitchen counter.
In here the owners should have a picture of their family and explain how much fun and pride they take in owning their vacation home.
They should also wish the renters a good time and share their experience here in the book.The book pages should be labeled at the bottom (1, 2,3, etc) so if a page is ripped out, the owner will know about it.
This serves 2 purposes: 1) the owner can ensure the property is being well taken care of 2) the owner can ensure he is getting paid for guest bookings.ADT, NCA, and other alarm companies can install a security system for around $30 a month that can send reports as to when doors and windows are open.
This is a great way to track who is coming and going out of your vacation home, plus guests love the extra peace of mind that a security system allows them to have.Related: 4 Simple Tips to Find the Right Short Term Property ManagerYou should get to know your vacation home neighbors, especially if they stay at their property all the time.
Let them know that you live out of town, and ask them to keep an eye on your property for you.
Remember these friends during holiday times by sending them a small gift and take them out to eat while you are in town.
These neighbors will give you the best insight as to what is going on with your property.There are literally hundreds of ways to make sure a property manager is not sliding a booking into to your house without compensating you for it, but these ideas are all low cost and low maintenance ideas.
As long as you have safeguards in place, an unethical property manager will probably not mess with you.
I welcome all comments below letting me know how you ensure you get paid for all the bookings staying in your vacation home.What are your best tips for making sure property managers don’t take advantage of your rental?Leave a comment below!
I've found myself in a pickle that I hoping for some guidance on.
The long-and-short of it is that we own a property that was recently leased, using a property manager.
At this point, we would like to change property managers one month into a 12 month lease, but I'm not sure if I can do so, or how difficult it might be.As some context, we 6 months ago we purchased a rental property in Portland and decided to try a new (low cost!!!) PM.
Getting the place rented was nothing but problems, including many issues that the PM could have managed (poor pictures, incomplete sourcing, very very very few showings, etc.).When we agreed to try the PM, our contract specified that we would stay with them for 6 months or pay a fee.
So, while we seriously considered leaving them 2 months ago, we decided to go another route and aggressively cut the price in exchange for a short-term lease.
This would get us out from all contracts/leases in the summer, at a time that we are not 8 months pregnant.
To do this, we cut the price to ~25% below market and explicitly (by email, verified by PM) asked for a 6 month lease.
All parties seemed to agree.
However, the lease that was presented to the tenant and is now signed is for 12 months.This is a big deal to us - both for the cost issues (~$250/month in lost rent for 6 months, coming vacant at a bad time, etc.) and trust issues (I don't want a PM that can't create a contract at my instruction, they did a poor job getting it rented, etc.).
We plan to cut ties with the PM.
If needed, I feel that we can show a material breech of the contract, though I think that I have annoyed them as well, so I hope that we could find a mutual agreement without demonstrating a formal "breech."With that said, I've reviewed the lease and that document does not have any statements about changing PM.
In fact, the document clearly states that the agreement is between the tenant and the PM, and that tenant owes the PM directly the rents due.
Frankly, the tenant has not acknowledged that the PM has the authority to change the administrator of the lease...Our contract with the PM is also fairly silent on the topic.
It does specify that the PM must notify the tenant of the term within 30 days.My hunch is that the lease is set-in-stone, and barring agreement from the tenant can not be modified to a 6 month lease.
But I'm wondering how changing PMs mid-lease works.
Will another PM be able to administer the lease? How high is the risk of rents being sent to the wrong person? How disruptive is this for the tenant? Do I have legal recourse to rectify lost rents?As an aside, the wife and I are 8+ months pregnant, so we do not plan to learn new skills, and hope t avoid getting into a sticky/involved legal battle right now.What do you think? I welcome any thoughts or advise that you might have.
What are suggestions if you can't find a property management company near a multi unit property you are interested in.
It's too far away from where we live to do it, but I don't seem to be able to find any reputable agencies around the areas where I am looking to buy.
Hi everyone,I am looking for a great property manager to work for to bring great value to and to gain experience and knowledge in the field.
So I was wondering, what is the best way to find a great manager in a given market? I can think of a few ways, but I'm just poking around to see what others have to say.The best way I can think of finding the best manager in town would be through networking.
I can see getting out there and talking with the other investors in the area being very helpful because they have lots of connections and experiences to know who is doing a great job managing and who isn't.
I can think of a couple other ways but I'm just curious what ways you have found to be effective in finding great managers in your area.Thanks!
