PropertyManager.com » Technology

30 Tweet Ideas: Part 2 of the Twitter Series for Property Managers

Charity Hisle — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:00:17 +0000

Twitter is one of the most difficult social networks to explain and to learn for property management professionals. Often I hear questions like, “What do we say?” or “Who are we talking to?” Let’s try to clear up the confusion today! Assuming you already understand what Twitter is (link to post #1), we’ll get down to the nitty-gritty details.

What do I Tweet About?
1.   Upcoming events at your community: parties like pool, holiday, Superbowl
2.   Introduce new employees: include a photo and first name
3.   Welcome new residents: ask if new residents have a Twitter handle
4.   Make important announcements: power outages, pest control, etc.
5.   Share local community events: concerts, theaters, restaurants, museums, college game day, etc.
6.   Reply to questions about pricing and availability
7.   Share community pet photos
8.   Say thank you to prospects: ask for Twitter handle
9.   Share content like newsletters
10.   Share evergreen content: policies and emergency evacuation routes
11.   Participate in tweet chats
12.   Tweet with other local businesses
13.   Re-tweet local business tweets to share deals and updates with your residents
14.   Share other businesses via Twitter with #FollowFriday
15.   Resident referral bonuses (if applicable)
16.   Share photos from previous events
17.   Host a Tweet-up for your city
18.   Share updates from a movement or a charity (Movember, Breast Cancer Awareness)
19.   Share local coupons and deals from Groupon and LivingSocial
20.   Share the weather report for your area
21.   Receive and respond to maintenance requests
22.   Have a contest: think scavenger hunt
23.   Share fun trivia and quotes
24.   Use employees, residents and community pets in your profile photo
25.   Share individual Twitter handles on employee name badges
26.   Promote the out-of-work employee stories (What does Jane do for a hobby? Can you share Mark’s BBQ recipe?)
27.   Talk about things that aren’t business related
28.   Share green living and cleaning tips
29.   Share pet-lover updates: local vets, pet spa’s, pet sitters, etc.
30.   Ask questions about what people are doing this weekend or for a holiday.

What not to Tweet About?
Politics or controversial public issues
Religion or spiritual beliefs
Specials, sales or concessions
Do NOT complain about residents, employees or work situations

Try to keep it positive, upbeat and authentic and you’ll do just fine! For those of you that are just getting started, we have Twitter How-To’s coming up next.

Related Posts:

What is Twitter? Part 1 of the Twitter Series for Property Managers

10 More Pinterest Tips for Property Managers!

10 Tips for Property Managers Using Facebook

What is Twitter? Part 1 of the Twitter Series for Property Managers

Charity Hisle — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:53:15 +0000

“Fish where the fish are.”
Believe it or not, the world has not abandoned Twitter, in fact, just the opposite. While Facebook and Google Plus use are declining, Twitter is gaining users globally. The average user sends a half a Tweet per day and the site has reached 360 million registered users.

What is Twitter, Anyway?
Twitter has been called a micro-blog but I like to think of it more like a bulletin board for the world. Everything from natural disasters to in depth discussions takes place on this public forum. Brands are using Twitter to communicate with prospects and customers, provide timely customer service and even to increase revenue.

Conversing on Twitter:

Twitter will allow you to share your messages in 140 characters or less.

Create user-friendly usernames: keep the name as short as possible, make it memorable, avoid punctuation. Consider something like AshleyParkRockStars, ParkPlaceCares or something that would inspire a human response.

Use a picture of real humans in your profile picture, perhaps in front of your community or in the leasing office.

When you “follow” someone, you’re essentially subscribing to their status updates.

Listen, look around, before you start tweeting.

Ask questions, reply with personality to questions that are asked.

Rather than following everyone at first, develop the right list of followers so that you are having real conversations with real people online.

Who to follow:

Follow residents and prospects

Follow local businesses and hometown celebrities

Follow employees and prospective employees

Search twitter for keywords including neighborhood + apartment, city + “looking for an apartment” and follow their accounts – reply to their questions if they are asking for recommendations on where to live

Follow your competitors – know what they’re doing and who they are talking too… while you’re at it, follow their followers too!

