March 15, 2010
Embarking on renting to Section 8 tenants is one of those decisions that property managers should undertake only after thoroughly 
researching all the implications of renting to this very specific demographic. Following are some of the primary pros and cons to consider when evaluating whether or not Section 8 rentals are for you.
Pros: Government subsidies mean that your rental income is more assured than in other cases.
Since Section 8 tenants are by nature low-income tenants, many landlords are rightfully concerned that renting to this sector will result in difficulties with rent collection or, even worse, default altogether. The truth of the matter, though, is that in many ways Section 8 rental income is among the most reliable. Under Section 8, tenants are responsible for approximately 30 percent of their rent, while the US government picks up the balance of the rental payment. This US government balance is paid directly to the property landlord.
Cons: Renting to Section 8 tenants puts your property under greater scrutiny due to government rules and regulations.
Be aware that before approving one of your units for Section 8 occupancy, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will determine your unit’s Fair Market Rent (FMR). Once the FMR is determined, you are obligated to cap your Section 8 unit’s rent at that rate and are not allowed to accept outside payments that will result in a rent higher than the FMR.
In addition to FMR restrictions, Section 8 properties are also subject to a full premises inspection to ensure HUD’s Housing Quality Standards are met and stringent HUD-mandated eviction rules and regulations.
Pros: Because you have access to a specific demographic, Section 8 tenants may resolve persistent vacancy issues.
In many cases, Section 8 housing wait lists are thousands of families long or, in some states, closed altogether due to over-extension. This means that there is no shortage of Section 8 families available to rent out your units. For landlords that have difficulty renting out units, Section 8 may be a great solution to generate increased rental income.
Cons: Other tenants may be somewhat hesitant to rent from a Section 8 property.
The truth of the matter is, many people associate Section 8 housing with run-down properties that cater to an undesirable demographic. Obviously, this is not necessarily true. For the most part, the proof is in the pudding. If you are concerned that Section 8 units may discourage other renters from living on your property, exert even more effort than usual into making sure that your property is top-notch. Keep all public areas of your property spic n’ span; stay current on maintenance and upkeep; put some extra effort into making your property aesthetically pleasing with landscaping and gardening; and enforce property rules and policies regarding noise and unit upkeep.
Of course, landlords of any stripe should be diligent about the issues above, but putting a little extra effort forth in this specific scenario will only work to your advantage.
As with so many other aspects of property management, gaining a good grasp on the issue at hand is 90 percent of the battle. If you are considering incorporating Section 8 rentals in your property, be sure to not only do some online research on the topic, but also talk with other landlords who rent to Section 8 tenants and address any questions you may have to the appropriate state and federal agencies.
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Property Management | Tagged: agencies, agency, apartment, collection, evict, eviction, fair market rent, federal, fmr, government, HUD, income, landlord, landscaping, low, low income, management, manager, property, property manager, real estate, rent, rental, section 8, tenant, unit | 
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Posted by Buildium
March 15, 2010
The multi-family industry has so many resources that the five we mentioned in our previous blog post don’t even graze the surface. So following are five additional services that will help you stay connected with the multi-family industry. We hope you’ll keep us posted on all of the other great multi-family resources you find in your web surfing adventures!
Leave a Comment » | Property Management | Tagged: activerain, apartment, bigger pockets, industry, IREM, links, management, mfi, multifamily, property, web | Permalink
Posted by Buildium
March 4, 2010
Creating a work/life balance sometimes feels impossible. Work has to get done and sacrifices need to be made. If the recommendations from our last post didn’t convince you that a work/life balance is possible, take a look at these links.
Leave a Comment » | Property Management | Tagged: balance, estate, life, management, property, quiz, real, real estate, work | Permalink
Posted by Buildium
March 1, 2010
If you’re reading this blog, chances are you are dedicated to doing your job right. But just as much as doing your job right involves knowing your business and completing necessary
tasks efficiently and effectively, it also means taking care of yourself. After all, if you’re worn down and stressed out, chances are your work will ultimately suffer for it, no matter how dedicated you are. So for all of you workaholics out there, yes! Believe it or not, you should consider taking care of yourself and making a concerted effort to find some downtime nothing short of a vital part of doing your job right.
But even if you are convinced that creating a good work/life balance is something you should attain, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s simple to do in this industry. Following are a few tips for finding the time you need.
1. Create a back-up system.
Just because you need a break doesn’t mean that all work-related issues will grind to a halt. In order to make sure everything gets taken care of whether you’re in the office or not, it’s important to have a back-up system in place. Depending upon your situation, a back-up system may consist of extra staff on hand to make sure someone is there to address tenant concerns or property issues 24/7 or just an answering service to ensure that tenants’ calls are answered no matter what time of day they come in.