It is nothing against you personally.
How could it be? The park manager and you want the same goals and outcomes for the mobile home community.
The park management and you both want to fill the park up with nice quality homes, want to keep all homes in the park, want qualified hard-working buyers in those homes, and want lot rent to be paid every single month.
Any park manager in his or her right mind should love working with you or receiving your help on a regular basis.Create an account today to get BiggerPocket's best blog articles delivered to your inboxIn a previous article, we discussed the 3 types of mobile home parks and how each tends to work with investors.
Here, we learned that the vast majority of mobile home community managers are willing to work with local, like-minded investors, as long as we are clear about our intentions and desire to help.Reminder: Park managers oftentimes have very thankless jobs.
Every day people are talking behind park managers’ backs and lying to their faces.
When you can present how you are there to help in a humble and very disarming manner, many park managers will work with you if at all possible.After you explain why you are in the mobile home park and how you intend to help, a park manager may explain to you that you are not allowed to buy and sell within the community because of a corporate policy.
Very few mobile home communities will have instilled a corporate policy that forbids anyone from purchasing and reselling a home without living there for a minimum of “X” months.While we investors do not like this type of corporate policy, we certainly understand it and respect it.
We can still thank the park managers for their time and ask for them to point us in the direction of any mobile home parks we may not have already been aware of.Pro tip: If a corporation owns multiple mobile home parks in your town, do not incorrectly assume that because one park manager will not allow you there that every park owned by the same company feels the same way.
Some park managers use the “corporate policy” excuse as a way to get rid of local investors without any arguments.
You are highly encouraged to make contact and introduce yourself to every local park manager in and around your area.Moving forward: This is difficult to overcome.
If the park does not want you there, then you do not wish to be there.
In your area there are many other communities to help.A minority of mobile home parks employ their own full-time handymen or rehab crews within the community.
These handy folks are in charge of repairing any vacant or abandoned mobile home within the park.
Once these homes are repaired, the park will then rent or resell these homes for a profit.Typically in high-demand buying markets, mobile home park owners are more aware that repairing and reselling their vacant mobile homes will lead to a profit.
Keep in mind that a vast majority of parks mainly wish to create a majority of their revenue from renting land and not rehabbing and reselling used mobile homes.Exception: Some mobile home parks try to purchase and vulture every single mobile home they can from every seller within their walls.
Some parks even have first rights of refusal to make sure they can purchase every mobile home they wish to within their park.However, the majority of mobile home parks will be willing to work with you even though they repair and resell the homes they receive back due to abandonment and evictions.
These friendly parks are very open to working with you as long as you only purchase used homes directly from sellers within the community, fix these homes, and resell them legally.
In short, some parks have a scarcity mentality, and others have an abundance mentality.Moving forward: Again, this is difficult to overcome.
I’d suggest you look for other communities in your area to help.Perhaps the easiest objection to overcome is a simple misunderstanding.
Practice your introduction script before meeting with any park manager.
While introducing yourself to a park manager, you may accidentally omit the facts that you will be getting approved at the community, your buyers will become park approved too, the home will remain in the park, and you will be quickly reselling, not renting, a mobile home within their walls.
In short, during this introduction, a park manager may not hear that you will be getting approved, or they may think that you will be wanting to rent or sublease a mobile home (a typical park no-no).Related: 5 (More) Things to Hate About Mobile Home Investing Inside ParksPro tip: Make sure you understand the park manager’s confusions.
Aim to clear up any mistakes quickly.
For example, if the park manager states to you that they do not allow renting within their community, your response may be, “I apologize, sometimes I speak fast.
We will never be renting any homes in your community.
Renters bring renter mentalities and will never treat or love a home or their neighbors like a homeowner will.” This is, of course, a very blanket statement, and there are some very honest and fantastic renters in this world.Moving forward: This issue is fairly easy to overcome.On a personal note, I am surprised that this objection is becoming more and more widespread.
Some mobile home investors never quite do what they promise, and many over-promise and under-deliver on a regular basis.
If you approach a park manager, they may confide in you that they recently were taken advantage of or burned by another investor, seemingly just like you, not more than a few months or weeks ago.Due to the park manager’s natural human tendency to be apprehensive and protective when approached by another investor (you) promising all the same things, a red flag may be raised in the park manager’s mind.
For example, you may hear, “We recently got into a situation like this, and it just did not work out.
