Peter Bubel+ by | Jul 10, 2019 | Blog, Peter Bubel, Property, Property Management
It isn’t easy managing a property. It requires constant work to responsibly organize the many things happening. It takes time, dedication, and diligence.
Technology has made this much easier than it used to be. Software can streamline a lot of the work by taking tasks off a property manager’s plate. Things like collecting payments, scheduling, tracking analytics for your business, messaging with your guests, website management, and accounting can all be made much simpler by the use of property management softwares.
Keeping In Touch With Your Guests
You need an automated system to make it easy to send your guests essential messages.
Try Guesty for a messaging automation system. You can customize your automated messages so they will be consistent with your branding voice. You can set up messages to be sent out after specific triggers, like a cancellation.
Channel Managers
The first property management software to look at is a channel manager. A good channel manager will make it easy to manage not only every channel you currently use, but any that you plan to possibly use in the future. Changing later is expensive so it’s important to take a moment to consider what you might want to use later.
The manager should have plenty of analytics so you don’t need to install something else to keep track of how your business is performing.
It’s also important that it integrates with other software you use.
The last thing is still essential, which is that it should perform automation for you. A quality channel manager will send automated booking confirmations and perform other tasks that aren’t necessary for you to perform yourself but are still essential for your business.
For a dedicated channel manager, check out yieldPlanet, which has over 400 channels. You can also consider Cloudbeds, which has an excellent channel manager but is a more advanced system that also has a booking engine and payment processing.
A Booking Calendar
You need a calendar app that makes the whole process simple. It doesn’t need to be flashy; it needs to be smooth and beautifully designed in its simplicity. If you use services like Airbnb or Booking.com, then the calendar needs to integrate with those services.
BedBooking is an excellent option for a calendar app that will make this simple for you.
Peter Bubel+ by | Apr 20, 2019 | Peter Bubel, Property, Restaurants
As a property developer, there is a lot to put into consideration. The entire process of developing a property takes immense attention to detail. It’s easy to make mistakes at the beginning that can lead to not making a profit off the property. In order to be successful, it’s important to avoid these early mistakes as a property developer:
The Wrong Location
When finding the right property, location is everything. The location is one of the main deciders of whether a property will be successful or not. One of the first mistakes a property developer can make is choosing the wrong location. Finding a property in an up and coming neighborhood is harder than it looks. The location must be near schools, by public transit, close to nice parks and main roads. Even though a developer can find a cheaper property, a buyer is not going to pay top dollar if it is not a nice place to live. Avoid this mistake by researching neighborhoods and be certain it can offer what buyers are looking for.
Being Too Cheap
Saving money on a property doesn’t always mean a bigger profit. If a property developer is too cheap during development, the property will lose its quality. Even though there are cheap versions of upgraded flooring, cabinets, and tiles, it’s better to opt for quality over price. When pricing is the developers biggest concern, there are still cost-effective ways to improve the property. This can be rendering the house, upgrading the driveway, and focusing on landscaping. These small details will give the property greater value and appeal more to the buyer.
Spending Too Much
There is the perfect middle ground between being too cheap and spending too much money. While the quality of the property is extremely important, some first-time property developers make the mistake of spending too much. Property developers shouldn’t over-design or specify when creating a property. It’s possible to have nice upgrades without going overboard on lavish appliances. To make a profit and stay on budget, skip the marble countertops or crystal taps. Spending too much is just as bad as being too cheap. It’s important o find the right balance.
Choosing the Wrong Builder
A property developer is only as good as its builder. The profitability and quality of the property depends on how good the builder is. Many early property developers will make the mistake of choosing the wrong builder. It’s important for them to interview different builders and find someone with enough experience. The right builder will have at least ten years of consent business, many references, and have signed a fixed price contract. This way the property developer won’t get ripped off.
Peter Bubel+ by | Jul 2, 2018 | Blog, Peter Bubel, Property, Property Management
Landlords and their subordinate property managers are typically viewed as important figures in the lives of renters. After all, they can evict tenants at their will, be accommodating or not-so-accommodating of renters’ needs, and engage in other potentially life-changing behaviors.
As such, communication between renters and property managers is essential for solid relationships to form. Considering that property managers often have hundreds of units to oversee, property managers are more often than not likely to be distant to renters, rather than the contrary.
Understanding how the average renter prefers to communicate is essential to hitting it off with tenants.
Recent statistics show that the United States was home to some 126 million households in 2017.
According to the always-reputable Pew Research Center, the proportion of renters to homeowners in the United States is more in favor of renters than ever before, with statistics from 2016 indicating that roughly 43 percent of those 126-odd-million households rented their places of living, rather than outright owning it or paying a mortgage against its ownership.
Further, adults between the ages of 18 and 35 were found to rent more frequently than any other age group.
Why does this last statistic matter?
Common knowledge and research alike indicate that younger populations are more likely to use technology than their older counterparts. The aforementioned Pew Research Center found that, in 2012, 97 percent of people aged 18 to 29 in the United States used the World Wide Web, with the next three age groups – 30 to 49, 50 to 64, and 64 onwards – using the Internet less than younger people.
Since property managers inherently oversee rental properties as a part of regular work, combined with the fact that younger generations rent more frequently than older age groups and are also more likely to show affinity towards the World Wide Web, communicating with renters through technological means is unarguably well worth the effort.
What can property managers do to best communicate with tenants?
Using automated marketing software is essential to keeping in touch with renters. Considering that most renters, by a large margin, use the Internet, it only makes sense to take advantage of such technology.
Promoting a true open-door policy is also essential to good tenant relationships. Property managers should consider hosting digital comment boxes that renters can anonymously provide feedback through.
