Buying 100+ Units Through Word of Mouth Marketing

Bigger Pockets is a fantastic online real estate magazine.  There are podcasts and forums talking about all things real estate.  Enrique had the good fortune to talk to the the BP guys.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/10/29/bp-podcast-146buying-100units-word-mouth-marketing-enrique-jevons/

Tenants and Landlords Can Have a Good Relationship

Congratulations, you found the perfect place to live and are ready to move in. Start off right so you and your landlord can have a good relationship.

1 - Do a walk-through right away and let the landlord know of any existing issues and damages.  Take photos for record keeping.This will be kept in your file and can be looked at when you move out.

2 - The landlord should tell you all the important information about your home. If they don't, you should ask how the heating/ac, sprinklers, alarm, and other appliances work.  Talk about utilities and any other fees that are required.

3 - You should know how to get in touch with your landlord if you have any maintenance issues or questions. For example, at Jevons Property Management each of our clients can set up a tenant portal at our website. This allows our tenants to create a work order online that our maintenance department sees immediately and for paying rent.  We have office hours for a tenant to call or stop by and an after hours emergency line.

4 - Please pay your rent on time.  If something happens and you can't then let the landlord know right away.  Landlords don't want to evict good, honest, well meaning tenants.  The best outcome is to communicate to your landlord what is going on and design a plan together.

5 - Try to take care of small issues yourself.  Tenants are responsible for replacing batteries and light bulbs and cleaning out heating/ac filters.  When big issues arise use the proper maintenance procedure that they landlord told you about.  Be specific with what the problem is and share photos if necessary.  Good, reputable landlords want to handle work orders in a timely manner. 

Tenants and landlords can have a good relationship if both parties communicate with each other.  If both people are respectful, honest, and remember that there is a real person on the other end your rental experience should be a good one.

Questions to Ask Before Renting

The best way to do a search for a new rental home or apartment is to be prepared.  Have your list of questions ready when you meet with the property management company.  You want to find the best home that meets your needs.

Questions To Ask:

 - When is the place available for me to move in?
 - What are all of the costs?
          - what is the rent and how do I pay it?
          - what is the security deposit?
          - what is the pet deposit?
          - what utilities do I have to pay for?
          - what maintenance and upkeep do I have to pay for?
          - what are you fees if rent is paid late?
- Is there a laundry facility on site?
- Is there parking available?
- What is the move-in and the move-out procedures?
- What is the maintenance procedure if I need something fixed?
- How do I renew my lease?
- Can I change anything, such as painting, hanging shelves and pictures on the walls?
- Do you have an emergency number?

We Don’t Like Bad Reviews. Do You?

We don’t like bad reviews. Do you?

Yes, we have received bad reviews and ratings of our company on social media.  We get upset.  We get embarrassed.  We worry our business will suffer from them. Of course, we want to delete them, but we can’t.

Instead, we immediately take action. We try to figure out who wrote the review and why.  Did we do someone wrong that we can make right?  Do we need to change our procedures?  We talk to our staff and use our reviews, good and bad, to improve our customer service and policies.

We want happy tenants, owners, and vendors.  We want to be the best property management company in town.  We want constructive criticism to help us grow and get better.

We don’t want nasty, mean, spiteful, revenge criticism.  Social media will post any review so the reader has to decide what kind it was.

Please remember that there are 2 sides to every review.  

If we know the reviewer we contact them.  Nine out of ten times we work out the problem and everyone learns from the experience, is happy, and we prevent it from happening again.

Our last review involved tenants that were evicted so of course, they were mad at us. They did not pay rent and broke their lease.  Evictions are not surprise events that happen one day.  An eviction is a long legal process.  The tenant and landlord have many steps to take and each know exactly what is happening and when.  We don’t like doing evictions.  We are in business to have homes with tenants in them, not vacant.  We want tenants to follow their lease agreement.  We want tenants to tell us if something is wrong and we will try our best to work with their situation.  Eviction is the last thing we want to do, but we will do it if need be.

