Property Managers Can Make or Break Your Real Estate Business!
It is extremely important to find a good property manager. Even then you should keep track of everything that is being done with your property. Remember this is a business…your business. If you aren’t careful, you’ll see your investment become a liability.Although what a property manager charges is important, even more important is what you get. On average we pay 8% a month on collected rents. You may find someone that will charge you only 5%, saving you money, and in return they may destroy your business. To date, we have not found a good property manager that only charges 5%. Saving money isn’t as important as hiring the right property manager that will properly take care of your investment.Your goal is to:
• Decrease expenses – utilities, repairs, etc.
• Avoid tenant turnover.
• Raise rents to keep up with current market rent rates.Property managers are not your business partners. They work for you! They can make recommendations but that’s it. Consult them as a resource but you must make the final decisions.It’s very important that you explain to them how you want things done. Then you must pay close attention to be sure they are doing what you’ve asked.Every time a property manager says you need to repair something you should ask why. We were told once that the kitchen light was broken. Before sending the handyman to repair it, I asked them to first ask the tenant to check the light bulb. Believe it or not, simply changing the light bulb fixed the problem. You want your property managers to only send repair personal when absolutely necessary.Anytime a repair is made on your property, be sure to get a copy of the invoice from the property manager. Look at the invoice to verify that your properties address is on it. If you have any questions about the repair, the contact information will be on the invoice allowing you to call the repairman. Unfortunately there are dishonest property managers. They will charge you for things don’t exist so that they can make some extra money. Keep track of everything and verify it all.The repair people can be your eyes. Be sure the property manager has them pay attention to how the property looks and report back.You want tenants, but only good tenants. Be sure the management company is only bringing in qualified tenants that will pay the rent and take care of the property. Always approve the tenant yourself. Don’t trust it to someone else. Have the property manager discuss the potential tenant with you. Talk about their credit score, if employment was verified, how much money the tenant makes, the back ground check, etc.You will get bad tenants, it’s part of the business, but you will lower the number of bad tenants that you get by doing proper due diligence on them before allowing them in your property.Be Sure That Your Property Manager Is Strict! No excuses should be accepted as to why the tenant hasn’t paid rent. The bottom line is they should pay rent or move out. Otherwise the property manger must evict them immediately.We own a 4-plex in Arkansas. One tenant was late one month. Then two tenants were late. I was busy at the time so I let it go. Then three tenants were late. At this point, busy or not, I needed to call my property manager to see what was going on. She said, “well they’re all having trouble paying the rent….but they called me to say they’d be late!” I told her I don’t care if they call to say they’re going to be late. If they are late you must start the eviction process. That sounds harsh but over the years we’ve learned we have to be. Tenants will take advantage of you if you let them. I told the property manager to send all four units a letter stating that if they were ever late they would be evicted. No excuses. The next month every unit paid on time and they have ever since.Most tenants understand that the most important thing is to keep a roof over their heads. However, if you let them make another expense the priority, they will. They’ll pay that expense first and hopefully pay you when they can if there is money left.The other thing we’ve learned over the years is that by allowing the tenant’s to pay the rent late each month you are actually hurting them. If you let them get behind and pay late one month, then usually it will be harder for them to pay on time the next month. What happens many times is they’ll pay later and later each month and eventually get so far behind that they can’t catch up. At that point you have no choice but to evict them, and in my opinion it’s your fault because you set them up to fail. The rule of thumb is they must pay the rent on time, or at least by the 3-5 day grace period. If not, then your property manager needs to understand that they must start the eviction process. When tenants see that you are serious, they’ll usually pay on time.Be sure that your property managers understand that they are not ever to give the tenant your name or contact information. Make this very clear!We like to always add fire extinguishers in each home or unit we own. Just be sure that you know how long the extinguishers should last and replace them as needed. There may be legal ramifications in your state when adding fire extinguishers so be sure to discuss this with an attorney that practices real estate law in the state the property is located. You should also run this buy your insurance carrier.Most tenants will forget about changing the smoke detector batteries and replacing heating and AC filters so it’s a good idea for you and the property manager to keep track and have them regularly changed. Whoever replaces everything should also inspect the property while they are there to verify that the tenants are taking good care of your property.It can be very helpful for you to use a property manager to manage your properties, however, you must oversee them. Don’t make the mistake of not paying attention to what is happening to your investment.Copyright © 2010 / Michael Gier & MHVProperties.com
Entertainment Promotions Excite Your Audience and Drive Your Brand’s Success
Entertainment promotions let you deliver licensed entertainment content to your audience. By attaching your products to popular television shows, Hollywood blockbusters, and chart-topping music artists, you can leverage their popularity to build exposure for your brand. By giving consumers a chance to download free music, video games, skins, and ringtones, you’ll capture their attention and expose them to your products. You’ll also cultivate their loyalty, which increases your product sales over the long run.Entertainment promotions are flexible. They can be customized and fine-tuned to fit your marketing strategy. For example, suppose you want to promote a line of clothing to the 50+ crowd. Launch a campaign that gives your audience a chance to download three free classic rock songs. Or, suppose you would like to market a line of shoes to the 14-18 segment. You can tap into that demographic with promotions that offer licensed content through ringtones, video games, and skins.Below, you’ll discover why entertainment promotions are so powerful in triggering a response from your market. We’ll explain how they boost your sales, improve customer loyalty, and drive your brand’s success. You’ll also learn how to leverage entertainment promotions to collect valuable information about your audience.Entertainment Promotions Tap Into Your Market’s Consumption PatternsYour target audience already enjoys movies, television programs, music, and in some cases, video games. By using licensed content from each of these channels, you can create digital promotions that tap into their consumption patterns. That gives you