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Recently Published: The longer term outlook for apartments remains good. The big banks are beginning to loosen up and the insurance companies have become active lenders again, but at a fraction of the earlier activity. Investment homes constituted 17 percent of all home sales in 2009 compared to 21 percent in 2008. The apartment sector is optimistic, partly because of capital provided by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Its political...read more What To Consider When Hiring a Property Management Company By Chris Thorman Whether an owner has one or one hundred properties, its important to consider whether or not they are prepared to hire a property management company. Handing over the management of property is a major decision. Before making that choice, owners will want to make sure they understand the following...read more How Are Property Managers Using Technology? Last week, Software Advice set out to learn about the state of technology among property managers. 70 property managers responded to this survey, we gathered interesting information on social media use, business growth, lead tracking, and other areas...read more Increase Rental Income and Lower Your Vacancies Many home buyers dont really think of the rental qualities of their home purchase, yet property is holds more value partly based on rent and vacancy rates. Single family homes are, or should be, more highly valued if they can be rented fast...read more Green Landlording A recent survey off foreign investors holding more than a trillion dollars in US real estate were asked to what extent a buildings green attributes influenced their decision to purchase a property. 11 percent said significantly so, and 60 percent said somewhat so. In almost the exact same percentages, investors said that green attributes were worth a greater rental premium...read more Building Maintenance Checklist This is a copy of the building Dept of San Francisco Maintenance Checklist. Its a good idea to understand what maintenance the owner is responsible for. Repairs , Maintenance and Habitability Under California law, the landlord is responsible for repairing and maintaining a rental unit in a habitable condition that complies with state and local building and health codes. Many owners arent exactly sure what they are legally bound to do and can get into expensive and time consuming disputes with tenants. As property managers we thought it would be helpful to spell out the obligations as they exist in the state of California. Property Taxes: What Happens When Your Property Values decline Each year, from January through March, the property is assessed for property tax purposes. Generally, the preferred method of local governments is the ad valorem tax assessment. This is the method used to determine the tax for the coming year on the value of your property Emergency Maintenance Do you have procedures for an emergency. Its inevitable and always a surprise. Have some of these procedures in place and save yourself a panic. Go into the crises with a plan set down before it happens. Preventative Maintenance Preventative maintenance means getting on top of small problems before they do real damage and become expensive. Here is a short article on some of the most important simple fixes that can become a real expense Home Toxic Checklist; Green Solutions to Ordinary Household Products We all know that most common household products can also be harmful to Humans, especially babies, the elderly and people with low immune systems. Lets see how we can save money and protect our environment at the same time. Section 8 Housing What is it Section 8 is one of those mysterious programs many landlords are unclear about. There are pros and cons to section 8, but first the landlord should understand that it is not mandatory to accept section 8 applications. Tenant Move Out Cleaning Check List This is always an area of contention between landlords and tenants. Getting the whole security deposit back is a goal for both owners and tenants. If there are no problems then the landlord can rent quickly and without labor cost or management time. We like nothing better! How to Manage a Vacation Home Imagine having a serious structural problem, like 40 gallons of water under pressure leaking and no ones home for hours or even days. Save yourself huge dollars with a just a little effort. Bee Hive In The House? Removing a bee hive when it has made a home inside your wall or in the attic can be tricky. Here are some thoughts and procedures on how to do that painlessly New Tenants: Change Locks and Protect Yourself Some managers or owners may be tempted to avoid the expense of a lock change when a new tenant moves in. Please, this can be dangerous. An owner or manager should never allow the possibility of access to anothers unit Building Inspections Permits and Problems The BDI inspects approves, and issues all permits required by code for new construction and for repairs and additions to all public and private buildings. Knowing when you need to involve them and when you dont can save you a bundle of trouble. Landlord Tenant Lawsuits: How to Win Have you ever been to small claims court as a landlord trying to defend yourself against a tenant? Its like class warfare and you lose, the game is stacked and you, the landlord has to climb a wall of trust. Tenant Pets When You Must Say Yes Being a pet lover myself, the choice is the owners to make, Fair Housing Law does not consider the pet owner a protected class and you may say no to pets in your property. But be careful, there are circumstances where your can be sued Tenant Screening Software: Statistics Based Model This is the other kind... Statistical modeling is the most hands off type of resident screening.
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