If you are in the property management business you should be alarmed. ANOTHER major security breach, in fact the largest in the history of the Internet – only 1.2 BILLION (yes, with a ‘B’) ID’s were stolen by a ‘Russian gang’. Not to mention, also 500 million email addresses, possibly yours. By the way, the name of the gang is ‘CyberVor’. ‘Vor’ in Russian means ‘thief’, so with a name like ‘CyberThief’ they are not exactly playing coy. In fact, I get dibs on that name if I ever start another band, I love that name.

But this is no laughing matter, fellow property managers. This is serious business. You are responsible for your owners and tenants information. Not just their accounting, but their passwords, their Social Security numbers / Federal Tax ID’s, and their bank account numbers. And apparently, it’s not really that difficult for criminals to get them. This was a ‘gang’ no bigger than the group of friends you hang out with on Friday night. I’m not saying you are in a gang – I’m betting you don’t sit around swigging vodka and hacking into servers when you get together.

But think about it – think about how easy it is to sign up with some software company in the ‘cloud’, pay them an inflated amount per month, then sit back until your server gets hacked and you are out of business. If the server gets hacked, not only could you lose the credentials for your owners and your tenants, it may need to shut down to stop the bleeding. Where does that leave you and your business? Without data, without customers, without a way to post rent, unable to find out who owes you money, and without any alternative. Here in Austin we call that ‘up a creek without a paddle’, or more often SOL (can’t spell that out…the FTC or NSA is probably reading this…).

Just sayin’, think about it, be careful, and change your passwords often. I sincerely hope none of us were affected. I’d hate to think that you lost your business and ended up sitting around swigging vodka all day…

As a landlord, your goal is to make money right? Of course, but sometimes even the most experienced landlords leave money on the table. A bad tenant can leave you tired, frustrated, and you may want to just get on with other business. But, if you expend a little more effort, you can get some of that money back that you were prepared to just write off.

1. Sometimes just a letter to the tenant can translate into money. Even though your tenant may have gone through rough financial times during their stay with you, they may now have an improved financial picture as the economy has picked up steam. Maybe they are concerned about their credit now and trying to get financially stable again. So this might be the time that they pay the back rent owed, or at least make a payment arrangement with you.

2. If the previous tenant is still refusing to pay back rent owed, you still have options besides the legal route. There are services on the Internet that will do the heavy lifting for you. These rent recovery services will generate the collection letters, and handle the credit reporting for you. Many of them will aggressively pursue collection so that you don’t have to. With the information that they obtain, you can make an informed decision as to whether you need to eventually go to court or not, such as whether is it worthwhile to garnish their wages. You are wasting your time if they don’t have a suitable job.

3. You can get peace of mind by purchasing ‘collection protection’ from the beginning. Some companies offer this preemptive service for a small fee, which will underscore the importance of prompt rent payment to the tenant from the start. They will know that their future credit rating is as risk if they don’t pay on time, and that payment will be aggressively pursued if they skip out.

As a landlord, you have enough to deal with. There is no reason why you cannot be worry-free about tenants that don’t pay their rent and move out. Just a little action and prevention can go a long way.

Despite all the depressing economic news, it can actually opens up a lot of new doors for property managers to lower their vacancy rates and incorporate new business strategies that can pay off in spades over the long haul.

It’s important to keep the traditional marketing strategies alive and well. And one of the most effective approaches for those in the real estate business is partnerships with local businesses. More likely than not, businesses are open to strategies that will bring a steady stream of new customers into their establishment, like a restaurant, grocery store,video rental store, or salon.

First, sit down and figure out what your goal tenant pool looks like. Is it students, young professionals, or families? Once you know what your target tenant demographic is, take a look at the businesses within a mile radius of your property and figure out which shops and stores your potential residents will most likely visit. If it’s students, it could be the local pizza place or bar. Young professionals may be frequenting the hip salon a few blocks over. And those families you want to rent to most likely make at least a couple visits to the grocery store each week.

