Archive for the ‘Apartment Management’ Category
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
The Company should be able to provide:
- A summary of tenant rights in the state and municipality
- The first late date
- The notice of eviction date
- Workout guidelines for managers and guidelines should follow credit scores
- Court filing requirements
- Expected time to gain a court date
- A written process that includes checks and balances that will prevent managers giving favors to tenants and will maintain as brief an eviction process as possible
- A written description of the process to turn over uncollected rents to a collection agency
- A selected collection agency with local references
A thorough and prompt eviction process is a significant component of maintaining cash flow. Less obviously, the collections process is an important part of maintaining and improving the quality of the tenant base.
The notice process should also include procedures for calling, knocking on doors, and otherwise assuring the tenants respond immediately to late notices. There is a direct correlation between keeping tenants as nearly current as possible and the collectability of their rents. The further behind lease payments become the more difficult they are to collect.
Posted in Apartment Investing, Apartment Management, Apartment Management Service, Billing and Collections, Operations | 30 Comments »
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
I ran into a great post on multifamily insiders by Bill Gray (the Land Lord Doctor) on tenant screening. I suggest you give it a look for some great indepth ideas on tenant screening. If you have thoughts on the same please comment.
“Ask these questions when talking with the current or previous landlord:
1. What was the tenant’s payment history?
2. Did the tenant give sufficient notice according to the lease?
3. Did the tenant fulfill all of the terms of the lease?
4. Did the tenant give a reason for moving?
5. Were there any complaints from neighbors about the tenant?
6. Would you rent to this tenant again?”
For more items visit Bills Blog Entry.
Posted in Apartment Management, Apartment Management Service, Apartment Management Services, Apartment Tenant Qualification, Find Good Tenants, Find a Tenant, Get Good Tenants, Getting Good Tenants, Leasing Management, Property Management, Property Management Solution, Tenant Evaluation, Tenant Screening | 33 Comments »
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
In the course of checking my usual blogs, looking at LinkedIn discussions, etc. I continue my quest for contributors and input writing a series of books for multifamily industry operations and investment.
The initial installment will be a bit higher level book designed to help an apartment investor assure that the right resources, the right skills, the right due diligence, and the right plans are in place. Marketing will be touch on more lightly in this book, but future installments will delve more thoroughly into many areas.
If you are interested in helping out in anyway, drop me an email at blake.ratcliff@occupancy100.com
Posted in Apartment Investing, Apartment Management, Apartment Management Service, Apartment Management Services, Apartment Marketing | 23 Comments »
Monday, October 12th, 2009
The largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. have seen high density renting for sometime. Many communities have taken steps to attempt to manage the issue. However, in the final analysis if cost of living demands it then this will be a reality.
As apartment operators, why should we embrace this trend?
In the industry, we tend consider density related to tenant behavior issues. This association is based on experience and should not be ignored. How do we counter this? Some ideas that stand out include:
- Increased deposits based on density.
- Processes to identify density violations and processes to bring the violating tenants into compliance.
- Processes to better tenant and manage tenants for screening. Perhaps additional charges for added parking needs are a good response. Or, co-signature requirements on leases.
Ignoring the issues is not reasonable, but the economy may have created a new reality that we can’t realistically ignore.
Posted in Apartment Evaluation, Apartment Investing, Apartment Management, Apartment Management Service, Apartment Management Services, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Find Good Tenants, Find Latino Residents, Find Renter, Find Renters, Find a Tenant | 118 Comments »
Friday, October 9th, 2009
I admit it… I shamelessly took my children (4 year old twin girls) to shop one of my property’s competition this weekend. I told them we were pretending to get a new house and that they needed to be mini-inspectors like their mom and check to see if the apartments were “good”. In my kids’ minds, things are either “awesome”, “fine” or “crappy” – just to pre-warn you.
Comp #1 featured a comparable rental price and quare footage, but horribly worn berber carpet that according to my oldest, looked like the “crappy sidewalk” by their favorite park. This comment went unchallenged by the leasing agent.