an ideal vehicle for exposing consumers to your brand.For example, imagine distributing in-package cards that offer consumers ten free song downloads from popular artists such as Miley Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson, Jay-Z, and Taylor Swift (among hundreds of others). Drive these consumers to a customized, branded landing page that exposes them to your products and collects their contact information.Radio promotions can be used to improve your brand’s exposure. Music producers and record labels launch their artists’ new songs on the radio in order to reach millions of fans. Design entertainment promotions that support these releases while introducing your products to a massive audience.Entertainment Promotions Increase Your Sales And Customer LoyaltyOne of the biggest hurdles for brand owners is penetrating a market and building awareness for their products. Both are precursors to increasing sales and improving customer loyalty. The problem is, people are bombarded with an endless stream of advertisements. Penetrating a market often requires using an existing channel to reach a given segment.Entertainment promotions leverage existing marketing channels to deliver licensed content to a hungry audience. Custom promotions that attach your products to a popular entertainment property can be tailor-made to fit your marketing strategy. Whether you’re targeting tweens, adult males, or country music fans, you can excite your audience by offering free songs, skins, ringtones, and similar digital incentives. Not only does this help introduce your products to a motivated audience, but it encourages their loyalty. And that drives long-term sales.Use Entertainment Promotions To Collect Customer InformationWhile boosting awareness of your brand and lifting sales are important, there is another reason to use an entertainment promotion: to collect valuable customer information. This data can be a potent resource for identifying consumer preferences. Once you know what your audience prefers, you can design these promotions that cater specifically to those preferences. This all but guarantees they’ll respond to your marketing campaigns.For example, suppose you’re promoting a chain of restaurants to lift chain-wide sales. You’re giving customers who spend $50 or more a chance to download free songs from their favorite artists. Over time, you’ll be able to track who receives your entertainment promotions and the music artists they prefer. With this information, you can refine future campaigns to highlight artists that are popular with your restaurants’ customers.Entertainment Promotions: A Proven Solution For Brand SuccessThere are many ways to stimulate sales for your products and improve awareness of your brand. Unfortunately, most advertising channels are extremely expensive. These promotions are a cost-effective strategy for lifting sales and driving your brand’s success. Because the digital incentives are delivered online, costs are minimized and the results are easy to track. What’s more, you’ll be able to collect valuable customer data that will help you refine future marketing campaigns.Entertainment promotions, when executed properly, complement your existing brand promotions and customer loyalty programs. They can play a critical role in your brand’s long-term success.
How to Find a Low Risk Investment
You have a lot of options available to you when searching for a low risk investment. There are tons of online options that can provide you with a high return on investment without putting you at a financial risk. You probably already know that you have to take a few chances to make money when making investments. That does not mean that you should not make smart investments.Be RealisticYou should know that you are not going to make a boat load of cash with low risk investments. You can experience some significant financial gain, but you are not going to become a billionaire. For anyone who is looking to build their investment portfolio you need to begin with finding the right low risk investments. They can provide you with a cushion and provide a safe haven for your long term investments as well as your financial goals.These types of investments come in very handy when considering your retirement plan. There are many different ones for you to consider.BondsBonds are a good low risk investment as they are a very secure way to invest. Government bonds are the best option, however if you choose to buy corporate bonds you are more likely to get your money back should the company go under. Money market mutual funds are also one of the best ones because they are not based on the stock market. They are based on securities instead.AnnuitiesAnother low risk investment that is a smart idea to consider is annuities. Annuities are usually paid on a monthly basis. You can also opt to make one lump sum purchase. You will start to receive monthly payments on your annuity once you purchase it. These investments should be mixed with other low risk investments such as bonds to create a strong and well-rounded portfolio. Be smart when making your investments to be provided with the highest return on investment.CDsCDs are the not best low risk investment, but they can be a great option for you to check out. CDs are certificate of money deposits that are great to purchase if you have a little bit of extra cash that you do not need right away. CDs are usually federally insured and they can draw quite a bit of interest and return on investment over a long period of time. You should try to avoid drawing from a CD early because you will end up losing money in the long run.BrokersIf you do not feel that you can make smart investments by yourself you should consider hiring the services of a professional broker. A broker can help you choose the smartest and lowest risk investments to suit your needs. A low risk investment should be the backbone of every investment portfolio.
Traveling to Europe? Get the Goods Before You Go
There’s nothing quite like traveling to expand your knowledge, titillate your imagination, quench your thirst for culture and history, immerse yourself into different worlds, and explore new and old exotic customs and lifestyles.Europe has all these things and more. With so many countries bordering each other, you may be at a loss to know where to go first, how to maximize your time and money, which places will give you that bang for your buck, and which ones are all hype. You’ll want to explore your best options for your Europe travel planning.Europe Travel PlanningMost people already have at least one destination that they’re dying to see. When exploring other ideas, you’ll want to consider cost, travel time, the best ways to do that traveling, what’s involved with passports, customs, and tickets, and what you should and shouldn’t eat or drink.With the plethora of travel writers zipping around the world, you may find yourself spending hours reading conflicting reports and information. One person may have just loved the Musée du Louvre in Paris, while another found it mildly interesting, but that person loved the Eiffel Tower.Preparing for Your European TravelBecause Europe is such a conglomeration of countries that have their own rules and regulations, you’ll want to plan carefully and be prepared. This is easily done by visiting each country’s official Web site.Many travel sites cite particular experiences by travelers and travel writers, but are somewhat generic applying to families or seasoned travelers. Some sites are customizing Europe travel planning reports that will suit your particular traveling style and needs. Preparing your European travel to fit your tastes is definitely the way to go.