2. Make sure your back-up system is one you can trust.
Having a back-up system in place is only half the battle. After all, how relaxed and disengaged from work can you really be if you’re constantly worrying that things are falling through the cracks or not being taken care of? Invest the time necessary to make sure your back-up system—whatever form it may take—is fully aware of policies and regulations and knows how to deal with the variety of issues that may arise in your absence. Consider this effort to be an investment not only in your business, but also in yourself.
3. Prioritize.
Know that sooner or later, something will come up while you’re off-duty. And also know that, while it’s obviously important to resolve issues efficiently, there are also some things that can wait for a few hours. For example, if you get a call from a tenant about a dripping faucet on a Sunday afternoon, chances are you can wait until Monday morning to resolve the problem.
4. Create a schedule.
While property management may not be a traditional nine-to-five job, this doesn’t mean you can’t establish a set schedule for yourself. Let tenants and property owners know what days you will be taking off on a weekly basis and whom they should contact in your absence. Also, consider your own vacation time just as much of a priority as you do for the rest of your staff. If your staff has two weeks off a year, so should you.
Doing a good job is important—we all know that. But it’s all too easy for property managers to neglect drawing the line between work and non-work hours. While your property may keep going 24 hours a day every day, it doesn’t mean that you have to.
Leave a Comment » | Property Management | Tagged: answering service, back-up, balance, blog, efficient, help, invest, life, management, prioritize, priority, property, Property Management, real estate, schedule, staff, stress, system, trust, work, workaholic | Permalink
Posted by Buildium
February 22, 2010
“The customer is always right.” Chances are, you’ve heard (and perhaps even doled out) this bit of advice many times over your property management career.
Obviously, there’s a lot to be said for applying this philosophy to your own business dealings. Particularly in an age of automated electronic service, there is so much to be said for making each of your clients feel as though they are special and well cared for. The bottom line is that, these days, good, attentive customer service is very much the exception rather than the rule. Which is great, great news for property managers who find themselves in one of the few high-touch industries where it’s still possible to actually provide one-on-one, memorable customer service.
That’s the good news.
More difficult is the fact that, though property management may be a high-touch industry that affords you the opportunity to make an impact on your clients, chances are when it comes to customers, you’re juggling a whole lot of them at once. Not only are you contending with the task of keeping the property owners that sign your checks happy but, in many ways, tenants are also your customers. Which means, depending upon your situation, you may have many, many customers to please. And sometimes, the best interests of your tenants and property owners simply don’t align. So what exactly are you supposed to do when situations like these arise? After all, you need to protect your property owner’s assets, but you will ultimately fail your property owner if you are unable to balance his best interests with those of his tenants, ultimately resulting in increased vacancy rates and a loss of rental income.
All of this is to say that, especially in property management, it’s often impossible for every customer to be right, if being right implies that each customer always gets exactly what she asks for. What this does not mean, however, is that every customer can’t be a happy one.
Let’s look at this in practice. Say you have a long-term tenant who is adamant that you cut down a tree outside of his window that’s blocking his view of the park across the street. You know that your property owner will not want the tree to come down because not only does it aesthetically enhance the property and lower energy costs by providing shade, but it would also cost thousands of dollars to pull up the tree. On the other hand, you also know that the property owner would be extremely displeased to lose a long-term, reliable tenant—not to mention the steady rental income that he represents.
In the end, you know that the tree must stay, but you must also find a way to keep your tenant happy and, most importantly, to keep him in your property owner’s unit. So while your tenant (your customer in this scenario) can’t necessarily get his way, you can still let him think that he’s right by executing the following strategy:
- Carefully listen to your tenant’s concerns and argument in a sympathetic manner.
- Let your tenant know which points you agree with him about (i.e., “You’re right. It’s a shame that beautiful view is obstructed.”)
- Explain in a straightforward manner why you are unable to resolve the tenant’s concern in the exact way he proposes.
- Offer to meet the tenant half-way (for example, propose that some of the trees branches are cut back in order to afford him a more clear view of the park across the street).
In the end, most customers will be more concerned with feeling their needs and concerns are being taken seriously and attended to than that their precise desired outcome is met. And in this business, that is the most crucial part of customer service: Ensuring that each customer feels he or she is right … even when they’re not.