Comp #2 featured a higher rent, less square footage, but big money amenities on the property and in the unit itself. The leasing agent completely neglected my kids on this tour, refused to ask their names and even told them “Now don’t touch anything, girls.” My kids’ reaction “I don’t like her face.”
Comp #3 was beautiful. Aggressively priced, good floorplan, great property and an excellent customer service standard. Completely catered to the girls. Right until we walked into the apt. that this leasing agent said “You guys are going to love it. Plenty of room for Nada and Frankie {my girls’ stuffed panda and dalmation} to play!” Nobody could get past the smell of mildew, damp, and obvious hidden water damage. My youngest said the apartment smelled like poo. At which point the leasing agent completely lost his cool and said “Sweetie, why don’t you just let me talk to your mommy.”
At this point you may be wondering why I blatantly used my children to evoke reactions in this shopping trip. The answer? I seem to get the most candid and transparent reactions. Yes, I used my children to see if the properties were “child proof” in their ability to cater to ALL their prospects, not just the ones with an active credit score. And I would (and probably will) do it again.
And what did we learn? Parents pay attention. No different than speaking to just one member of the couple that walks thru the door. Or refusing to acknowledge a pet that someone brings with them to the appointment. If you want to sell, then sell to every aspect of your prospect. You sell to their needs, wants, potential concerns, etc., so sell to their lifestyles, families, friends and whoever else joins them in their shopping. If you don’t, you may just get the thumb’s down from two four year olds, whose final pronouncement was “Mumma, those places were crappy crap!” Couldn’t have said it better. Now if only they could type this blog themselves.
The original blog article can be found on the Multifamily Insiders Blog.
Posted in Apartment Evaluation, Apartment Management, Apartment Marketing, Find Good Tenants, Find Latino Residents, Find Renter, Find Renters, Find Tenant, Find a Tenant, Finding Good Tenants, Finding Renters, Finding Tenants, Get Good Tenants, Get Tenant, Get a Tenant, Getting Good Tenants, Increase Apartment Occupancy, Increasing Apartment Occupancy, Leasing Management, Obtain More Leases, Obtain More Renters, Obtain More Tenants, Property Management, Resident Retention, Tenant Acquisition, Tenant Evaluation | 63 Comments »
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
Apartment communities can capitalize on the current economy. In the past, consumers who wanted any particular item could rely on readily available credit to simply purchase the item. This is no longer true.
Consumer credit has fallen 7 straight months. In July, credit fell $21 billion. In August, credit fell $10 billion. In September, credit fell $12 billion. News reports this week describe consumer spending as weak and focused on necessities.
A multifamily operator with imagination is uniquely positioned to be the value provider to residents. For one price and some imagination, a community can:
- Reduce the cost of living,
- Reduce outlays for necessities, and
- Provide luxuries that are otherwise unavailable.
Communities can provide services for good profits yet at a discount to alternative sources because your community is captive, your collections process is in place, and your staff is already positioned to provide much of what is needed.
Secondarily, the environment may be right to significantly increase retention. And, increasing retention reduces cost.
Blake
Posted in Apartment Management, Apartment Management Service, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas | 18 Comments »
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
U.S. consumer debt fell another $10 billion last month. Current predictions are the average savings rate for the coming decade will exceed 9%. Retailers believe spending has shifted long term to necessities and away from luxuries.
So, the question becomes how can we as owners squeeze more into less. I see a few areas we intend to act upon including:
- Bunking options with safes for valuables in properties with space for more tenants,
- Storage options for folks downsizing from homes,
- Fixed income rent plans with utilities built in (reimbursed by the tenant is our plan), and
- By the bedroom leases and roommate management.
Managing in this environment is challenging, but with some imagination, these type changes may offer higher occupancy and higher margins even as pressure on price is increasing.
For folks looking at new units, I believe smaller floor plans are likely to regain a great deal of luster as total cost of living including rent and utilities become more important.