This other gentleman took advantage of us and removed a mobile home when he said he was not going to.”Pro tip: With honesty, sincerity, and a little bit of pride, make sure to fight for yourself and your reputation.
While you do not know specifically what this other malicious investor did to the park managers, this person is not you, and you deserve a clean slate to prove your worth and value to the park and park manager.Moving forward: This issue is fairly easy to overcome when the park managers understand your sincerity and willingness to help the community.The list above spells out the four main reasons a mobile home community manager may not want you in his or her park.
The above list is in no specific order.
Remember that your main goal while working with any mobile home park is to help the park management.Related: The Top 5 Reasons Investors Are Loved & Hated Within Mobile Home CommunitiesIf you are not able to make the park manager’s life easier, then you have no business being in the park.
Relationships with park managers can make or break your business investing inside individual mobile home communities.
Park managers are people just like us and deserve to be respected.
Speak logically and rationally to every park manager, and make sure to have your interests align with theirs.
Always continue aiming to help local parks and communities.Investors: Anything you’d add to this list? Have you ever encountered any of the above issues?Let me know with a comment!
If you’ve inhaled just the faintest wisp of the particulate billowing out of the internet marketing world in the past 15 years, it was almost certainly in the form of a smoke signal that said, “Content is king.” That concise maxim is a very oversimplified way of laying out the truth behind modern internet marketing.
The truth is that all of the gimmicks used by internet marketers to “trick” search engines into good rankings only last a short time before the search engines catch on to them.
So, the best way to market yourself online is to legitimately market yourself—which means producing content.Create an account today to get BiggerPocket's best blog articles delivered to your inboxBut not all content is equal.
Some content is better for some purposes than others, some content is better for some industries than others, and some content is better for some audiences than others.
So we’re going to look at various kinds of content and talk about how each one relates to property management marketing.Content in general breaks down several different ways.
For the purpose of marketing yourself, the primary way to break content down is by intent.
You should always know whether the content you’re creating is intended as:Too many businesses just spit out content without knowing what each piece is for, and that makes for a very wasteful content-production effort.
We’ll talk a bit about how to know what kind of content you need to be creating in out next post, but for now let’s move on to other ways to think about content.
You can also analyze content by its format: Related: How to Write SEO-Friendly Content for Your Real Estate WebsiteThe last way to break down content that we’ll talk about here is breaking content down by medium.
Content that you create for Facebook, for example, should be very different from content you create for LinkedIn, even though both are considered social media.
Every medium has its own unique flavor, and you should keep the attributes of your intended medium in mind when you create your content.
But more than just the medium-specific flavor, there are also attributes of the general category of medium:There is a vast array of other forms of content that have occasionally been used by businesses in the past, but are largely not worth the effort.
Posts on message boards, “social bookmarks” like the ones you can create on Digg or Delicious, directory entries (on websites that just list other websites), and comments put on other peoples’ content are all things you might hear about people using in various marketing efforts, but none of them have been terribly useful in the past several years at least.It should be obvious by now that every piece of content falls into every one of these categories, and each category affects the structure and format of the end product.
In an ideal world, each piece of content would go through a “conception phase” that went:But of course in the real world, a number of concerns can twist that formula on its ear.
Let’s take this very post as an example.
In this case, we knew that we had to give BiggerPockets a few blog posts because it’s been a little while since we posted here and we needed to rebuild a little momentum.
So, we started with the medium of the BiggerPockets Blog in mind.BiggerPockets’ blog here is known as a place where experts come to share their expertise as a form of marketing—which means generally the content here is on the long end of standard or is out-and-out long-form content.
Furthermore, the flavor of BiggerPockets is “networking business casual,” so you’ll almost never see anyone around here putting up content that is silly fun, openly provocative, or straight sales-pitch material.
Related: How to Correctly Format Content on Your Website for Thousands of Online LeadsWe use this platform for the purpose of establishing our expertise as property managers, knowing from experience that people who read our posts here are likely to see the content we’ve produced over the years and think, “Hey, these guys obviously know what they’re doing.” Then if they ever decide they need a property manager in the Metro Detroit area, they’ll recognize our name and be more inclined to call us first.So the medium and the purpose both point strongly at long-form content—which obviously this is, seeing as we’re approaching the 1,500th word of this post and we’re just now getting to the wrap-up.Content still is king when it comes to internet marketing—you literally can’t perform online marketing without it.
But it’s not enough just to put words into the ether; you should have a grasp of the why (purpose), how (medium), and what (format) before you start producing.