Now it’s time to approach the businesses you believe may have a line in to the pool you’re looking to draw from. Approach the managers of these establishments to suggest a mutually beneficial relationship. Explain how your current tenant demographic is in line with their clientele. Offer to promote their business by including coupons for a half-off lunch at the pub in move-in packets and to regularly advertise their business through fliers posted in your property. In return, you might suggest that this business keeps your card on-hand to distribute to customers who mention they’re looking to move or suggest that they allow you to post vacant unit listings on their bulletin board or in another prominent place.

Deals like this can be applied to basically any service institution and both parties stand to benefit. Your access to the tenant pool will bring new business into local neighborhood establishments which will provide you with a trusted voice to turn regular customers to your properties.

Promoting units doesn’t have to involve large investments or fancy technology. Sometimes proven, time-tested marketing techniques are the best ticket to success — and promoting local businesses is an added benefit you can feel great about. Everyone wins when your property’s neighborhood is thriving.

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There are several different avenues that may lead one to a property management career. Your background may be in real estate, finance, law, or marketing. Or you may simply find yourself wanting to utilize certain qualities or characteristics, such as dealing with people on a consistent basis, problem solving, or multi-tasking. In real estate, elements of all of these professional areas and personal skill sets will come into play. While you don’t have to be a master of all of them (or any of them, for that matter), you do have to possess the willingness to learn certain specific tasks. For example, you don’t have to be a finance whiz to be a real estate pro, but you do have to perform accounting functions; likewise, you don’t have to have a law degree, but you must have a solid grasp on local, state, and federal laws and regulations to ensure your property is always in compliance.

Do you know you want to get into real estate but don’t know what your options are? Real estate positions come in all shapes and sizes. You can be self-employed handling only your own property or you can oversee multiple units for a third party. You can be an operations manager, maintenance supervisor, or regional portfolio engineer.

Where do you actually go to learn about real estate and arm yourself with the skills necessary to enter into the field? Here are a couple of resources for starting your property management career on the right foot.
 

IREM: Institute of Real Estate Management

Obtaining industry-specific knowledge is a great way to market yourself to potential customers and, also, to ensure that you have a solid education and grasp on the field. IREM offers a catalog of classes that include everything from professional ethics to on-site maintenance to fair housing. A wide variety of online offerings allows you to take these classes from the comfort of your own home.
 

BOMA: Building Owners and Managers Association International

BOMA offers both new and veteran real estate professionals the opportunity to build both basic knowledge and area-specific expertise. Whether you’re looking to learn about the basics of real estate management or to educate yourself on energy efficiency programs, BOMA has you covered. Like IREM, they have online offerings as well as audio seminars, which can be attended by phone.

Real estate is one of the few fields that allows professionals to use a wide variety of skill sets, keeping work interesting on a day-to-day basis. If you think real estate might just be for you, the resources above are a great place to start.

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While profitability is one great sign of success, there are also many other less tangible indicators that your real estate business is doing well. Following is a list of ten signs you’re running a good business.
 

Your vacancy rates are low.

Low vacancy rates can mean any one (and often a combination of) several good things: 1) that you’re doing a good job marketing your property to new tenants; 2) that you’re maintaining existing tenants; and 3) that your units are generally sought-after.
 

You receive referrals

When existing clientele are referring potential clients your way, it is a sure sign you’re doing things right.
 

You receive new tenants from referrals

With client referrals, tenant referrals speak kindly of your work and may also indicate that you have successfully instated a good tenant referral program.
 

Your Tenants Stay

It costs far less to keep existing tenants than it does to find new ones. If your tenants tend to remain in your units for multiple lease periods, chances are you’re pricing your units right and making tenants feel well cared for.
 

Other real estate professionals contact you for advice

While it’s nice to keep some secrets to your success, you should feel good about what you do every time another real estate professional seeks out your advice. Being viewed as an authority in the field speaks well of your skill set.
 

Associations and other professional organizations invite you to speak at events.