Here is a list of 100 more must-follow individuals and companies in the multifamily and apartment marketing industry (link 4).

Stay tuned for our next posts, 30 Tweet Ideas: Part 2 of the Twitter Series for Property Managers and Twitter How-To’s.

Sources:

http://www.insidefacebook.com/2011/06/12/facebook-sees-big-traffic-drops-in-us-and-canada-as-it-nears-700-million-users-worldwide/

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_plus_traffic_drops_1269_gains_erased.php

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/160712/average-twitter-user-sends-half-a-tweet-per-day.html

http://www.sociallyengagedmarketing.com/2010/10/top-100-twitter-recommendation/

Related Posts:
30 Tweet Ideas: Part 2 of the Twitter Series for Property Managers

Should Your Property Management Company Investigate Pinterest?

4 Facebook Lead Generation Tips for Property Managers

Rental Income with a “Home Away from Home” Approach

Marc Courtenay — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:01:25 +0000

There are many ways to help owners expand their base of income and to market yourself as a property manager that’s going above and beyond to help your clients succeed.

Recently I learned of a company that had their “Initial Public Offering” (IPO) on the Nasdaq stock exchange. It reminded me of an opportunity that property managers are able to create in their own backyard. Austin, Texas based HomeAway, Inc. (Nasdaq:AWAY) operates as an online marketplace for the vacation rental industry. Its online vacation rental property marketplace enables property owners and managers to market properties available for rent to vacation travelers who rely on the company’s websites to search for and find available properties. The company’s website (http://www.homeaway.com) offers property listings, photographs, pricing, availability and contact information for vacation homes.

The company publishes detailed property listings, including photographs, descriptions, location, pricing, availability, and contact information. It also sells complementary products, such as travel guarantees and property management software and services. It’s a smart business model and successful people I know have been looking for something like this for a long time.

One couple told me, “when we go on vacation with our half-grown kids, one hotel room is too cramped and two hotel rooms for a week is more expensive than renting a house.”

How does one find a short-term house to rent? Typically, it means calling a local real estate agency that has a limited number of rental properties available. If you don’t find what you want, you have to call another agent, and this process is often a pain in the neck. HomeAway takes this highly fragmented market and consolidates it, offering just what people need at their particular price point. With millions of second homes in resort areas sitting on the market unsold, many of them will ultimately be offered up for rentals, increasing both inventory and affordability.

So why not consider this as an additional service that your property management business can offer? This would be especially valuable in resort areas or in parts of the country where people come for extended stays (university towns, state capitals or hubs of major industries). Try presenting this idea to selected owner-clients who may want to use some of their rental units or houses for this purpose. It will remind them that you’re a reservoir of not only reliable management but also lucrative suggestions.

There are variations on this theme, like offering short-term rentals for corporate executives, graduate students with families, or for retirees who want to test your area by living there for a few months. In these challenging times it pays to think outside the box and create the strong reputation that you are a property manager who’s also a source of good ideas. The “Home-Away-from-Home” rental concept is just starting to catch on. See if it can benefit you and your clients.

Related Posts:
Vacation Home Market On the Up and Up

The Downturn’s Upside: Low Income Housing

Who Wants to Earn a Steady Income? 5 Best Practices to Find New Property Management Clients

Eliminate Property Management Time Wasters

Mary Girsch-Bock — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 23:58:08 +0000

Lean staff and busy property managers mean that proper time management in the office is more important than ever. Falling just a few days behind can result in playing catch-up for days to come, something most offices cannot afford to do.

Streamlining office operations can go a long way toward instituting and utilizing proper time management techniques. Below are a few time-consuming procedures that you may want to consider eliminating in order to create more free time tomorrow. While you’re at it, take a look around your office – most of us all have our own time wasters that need to be eliminated.

Using obsolete technology has to rank as the biggest time-waster in any office. Double posting, creating reports that aren’t available from your current software, and checking and re-checking work because of inaccurate posting can take a major chunk of your time that is better spent looking for additional clients. Older computers and dated software can waste way more time than they will ever save, and should be eliminated when possible. Investing in newer technology and more integrated software will save office staff both time and frustration.