Posted in Apartment Management, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Website, How to Find Renters, Increase Apartment Occupancy, Increasing Apartment Occupancy, Marketing Apartment, Marketing Apartments, Obtain More Leases, Obtain More Renters, Obtain More Tenants, Receive More Renter Traffic, Receive More Renters, Receive More Tenants, Tenant Acquisition, Tenant Finding | 24 Comments »
Sunday, October 4th, 2009
Urbane Apartments offered a great tip for operators. Instead of asking where resident prospects found out about your community, ask what search terms they used as well. In this way, you can improve your competitive position on the web.
Posted in Apartment Management, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Support, Apartment Marketing Website, Apartment Rental Application, Find Renter, Find Renters, Find Tenant, Finding Good Tenants, Finding Renters | 40 Comments »
Sunday, October 4th, 2009
Why would a great website not necessarily make an effective website for an apartment community?
Prospective renters don’t consider renting apartments in the same way they look at purchasing a good book, a computer, or perhaps selecting a dry cleaning service. There are some similarities. Once a consumer purchases a computer, they are commited for an extended period of time to make use of the product along with its weaknesses and strengths. However, a computer is a decision that is not impacted by many external factors. Choosing a computer doesn’t create a need to know where you will go to the doctor, or how far it is to the grocery store, or where the nearest fast food may be, etc. On the other hand choosing to rent an apartment can and should raise all these issues for prospective multifamily residents.
While over 50% of apartments searches begin on line and over 70% if they are moving in from out of town, as individual complexes achieving Internet visibility can be tough. This has led many apartment communities to conclude that they do not need a website. Instead they rely on the ILS community to provide web visibility.
Allowing the ILS to be your initial Internet contact is a reasonable approach to gain access to consumers, but it is not reasonable in a world where the consumer increasingly would like to make a decision without speaking to anyone that this is all the consumer will seek to know.
Consumers and therefore renters are seeking providers that will show them what they need, clearly explain what their service offers for their need, and allow them to purchase without further use of their time. The ILS is not and should not be positioned to do this for you. As the apartment manager, operator, or owner, you are uniquely positioned to provide robust and compelling community information.
Because of this the website for an apartment community is NOT equivalent to a typical “great” website. Because of this, the Apartment Marketing Site is a bit different animal. First, there is no need for glitzy high cost web design for a strong multifamily community website. The key is well organized information that allows the consumer to fully understand the services, shopping, sites, etc. that the community offers.
Posted in Apartment Management, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Website, Apartment Website, Find Renter, Find Renters, Find Tenant, Help Rent Apartments, Help Renting Apartments, Hispanic Market, Housing Market Facts, Marketing Apartment, Marketing Apartments, Multi-family Renting | 239 Comments »
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
Today, Bloomberg ran an article that states an expectation of deflationary pressure throughout 2010. The principal driver behind this conclusion is the weakened employment environment throughout the United States. As a results as owners and managers we have to consider how this effects are operations and asset choices.
From a leasing perspective, this is extends the pressure households are under to accept living situations that were not acceptable in the past. Rebuilding America’s wealth means lower fixed cost choices for a large percentage of us. Owners should be considering rental options that will reduce tenants total cost of living decisions. Our affiliated properties have been developing fixed income solutions and solutions to increase the tenant density in our units taking advantage of our generally abundant parking, often good access to public transportation, and other factors supporting this.
From an operations perspective, we must be reviewing our labor costs and assure that we remain competitive. Additionally, as a sector that is likely to recover more quickly in this economy, we may have talent opportunities that don’t often exist. Also, expect and pursue significant reductions in costs for supplies and contract services.
As potential property investors, good deals today must offer extremely strong fundamentals as market conditions may continue to erode property values over the next 24 months. And, for properties already owned, lower leverage is the choice path.
Posted in Apartment Acquisitions, Apartment Evaluation, Apartment Investing, Apartment Management, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Purchases, Apartment Tenant Qualification, Apartment Website, Finding Good Tenants, Finding Renters, Finding Tenants, Get Good Tenants, Get More Renter Traffic, Get Tenant, Get a Tenant, Getting Good Tenants, Getting Tenants, Help Rent Apartments, Help Renting Apartments, Leasing Management | 206 Comments »