Leave a Comment » | Property Management | Tagged: apartment, asset, business, client, complain. complaints, concern, concerns, customer, customer service, happy, income, management, multifamily, needs, owner, property, property owner, rent, rental, rental income, service, strategy, tenant, unit, vacancy | Permalink
Posted by Buildium
February 18, 2010
If you read the previous blog post and still aren’t convinced that to-do lists are your bag, here are some alternative means to achieving the five positive results to-do lists offer.
- Jog Your Memory: Keeping a calandar will also help you stay on top of specific deadlines and appointments.
- Manage Your Time: Stay on track by using an alarm wrist watch to remind you about key times during the day.
- Let You Know Where You Stand: Other tools are out there to measure where you stand at any given point of time. With clear S.M.A.R.T. goals you should be able to easily track your progress.
- Build Your Reputation Through Reporting: Lists provide great proof that you’re completing your job, but don’t forget about these other options for clear business reporting.
- Maximize Results for Minimal Expenditures: This is not ROI, we’re talking open reducing investments. PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has a great article about reducing business costs.
Leave a Comment » | Property Management | Tagged: alarm, business, calandar, costs, goal, goals, key, management, property, Property Management, pwc, report, reporting, smart, watch, wrist | Permalink
Posted by Buildium
February 16, 2010
There are those of us that like making to-do lists, and those of us that don’t. It can be easy to chalk this up to a personal preference: Either you’re a list person or you’re not. But even
if you don’t consider to-do lists to be your style, there are many reasons you should incorporate them into your work process.
We know, we know. With so much on your plate already, you simply don’t have the time or infrastructure to add one more task to your daily routine. But the beauty of to-do lists is, although they may represent another step in your workflow, they’re extremely easy to make and will save you tenfold when it comes to time and efficiency. And if you’re still not sold, here are five good reasons why you should consider using to-do lists on a daily basis.
1. Jog Your Memory
Property management is one of those fields where one day can differ drastically from the next. Also, because you’re dealing with a host of people including tenants, vendors, and property owners, you may well have dozens of small (but nonetheless important) tasks to do for a variety of people. No matter how professional and organized you are, it can be all too simple to let one of those tasks fall through the cracks. Writing down the phone calls you have to make and emails you need to reply to on a daily basis will go a long way toward guaranteeing you stay on the ball and keep all of your clients and tenants happy.
2. Manage Your Time
Nothing is more overwhelming than feeling like you have more tasks to do than there are hours in a day. When you complete tasks as they come to mind, they’re not necessarily being done in a logical order and, therefore, time is almost assuredly being wasted. If, for example, you know ahead of time that you have to return three phone calls and run across town to show a unit, you can plot out your day so that you are multi-tasking, making these calls while you make the cross-town drive. Without a to-do list, chances are you’ll complete tasks as they come to mind which can ultimately result in lost time.
3. Know Where You Stand
At the end of a long day, it can all too easily become a blur. You know that you worked hard all day but can hardly remember what happened that morning. Crossing items off of a to-do list will provide a black and white look at where you stand, what needs to be done, and what projects and tasks have been effectively resolved.
4. Build Your Reputation Through Reporting
One of the ways to-do lists can help better your business is by providing a clear means of demonstrating your efficacy to property owners. Again, it can be easy to forget exactly what you accomplished last week when you’re already looking ahead to what needs to be done next week. Task-tracking is the perfect way to keep track of what you’ve done, which can then be reported to bosses and higher-ups.
5. Maximum Results for Minimal Expenditure
When you think about it, if there was a product out there that offered you increased efficiency, productivity, and project tracking, you’d likely be willing to pay a significant amount of money for it. To-do lists are free and offer all of these results. Not only are they no-cost but even better, they require only the most minimum time expenditure on your part. All you have to do is build five minutes (or even less) into the beginning or end of your day to jot down all the tasks you have to accomplish and viola! You’re done. And if that sounds like too much, just keep a running tab of to-do items as they come up.
For more helpful information on creating effective to-do lists, be sure to check out the following links:
Expert Advice: To-Do Lists
Tada List
Ten Tips to Create a To-Do List Like a Pro
Google Calendar To-Do Tips
Leave a Comment » | Property Management | Tagged: calls, client, clients, daily routine, do, email, landlord, landlording, list, lists, management, memory, phone, process, project tracking, property, Property Management, property manager, reporting, reports, results, tasks, tenant, tenants, time, time management, tips, to, to do list, to-do, work | Permalink
Posted by Buildium
researching all the implications of renting to this very specific demographic. Following are some of the primary pros and cons to consider when evaluating whether or not Section 8 rentals are for you.