Using two or three separate software programs instead of one integrated one. Do you track your tenants in one program, while using a separate accounting program for company financials? Why not simply combine them? It will eliminate duplicate data entry (a major time- waster) and create a more accurate picture of your company’s financial health.

Copying, stamping, and depositing rent checks. If you manage less than 25 properties, this is probably not an issue, but for those processing hundreds of checks a month, this takes up a lot of time. Instead, encourage residents to pay rent online using a tenant portal. Money is deposited automatically, and tenants are provided with an automatic receipt, as well as access to their rent payment history.

Showing rentals to uninterested parties. Spending a few extra minutes pre-screening applicants can significantly reduce the time wasted showing properties to people with no plans to rent. Finding out a bit more about what they’re looking for, rather than explaining what you have available can help to eliminate those who are not a good fit.

The bottom line is that an investment in some newer technology and some common sense can have your property management office running lean and efficient on a daily basis.

Related Posts:
Choosing the Right Property Management Accounting Software

Preparing Your Property Management Office for Year’s End

5 Signs That It is Time To Upgrade Your Property Management Software

Case Investigation: Maximizing Commercial Collection

KTS-Law — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:44:57 +0000

Commercial collection may be straightforward when a defaulting debtor owns significant real property, has lucrative relationships with identified third parties, or maintains significant money in readily identifiable bank accounts. Commercial collection may be more challenging if a debtor’s assets aren’t as obvious, either because the defaulting debtor has few or no assets, or its assets aren’t as readily apparent.

California has a statutory scheme that provides mechanisms for judgment creditors to recover money involuntarily from judgment debtors. However, a creditor cannot collect if the judgment debtor’s assets cannot be located.

Identifying a defaulting debtor’s assets can be helpful even if a creditor does not have a judgment. Almost all defaulting debtors claim financial distress. A creditor with good information about a debtor’s assets and financial condition will have a better idea of how hard a debtor can be pushed for payment before the debtor is forced into bankruptcy.

Locating debtors and assets is referred to in the collection industry as “skiptracing.” Skiptracing is particularly important in commercial landlord/tenant debt collection because, after an eviction, the tenant has relocated and must be found. One must have the necessary tools to locate a debtor and its assets. Effective skiptracing requires technology, creativity, and persistence.

Public records can be used to locate debtors and their assets. Property ownership records, bankruptcy records, fictitious business names, and business licensing records can be valuable resources.

Most successful collection firms have business relationships with companies who compile and sell information such as employment, location, credit and other information helpful in locating debtors and assets.

Some collection firms specializing in debt collection have invested in software to help with collection. Software may track information about the debt, the debtor, and past collection activity and schedule reminders for future action. Custom software may interface with sources of public record and business credit information to compile potential leads on debtors and their assets. Specialized software may even “scrub” data and prioritize telephone numbers, addresses, and bank information based upon the veracity of the data. While custom software packages can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, collection firms who make the investment offer their clients a higher rate of return.

While technology is a key component of effective skiptracing, the ability to locate debtors and assets also requires a collector’s personal attention and good judgment.

Law firms that specialize in collection have additional tools available to locate debtors and assets. Additional investigational tools available to collection lawyers include subpoenas, judgment debtor examinations, and interrogatories to judgment debtors. These tools are available only to law firms; they are not available to other third-party debt collection companies.

Commercial collection success requires good tools, accurate determination of which leads to follow and the best method of pursuit, and effective implementation of the chosen course of action.

Our Creditors’ Rights Practice Group effectively utilizes all available collection tools to ensure our clients the best opportunity to collect all amounts due. For more information about collections, please contact us at 800-575-1770.

Written By: D. Patrick O’Laughlin, Esq.