But while content is vital, you also need to understand how each piece of content connects to the pieces around it—called your sales funnel.
Come back next week for an equally in-depth examination of sales funnels, how they work, and how they connect your various forms of content to your sales, branding, and market efforts.How do you craft content you know will target the correct audience?Share below!
Some of the important factors and questions you need to discuss and explore before hiring a property manager or services of a property management company are:Create an account today to get BiggerPocket's best blog articles delivered to your inboxEventually, if I am a landlord and looking for a property management company, my major concern would be how they are communicating with me.
Who am I able to communicate with and how I am able to get my money on a monthly basis?A lot of times you might feel that you are being interviewed by the property managers about what kind of property you have or if you can bring more properties.
But it is extremely important that you interview them too.Related: 80 Smart Questions to Ask BEFORE Hiring Your Next Property Management CompanyAsk them how they are going to manage your property.
Will they be checking it on a regular basis, and how the accounts will be maintained? You need to ask all types of question to ensure that your property is in the right hands.
Do not hesitate.
You need to tell them what you are expecting from them.
But if you feel that you are just being interrogated by them, then it’s a good idea to look for other property managers who can satisfy your needs.Our USP is communication.
We make sure to be in touch and communicate with our tenants and landlords on a regular basis.
We care.
We don’t focus on managing large number of properties that we can’t handle.
We only take the responsibilities we can manage.We visit our properties on a monthly basis and sometimes more than that for maintenance reasons.
If there are properties where nothing goes wrong, it’s on our monthly checklist to make sure that everything’s ok.Related: The 3 Non-Negotiable Roles CRUCIAL to Your Property Management TeamThe important thing here is to realize that you are trusting them with your asset, and they need to prove that they can take care of it.
You can find many property managers who are just care about building their portfolio by increasing the number of properties they manage.
It’s ok as far as your property’s condition is not compromised.If you need your property managed and they are not doing it, then you need to go and interview someone else.
You shouldn’t be afraid to fire a property manager who isn’t doing his job.
You need to convey your expectations to them up front.
Being informed and knowing what is to be expected of a property manager is going to put you in a much stronger position, and it’s going to ensure that you are getting someone who is going to do the job.What’s your top tip for finding the best property management out there?Leave a comment and let me know!
Many landlords believe that property management fees simply cut profit margins to a minimum in exchange for basic services to maintain your rental property.
But the reality is that property managers can simplify your life and smooth out the kinks in your investment properties—for a reasonable rate.Create an account today to get BiggerPocket's best blog articles delivered to your inboxHowever, it’s important to note that not all companies’ fee structures are the same.
Make sure you understand how a manager’s fees work, otherwise you might shave your profit more than necessary.Most real estate investors budget between eight and 10 percent of monthly rent for property managers.
BiggerPockets forum users report that 10 percent tends to be the norm—and additional fees may cause that number to increase.
(Looking fora flat fee? Unfortunately, flat rates are pretty rare.)Before signing on the dotted line, review your financials to make sure hiring a property management company makes sense.
Many landlords will find it does, but if you only have one or two properties or your budget is tight, you may want to go it alone.RELATED: Investors: Believe Me, You CAN’T Afford Property Management.
Here’s Why These are some of the most common “hidden” fees, extra fees, and fee structure differences to watch for when comparing providers or finalizing a contract:Many property managers charge monthly management fees as a percentage of rent, but watch how this is worded—there’s a difference between charging as a percentage of rent due and a percentage of rent collected.You may be charged an early cancellation fee should you break the contract with your property manager before the end of its outlined term.
For example, if you agree to work with them for a year and you want out after eight months, you might pay an additional few hundred dollars.
Be especially wary of this fee with untested property managers.RELATED: What Does a Property Manager Do? Here’s the Job Description“A la carte” management fees refer to a suite of extra fees a property management firm may charge you in addition to basic services.
Usually, a property manager will either charge a higher price (and no additional fees) or a lower price with multiple additional fees.
The best choice depends on your property and ownership style.Many property managers will charge an initial property management fee at the start of your contract.
This usually costs a few hundred dollars, and is necessary to initiate your account.If a company charges you based on collected rent, not rent due, there may be an additional vacancy fee, which acts much like a retainer.Some property managers may charge an additional advertising fee.
This covers the cost of creating media, such as taking photos or video, and marketing the property.A tenant placement fee may apply when you’re hunting for a new tenant.