This is a no-brainer, but if professional industry organizations are asking you to speak at events, it’s a sure sign you are viewed as an industry expert.
 

You have an online marketing strategy.

The size of your online presence doesn’t matter as much as the fact that it exists in the first place. Maybe your company has a great web site. Alternatively, maybe you favor social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter for marketing purposes. The main goal is that you have some sort of online presence, large or small.
 

Rental agents approach you.

In some areas, clients use real estate agents not only to assist them in purchasing a home, but also in renting one. Because these agents are paid to know rental properties, no one has a better overview of what’s out there. If these rental agents are approaching you, chances are it means your properties stand out.
 

Potential tenants approach you even when you’re not actively advertising vacant units

This means your name and/or reputation has made a big enough impact that you’re a known commodity, available listings or not.
 

You like coming to work every day

If you enjoy what you do, you’re probably good at it. Contentment in the workplace tends to translate to better relationships all around. Everybody wins!

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This should be on your mind every day. Why? Because real estate is an industry that can make or break you! As real estate professionals we are the ultimate in multi-tasking. We know that anyone can become a real estate professional, but the ones that truly standout are the ones that manage their building. Not the other way around.

There can be constant interruptions and challenges throughout any given day. The day starts out fine until you get a call about a flooded property, or an unexpected customer complaint. Now you need to drop what you are doing and attend to the crisis at hand.

As you begin to tackle this new challenge, it is best to keep reminding yourself that you manage the building, the building does not manage you! When the flood hits, do you have a contingency plan? Why is the customer complaining? The number one solution is to be proactive. Do all you can to prevent these issues from happening again. Manage it and do not just react to it!

When an issue arises, it must be broken down into small steps in order to find the reason or cause. Once it has been solved, it is time to develop a new approach or plan so that it can be prevented in the future. This can be as simple as more training in a specific topic. The solution needs to be developed, implemented, and then monitored. If a solution is developed but it is never put into action, or if it is put into place but no one follows up on it to make sure it is being implemented correctly, it will do no good and create more headaches for you later on down the line.

The point of managing is to anticipate and not wait for matters to arise. The entire premise of good management is to think about “What If” and anticipate everything. Constantly ask, “What is the worst thing that can happen?” or “What if this happens?” Then consider another important question “How should I prevent it or react if it does happen?” If you are prepared, it is no longer a crisis or interruption. Remember, the goal is to manage your property, not for the property to manage you!

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Social media has so many benefits and ways to build your profile and your business — Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Linkedin, Pinterest, and the list goes on. If you’re not all over it, do it now. And if you don’t know how to do it, get someone to show you how.

With print advertising costs skyrocketing and the digital age blossoming, it makes sense to use this medium to your advantage. The added benefit is that it’s so cost effective if you’re working within a budget. So here are a few tips to promote your real estate business through social media
 

Make Sure You Obtain Full Reach

You need to also be strategic in your approach to social media by ensuring that you are obtaining full reach and get to your target market. This is very easy to do by researching what business you want to acquire (ideal clients) and when they’re most likely to be reading or watching what you post. Many of the social media sites have tools to measure this (e.g., Facebook Insights).
 

Manage Time Wisely

To ensure that time is also managed effectively when posting to social media, you need to make sure that your posts feed to all the social media sites that you want to use at the same time. This reduces additional entries and wasted time. Scheduled posts throughout the week can optimize the results you will get. But make sure these multiple posts are at the same time every week because the community will learn to watch out for your posts and expect them at certain times.
 

Be Different

Make sure you’re promoting yourself and your brand in a way that really gives something for nothing in a fun and exciting way. You might have differing opinions from the public or other agents, but hey, they talk and the word spreads, which is what you want.
 

Create A Blog

Create a regular blog and promote it through your current client base. Be consistent in your approach to this, though. You need to blog regularly and at different times of the day to reach varying audiences. Your blog and posts must give the public some value, because sending meaningless rubbish about yourself is pointless, and people will switch off and unsubscribe. Be informative. Educate, nurture, and build an audience that waits for more.

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