Related Posts:
Judgment Debtor Exams and the “Secret Lien”

A Landlord’s Inside Track to Debt Collection: The Bank Levy

Choose Your Collection Partner Wisely

Zillow Shares Sell Like Hot Cakes

Aimee Miller — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:57:18 +0000

Even as the housing sector continues to be unpredictable it was exciting to see the Zillow IPO on Wednesday July 20th. Zillow priced its IPO at $20 per share and the stock quickly doubled right out of the gates. Around when this article was published it was trading closer to $34.40 which is a 72% increase from the initial price.

Even though Zillow is not yet profitable, the company sold 3.46 million shares in the IPO. They are getting closer to profitability and the revenue growth is good – Zillow reported $30.5 million in 2010 and $17.5 million in 2009. This IPO does come at a tough period for the housing sector, which still has not made any kind of a sustained recovery. Does this IPO indicate that investors believe in the profitability of the residential property sector? Or is it just increased confidence in the technology sector as a whole?

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/20/technology/zillow_IPO/

Related Posts:
Experts Believe Housing Recovery Still Years Away

Commercial Property Owners Default on Loans

Investors Favor City Apartments Over Suburban Communities

iPad – Beyond the Cool Factor

Heather Blume — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:39:26 +0000

If you’re trying to justify the purchase of tablets to your company, you’re going to have to have more than a strong, “I want it because it’s neat,” factor. With all the programs that have been coming out with great tablet integrations and apps, on site teams are salivating over these little toys. In fact, over the last 18 months I can’t even count how many people have told me how great leasing with a tablet can be. It’s cool. Prospects love playing with it. It gives you that nifty techie edge to your apartments.

But did you know that the uses of Apple’s iPad can extend straight to your bottom line? I’m talking about NOI here, ladies and gentlemen. Not the leases we might get, but the delinquencies that we already have.

That’s right – Your ADL can benefit from a little tech touch up.

I got turned on to this idea by a property manager out here on Mercer Island who, rather than just printing out the ADL letters and mailing/taping them to resident’s doors (which always looks so classy!), sends their people to knock on doors at the end of the day to remind residents of their balances in person.

Uncomfortable, you say? I would agree to an extent, but the diversion of the iPad makes this face to face, budget enforcing task a success for the property. When the resident answers the door, they greet the resident and let them know that they have an outstanding balance with the office, and then they OFFER THE CONVENIENCE of paying that outstanding bill, right there, online using the resident portal on their iPad browser.

Residents are more likely to pay right then and there because it’s not “out of sight, out of mind,” and they see it as a bonus that the management team came to them on their time and they didn’t have to remember to stop in at the office, or make time on a weekend to do so.

People will use your services if you make them easy to use by providing great customer service to go with them. Technology can enhance that level of service, and can enhance your budget and bottom line if you know how to get the most out of it.

Related Posts:
Eliminate Property Management Time Wasters

Service Sells: 5 Rules of Property Management Customer Service

6 Tips for Communication Clarity with Your Residents

How to Get Your Residents To Pay Rent Online

Mary Girsch-Bock — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:20:28 +0000

While many property management companies have been offering an online rental payment option to residents for years, there are just as many who currently do not. While technology savvy individuals often jump at the chance to pay rent online, many management companies that currently do offer this option have found that only a fraction of their residents actually utilize an online rental payment option.

The benefits are clear to property management companies; online payments tend to be more timely, the hassle of locating lost checks, stamping checks, and making bank runs becomes obsolete, and the time spent collecting on NSF checks is reduced to zero.

So if you’re considering offering this service to your residents, or want to increase the number of residents that take advantage of it, consider the following.

Appeal to procrastinators!
Being able to pay rent online allows residents who typically wait until the last minute to pay their rent the opportunity to do so – without incurring a late charge in the process.

Inform residents of the advantages of paying online.
Advantages include the ability to view a comprehensive rent payment history, and the option to schedule the rental payment. Some services offer an automatic debit from your account monthly, so residents can simply set up the amount and the date of the direct debit, and not have to think about it again.

Consider offering an incentive for signing up.
Everyone likes to get things for free, so you may want to consider dangling a $5.00- $10.00 gift card to a neighborhood merchant as an incentive.