This covers the cost of drafting and securing a new lease agreement and tenant screening, including background checks.
It’s generally low in cost.
In fact, high leasing fees should raise red flags—especially if your resulting tenant turnover seems to increase.Lease renewal is a simpler process than the initial leasing, but it may still require a fee.
Property managers might draw up new paperwork or renegotiate terms with a tenant, and they may charge for that of extra work.Most property management fees cover basic instances of maintenance and repair that property owners wouldn’t want to handle themselves.
Some companies may charge extra for big jobs, or for an inspection between residential property tenants.Eviction can be a messy process, and you’ll be grateful to have a property management service in your corner.
Most managers handle the eviction completely on your behalf, but some will charge you an extra fee.
Expect to pay at least a few hundred dollars for this process.
Different companies might charge different property management fees.
However, if they’re offering similar services, you’ll likely find the bottom-line price of each to be competitive with one another.
The big difference here is how you plan on using your property management company.
For example, if you’re looking for a long-term partnership, an early cancellation fee shouldn’t factor much into your decision.
Try to consider all these factors and all price points when comparing providers and making your decision.Any other “hidden” fees you’d add to this list?Leave your comments below!
In my post titled “The Tech Employee’s Ultimate Guide to Getting Started in Real Estate Investing,” I talked about how to use a property manager to help you take care of your investments while continuing to work a full-time job.Create an account today to get BiggerPocket's best blog articles delivered to your inboxThe property manager (PM) is arguably the most important person on your investment team.
Without him or her, it’s incredibly difficult to scale your real estate investing business.That being said, when hiring your property manager, referrals aren’t good enough.
You need to properly interview potential PMs to make sure he or she is a good fit for your operations.RELATED: What Does a Property Manager Do? Here’s the Job DescriptionBelow is a list of 45 questions that have been divided into seven major categories:I’ve included an explanation for asking each question so you can understand the intent behind them.
I suggest you read everything, and then determine which ones apply best for your situation.Odds are you will be interviewing at least two or three property managers, so I’ve also created a spreadsheet you can use to track their answers.
You can find it here.Most states require the PM to have a real estate brokers license or special PM license.
Check with your local department of real estate to determine your local requirements.If this is required and the PM doesn’t have a license, you can move onto the next property manager.You want to confirm that the PM is continuously educating himself or herself on industry standards, real estate laws, and miscellaneous subjects related to property management.
You want a PM that’s on top of the latest changes in real estate law, because you don’t want to be held legally liable for mistakes made by them.At a minimum, the PM should have errors and omissions insurance to protect themselves for wrongful evictions, hiring unlicensed contractors, and a multitude of issues that arise from running a property management business.
If they don’t, beware—you could possibly be on the hook for their mistakes.If the property manager has been a landlord, they’ve walked in your shoes and will be more likely to make decisions that are in your best interest.
Quite a few property managers don’t own their own investments, which prevents them from fully understanding the landlord’s perspective.You want to determine if your property manager is cross-trained in other real estate-related fields.
Some PMs are former real estate attorneys, which is extremely helpful if they are willing to bundle those services and/or include them in their standard property management fees.Some may have just opened their businesses, and that’s perfectly fine.
But you want to at least know how long they have been managing properties in some form.
Maybe they started as an investor managing their own properties and decided to earn the proper licenses to open their own PM business.Each property manager has a specialty.
You don’t want a property manager that specializes in single family homes to try to manage a large-scale multifamily complex.Alternatively, some PMs specialize in particular neighborhoods or classes of properties.
You’ll want to know market information like this, including which areas the PM doesn’t cover and why.By asking these questions, you might learn that some rental markets are too much trouble for certain property managers.
If your property falls within those markets, you’d obviously want to avoid hiring those PMs.Every property management company is structured differently.
Some are one-man or one-woman shops; others have numerous employees.You want to learn how the company is structured and who will be your primary point of contact.
Nothing is worse than not knowing who’s responsible or who to contact when you have questions or concerns about your property.Some real estate agents try to maintain their current responsibilities while acting as a property manager for supplemental income.
There’s nothing wrong with that.However, trying to stay on top of both professions at once can be a challenge.
If the property manager is also an agent, ask him or her how they balance the demands of both roles.Asking this question is a good way to see how plugged in the PM is to industry standards.
If a PM is in touch with the industry, they will be able to demonstrate how they differ from their competitors.These inquiries can offer insight about the quality and constraints of a property manager.