These tenants were mad at us for evicting them so they wrote a bad review regardless of the facts.  We could comment and go back and forth, but that would be pointless squabble.

Everyone at Jevons Properties Management uses the reviews of our company, good and bad, to improve our customer service and policies in an attempt to be fair and considerate to all. We ask for the same consideration in return.

Please remember that there are 2 sides to every review.  

Do You Make Extra Mortgage Payments?

Is it worth it make extra mortgage payments?  I think this article gives good examples to consider when you are looking at your loans.

extra-mortgage-payments-worth-it?

Do a little decorating, just a little.

Staging does help rent or sell your property faster.  Don't stress and go overboard.  We like to add a few little items throughout the house.  It really helps.

Home Staging Tips That Work

Ugh, Is It Already Monday?

It's hard to get started on Mondays, especially when you had a fantastic weekend.   I like this article because it has simple, easy tips for starting the work week off right.  I am a list maker so I like to get organized right away and write everything down.

What Super Productive People Do On Mondays

Conflicts Do Come Up

No matter how hard you try conflicts do come up in property management. Here are some good tips to use when issues come up between tenants and landlords.  For us, it always starts with good communication.

How to avoid conflict with tenants

7 Brilliant Tools to Help Find Your Next Investment Property

I liked this article because it reminded me of the tools I currently use and gave me a few new places to research info. I also start with Zillow and GreatSchools.

Investment Tools To Find Properties

I'm Hot

The Pacific Northwest is hot.  It's breaking records everyday.  It's hard to sleep and breath.  Here are a few unique ways to keep cool.  Let me know your secret weapon against the heat.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-keep-cool-without-an-air-conditioner

Can't Landlords and Tenants Just Get Along

As a landlord, we try our best to get along with all of our tenants.  Sometimes we have conflicts that we do our best to resolve in a professional manner.  I thought this article gave some good tips to try. What do you think?  What type of conflicts have you encountered?

how-to-avoid-conflict-with-tenants

Tips for Absentee Landlords

Are you thinking about becoming an absentee landlord?  This article has some good ideas to consider before renting out your property.

3-property-management-tips-for-absentee-landlords

Whether you live in Yakima or visit, come hungry:

The Foods of Yakima Valley

Let Me Tell You About Yakima

Hi,

We have been getting more and more tenants moving to Yakima from out of the area.  We have a lot of online resources to help you get to know the area better. Here are few I suggest you start with:

http://www.visityakima.com - this is a what to do, where to eat, what is happening website.

http://www.iheartyakima.com - a group of yakima devotees started this website because they have a passion and love for yakima.

http://www.yakimaherald.com/home/ - the one and only place for local news.

http://www.yakimawa.gov - this is the official website with city council and other government news and happenings.

http://www.yakimaschools.org - This is the biggest school district in the county.  There is also West Valley, East Valley, Selah, and Terrace Heights.

Here are a few miscellaneous articles about what is happening in Yakima:

http://www.sunset.com/travel/northwest/yakima-valley-day-trip - Sunset magazine likes Yakima.

http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2014-07-31/skip-napa-valley-visit-washington-yakima-valley-instead - Conte Nast likes Yakima.

http://www.commdiginews.com/life/wine-and-spirits/yakima-washington-a-cornucopia-of-good-wine-20969/ - Everyone loves the growing wines in Yakima.

http://www.seattlemag.com/article/travel-valley-village-tieton - Even Seattle likes Yakima.

Here are great tips to stay organized while moving

https://www.mymove.com/moving-planner.html

This is Why You Should Hire a Property Manager

Get out of jail free card!

Would you do this is your home? Hmmm....

homeowner pulls up carpet to get lifesize monopoly

Don't Return The Security Deposit Until:

5-things-check-return-security-deposit

Downtown Yakima

Downtown Yakima is a mix of historic buildings and modern art.

Here are 13 Tax Benefits for Property Owners:

rental-property-tax-deductions

This is a good article if you’re serious about building a profitable portfolio of rental properties.

property-management-companies-hire-rentals-real-estate

Perfect day at the Yakima Greenway Park - Usually warm for wintertime.