Peter Bubel+ by | May 22, 2018 | Pennsylvania, Peter Bubel, Property, Property Management
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that America is home to roughly 317,000 property managers, workers that maintain regular operation of houses, apartment complexes, commercial facilities, and other buildings.
Leasing to just one bad tenant can effectively pile on countless thousands of dollars in necessary repairs and hundreds of hours of labor. Since property managers ultimately make such calls, risk is inherent in the day-to-day undertakings of people in such positions.
Natural disasters can wreak havoc on structures and land they sit on, mid-level to major crimes can generate negative publicity for properties, and tenants that disturb neighbors can encourage them to seek housing elsewhere. That’s not to mention countless other manifestations of risk that property managers must be ready to deal with in their lines of work.
While risk can never be eliminated, there are several precautions that can be taken to minimize risk.
Insurance is arguably more important than any other risk mitigation strategy
Statistics indicate that just four in ten apartment lessees in the United States hold active insurance policies that protect against emergency, theft, and other unforeseen happenings that often cause financial damage.
As such, property managers can never reasonably assume that their tenants have active insurance coverage taken care of.
Insurance is available for virtually every asset, occupation, and situation, including the ownership or management of real estate. Every property manager should maintain active insurance coverage that covers literally everything bad that could happen to properties, tenants, and guests. Further, a solid means of making sure all of the proverbial bases of properties under management are covered is requiring new tenants to provide proof of renter’s insurance prior to allowing them to sign leases.
Residents should be made fully aware of facility-wide plans of staying safe during emergencies
Active shooter threats, hurricanes, sinkholes, and earthquakes are four examples of emergencies that unfortunately rear their ugly head far too often across planet Earth. Rather than assuming they won’t happen, or that tenants and their guests will act in the best interest of their safety, property managers should make certainthat tenants are fully aware of facility-wide plans of action if any of the aforementioned emergencies occur.
Peter Bubel+ by | Oct 2, 2017 | Blog, Pennsylvania, Peter Bubel, Property, Property Management
Artificial intelligence has risen from science fiction to become the buzzword of the decade. It seems to be disrupting every industry. For property managers, artificial intelligence can be a boon for those who know how to harness it. Ignoring it’s potential guarantees a bust.
As the number of renters continues to skyrocket, investment in the market follows suit. Artificial Intelligence offers property managers an invaluable edge in this dynamic marketplace. New apps utilizing AI, such as ZenPlace and Appfolio, leverage the technology to identify inefficiencies and minimize unexpected expenses. With AI, keeping track of maintenance and renewals is as easy as setting an alarm on your phone.
The future potential of artificial intelligence is even greater. While the industry remains rooted to a foundation of human relationships, most basic functions can become automated. Imagine the savings, of money and energy, if most of your customer service could be completed by a chat robot. Or, if all of your regular maintenance activities scheduled themselves?
When you get down into the details, it seems that every function of property management could be improved through the use of artificial intelligence. But, what exactly is it? This is hard to pin down and still up for debate. However, at it’s most basic, artificial intelligence is just a computer that takes in some information about the environment and tries to make the best decision possible. This broad definition translates into some powerful applications toward almost any task.
The same technology that Facebook and Google are creating headlines with can bring property managers to the forefront of their industries, too. It doesn’t take much technical skill either. There are plenty of companies competing to give property managers the power of artificial intelligence. These include the same companies that have been serving the industry for years, like Yardi, MRI, and RealPage. Taking advantage of the power of AI has never been easier.
It seems clear from how industry leaders are investing in the technology, artificial intelligence is here to stay. Ignoring this technology is ignoring a powerful tool to streamline business and increase profit margins. As this technology spreads it even becomes cheaper. There are applications for property managers with several units to those with thousands. Opportunities abound in every sector.
This is a defining moment for property managers. Those who adapt and innovate with artificial intelligence are at the precipice of a boon. The potential for profit is overwhelming.
Peter Bubel+ by | Sep 4, 2017 | Blog, Peter Bubel, Property, Property Management, Real Estate
Appfolio: Property Manager
Appfolio is a company providing software solutions to property managers and members of the legal industry. Its blog, run by the former property management blog PropertyManager.com, offers advice on everything from creating a team to knowing the law. Subscribe to this blog for a wide variety of informational articles. Or, even though it’s no longer being updated, trawl through the back catalogue of PropertyManager.com, where you can find all sorts of other great links.
Let’s Talk Property Management
Let’s Talk Property Management isn’t just a property management blog. It’s also a place where you can connect with other property managers, ask questions of the experts, and share your own experiences. The blog (located on the site under the button marked “Learn”) has great advice for renters and landlords alike, written by both contributors and blog staff. Start from most recent, or sort the results by viewership, likes, comments, or verification.
First Light Property Management
This isn’t the most user friendly blog I’ve seen. Google searches don’t always turn it up (if you’re having trouble, you can find it at http://firstlightpropertymanagement.com/blog/) and the site itself has a lot of white space that you have to scroll through. But with some poking, you can find articles on anything you could want to know about property management–from how to move when you have kids or pets, and how to save money on your property taxes. For best results, scroll down to the categories list to narrow down your search.
BiggerPockets
Like Let’s Talk Property Management, BiggerPockets is a social network, not just a blog. You can create an account to network with other property managers, seek out advice or experiences, or share your own. Even without a login, you can explore the forums, or read the blog, which offers general money-saving advice as well as property management tips. No time to read? BiggerPockets also has a podcast, so you can enjoy it working out or on your commute.
Property Management Insider
It’s easy to fall into a black hole on this site, which is packed full of blogs, slideshows, and other resources. The blog covers everything you care about, from the market to the impact of the millennial generation, and some things you didn’t know you cared about, like paint technology. In addition to property management, there are also blogs in the categories of Revenue Management, Expense Management, MPF Research, and Apartment Marketing