Are landlords working with the PM seemingly satisfied and loyal? Could the PMs time be spread too thin by having too many other obligations?If allowed, speaking with one of the PM’s clients and asking them for a review could prove invaluable.The PM serves as a vital shield, protecting your time from being spent on the day-to-day operations of real estate.
The whole point of hiring a PM is so you can focus on acquiring more properties, perform your day job undisturbed, or just enjoy life.In turn, you are paying a PM to do the rest of the work for you.
Therefore, look at the monthly management fee as the price you’re paying for free time—which is essential in terms of growing your business.Depending on the property type, condition of the property, the property’s location, and time commitment involved, property managers typically charge anywhere from 4 to 10 percent of monthly rent or a flat fee.
Typically the lower the rent, the higher the fee percentage, or the higher the rent, the lower the fee percentage.In other cases, the PM might ask for a flat fee.
Some landlords think if the ongoing management fee is lower than usual, this means they’ve negotiated a great deal.
However, some PMs charge a lower ongoing management fee because they only offer limited services.
Be clear about what is included for their fees.As mentioned above, you need to be clear on this.
What’s included in the monthly management fee? Are there any other fees?Additional fees might be charged for:You want your property manager’s compensation structure to be aligned with your best interests.
If the unit is vacant, you want the PM to feel the pain of not being able to collect fees.If your PM doesn’t agree to this, try to negotiate for a lower fee when the unit is vacant—or interview another PM.Finding a new tenant takes time and effort, so PMs should be compensated for this.
They might charge anywhere from 25 to 100 percent of one month’s rent to find a new tenant.Your PM should be anticipating when your tenant’s lease will expire in order to gauge their interest for renewal.
This takes time, organization, and effort.
They should evaluate rental comps in the area and adjust rents accordingly.
For this effort, a case can be made that the property manager should receive a renewal fee.I’ve encountered it all—from PMs who do not charge a fee to those who charge $200, half rent, or full rent.
Personally, I think a full month’s worth of rent is way too much, as some tenants are willing to renew with no questions asked.Typically PMs collect their rents between the first and third of the month, and then deposit the funds in the landlord’s bank account somewhere between the fifth and 10th of the month.
You will want to know the PMs process for rent collection and disbursement so you have an idea of when you will receive your funds.There’s no standard length for a property management contract.
The contract length varies by the size of the property and the nature of the work to be done.Look for a clause in your property management contract that explains under what circumstances either party can terminate it.
Usually the landlord must provide the PM with advance notice of their intention to cancel the contract.
Also, if the PM decides to cancel it, they should provide you with an advanced warning.If the property manager’s real estate portfolio grows large enough, eventually he or she will have properties that compete for the same kind of tenant profile.
The PM should have a policy in place regarding how to handle a potential conflict of interest when two of their clients are trying to attract the same tenants.Related: How to Rent Your House: The Definitive Step by Step GuideThis is a good question to ask because you’ll obviously want to know if the property manager has a legal history.
Alternatively, if you’d rather check (or double-check) using public records, you can go here.You want to confirm your property manager understands fair housing laws.
If the PM had a lawsuit against him or her, did he or she prevail or did the court rule in the plaintiff’s favor?Local real estate departments should have an online database of complaints made against property managers.
Despite what the PM you’re interviewing says, you should check your state’s department of real estate to confirm the PM is in good standing (assuming your state requires a PM to be licensed).In California, for example, you can perform a digital background check with the California Department of Real Estate.It’s a good idea to know how frequently the PM communicates with landlords.
Some PMs believe no news is good news; others feel better regularly updating clients.
It’s also a sign they are paying attention to the property.You’ll want to know what is expected of you as the landlord.
Each PM has different levels of engagement they require from their clients.Your PM should have an SLA (service level agreement) to set expectations about when to anticipate getting a response from them.
Ideally, a PM should get back to you within 24 to 48 hours of receiving your phone call or email—with the exception of weekends—unless it’s an emergency.Some PMs don’t want to confuse the chain of command by having landlords who directly interact with the tenants.
And one main reason to hire a PM is so you don’t have to do that anyway! Get clarification about how potential PMs think it’s best to handle tenant relationships.It’s required by law that all prospective tenants should be held to the same rental criteria.
The PM should walk you through how they determine if someone is the right fit to live in your property.Typically these criteria are a mix of earnings power, reference checks (current/former landlord and current employer), and background and credit checks.Most often, the PM decides who to accept as a tenant.