Make it a contest.
Enter the names of all those signing up for online rental payments during the month in a drawing. Dinner for two or a $50.00 gas card may persuade reluctant residents to sign up.

Make it required.
If none of these work, consider implementing online rental payment as the required standard in payments. Rather than making it a requirement for all residents, impose the new standard on all new residents and establish a date that current residents must comply. You could also tack on a fee to residents who choose to continue to pay their rent with paper checks. Be sure to check with local and state agencies to determine if your property management company can legally impose this restriction on residents.

While some residents will always prefer to pay rent by check or money order, others find the ability to pay rent quickly and easily online an added bonus, not a detriment.

Related Posts:
Rent Week Pain Relief: What’s the Best Online Payment Solution?

Ditch That Rent Check: A World of Online Payment Options

Your Paperless Office: Five Great Reasons to Move Payments Online

Track Your Energy Costs in Real Time

Aimee Miller — Sat, 14 May 2011 00:06:54 +0000

Anyone who lives in a house or apartment has to pay energy bills. Not only can these bills be expensive, you only find out what you owe after the month is over. Now homeowners and renters can use home-electricity monitors to watch energy use and see what it costs in real time. The device is hooked up to the breaker box and from there it wirelessly transmits the data to a display unit.

According to studies by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (in Washington DC), when people have instant information about the energy use of individual appliances throughout the home they typically save 12%. You can move around the house with the handheld device and see how it impacts energy consumption when you turn on a light or use the toaster. The monitor comes with software but online giants like Google are also offering the ability to review energy usage in real time.

What if you could offer this to a prospective renter – it’s a marketing idea that would definitely make the home stand out from the crowd!

Source: http://realestate.msn.com/real-time-energy-monitors-reduce-use-and-costs

Related Posts:
Energy Benchmarking Program to Include Multifamily Housing in Seattle

Property Managers Receive Free “Energy Review” and Save Money

How Your Residents Can Lower Their Electric and Water Bills

Choosing the Right Property Management Accounting Software

Mary Girsch-Bock — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:00:30 +0000

Has your current property management software program been giving you more problems than solutions? If so, you may be ready to look for new property management accounting software. Before you do anything, take a brief inventory of your needs, your employee’s needs, and what you absolutely have to have. If you’re not sure what you need, take these suggestions under consideration.

Remote Access
In my eyes, Remote Access is not negotiable. Being able to connect from anywhere is an absolute must these days, particularly for property management firms that traditionally deal with employees working in remote locations in different parts of town, or, in many cases, different cities and states. To ensure that all of your remote workers have the same access to the same data, invest in web-based software that is as easily accessible from Chicago as it is from Miami.

Portals
Think about how much easier your job would be if tenants could log into a secure account to pay their rent, check for any messages and send in maintenance requests. Just slightly less important than remote access, tenant portals allow your tenants to become more rather than less involved with the community, as they will have instant access to resident newsletters, rental information, and can have their own rental account set up and easily accessible.

Electronic Bill Payment
While companies that manufacture paper checks may not be too happy about this feature, paying bills electronically saves paper and toner costs, eliminates lost checks and delayed payments, and make it easy to track payments made. It also eliminates outstanding checks on your bank reconciliation, making that process a whole lot easier.

Website Integration
While almost any program provides some web access, you want to look for a software program that actually integrates with your company website. True integration allows potential tenants to browse your website, take a peek at floor plans and any property videos and photos you may post, and even arrange to view a specified unit. Some companies even post property diagrams where applicants can see which apartments are available and choose the unit they may be interested in. This also works well with single family homes, where an interactive map displays exactly where the home is located, allowing applicants the ability to choose whether they wish to look at the property prior to contacting leasing personnel.

While there are a lot of other features that may be on your ‘must have’ list, purchasing a software product with these features will eliminate the need to look at software again in the foreseeable future.

Related Posts:
Using Excel Instead of Property Management Software Is Risky Business

5 Signs That It is Time To Upgrade Your Property Management Software

4 Year-End Property Management Accounting Best Practices (Nov. 19 Webinar Recap)