It can actually be dangerous in certain circumstances to involve yourself in the selection process.
If you were to accidentally or purposely decline a tenant that indeed meets the rental criteria, you could open yourself up to potential legal liability.You’ll want an idea of the length of this process for many reasons, including knowing when to begin looking for new tenants, knowing how long to anticipate a property will be vacant if tenants leave unexpectedly, and so on.
The quicker the process, the better.You should absolutely go over the lease the PM will be using.
For one thing, you will be held liable if the lease agreement is legally invalid.Renting “sight unseen” means the tenant hasn’t physically viewed the property before renting it.
I suggest all prospective tenants complete an in-person walkthrough of the premises so they aren’t surprised by anything.If you do decide to rent sight unseen, your property manager should have an addendum in the lease agreement stating the tenant is renting this property sight unseen and is aware of the risks involved.This is a critical question.
If your PM doesn’t know what fair housing laws are, run! The answer to the second question illustrates whether the PM has reviewed federal fair housing laws and can spot violations.It’s a good idea to have your future PM walk you through the standard eviction process.
More importantly, you’ll want to find out how many people the PM has evicted over the last year.
Does the number raise any red flags?A rent-ready property is suitable to be occupied immediately.
However, all PMs may define this differently.Typically it can take a PM one to three days to get a property rent-ready.
A shorter turnaround time is even better, as it allows you to rent the property faster, minimize vacancies, and maximize rent collections.The PM should have a schedule for visiting your property.
Knowing how frequently he or she checks your property will help you hold them accountable.It’s important that your property is well maintained and problems are resolved as soon as possible.
If maintenance is deferred, a simple repair could turn into a complex and costly repair.The contractors your PM hires should be licensed, bonded, and insured.
If they aren’t, you will be held liable for their shoddy work and won’t have recourse against them from the state.You don’t want your property manager contacting you for every repair or issue.
You should set a dollar limit to repairs that they can work on without your authorization.However, when repairs are made, the PM should send you an invoice and pictures to show the work involved.I knew someone who inherited a property manager who would always invoice for small maintenance issues just below the cost threshold that required landlord approval.
After further inspection, it was determined the PM was submitting false invoices for work that was never completed!Requiring your PM to take before and after pictures of maintenance work protects you from being the victim of bad behavior.For routine fixes, there shouldn’t be a coordination fee.
But if it’s a substantial job that requires the PM to coordinate a major remodel, expect fees.Multiple communication methods should be allowed; however, most tenants prefer to text PMs and hope for a rapid response.
Your PM should agree to get back to tenants within 24 to 48 hours of receiving a request.The best way to save on maintenance is to confirm the tenant's issue is a real problemânot user error.
It's important to know if the PM will troubleshoot the issue with the tenant before directly connecting them with a contractor.Most property managers use online case management software, such as Buildium, Hemlane, or AppFolio to track maintenance requests and tenant issues.
These programs maximize management efficiency.
Plus, if your PM doesn’t use any software, it increases the odds of mistakes occurring.Related: Professional Property Management vs.
Self-Management: A Look at the Pros & ConsEach PM has his or her own processes for marketing a property.
You’ll want to understand this process and have an idea where the PM intends to list your property.
Having a manager walk you through one of their current listings illustrates the level of detail he or she puts into property listings.Typically your PM obtains a market sampling of competitive properties in your area, takes into consideration the special amenities your property offers, as well as the current climate of the rental market, and determines the rental price accordingly.
If you want a detailed breakdown of this process, please review The Ultimate Guide on Raising Rent.Each day a unit remains vacant is another dollar that slips out of your pocket.
A savvy property manager will know when to reduce rents to maximize occupancy.Assuming you have vetted a property manager properly and determined they are qualified, you might be able to have them help you in other areas of your business—say, reviewing a potential property before you buy it.
The following would be an appropriate question to ask if this were the case.This would help you figure out if your assumptions about a property you’re considering buying and renting are true or false.
Would the property rent at the price you have calculated?Also, you should make it clear to the PM if this deal does close, you will use them as the PM for the property or you will compensate them for their time spent analyzing the property.And that’s a wrap! Let me know how these questions work for you and what I may have missed.Thank you to David Roberson and Darren Sager for helping me with this article.Do you have any property manager nightmare stories? Could the issue have been avoided by conducting more thorough interviews? Let’s discuss in the comment section!
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