By Chay Lapin, President Kay Properties & Investments

Key Takeaways:

• Why should real estate brokers present a DST 1031 Expert to their clients?
• Why is a DST 1031 perfect for a multifamily investor who is ready to sell their asset?
• What is “mortgage boot” and why should it be avoided?
• What do DST 1031 experts bring to the table for both the seller and real estate broker?

Today’s multifamily market is bustling with activity as the number of owners and investors from Maine to California are executing thousands of sell / buy transactions every single day.  According to a recent multifamily market  report^[1] by CBRE Real Estate Group, this deal velocity can be attributed in part to favorable economic conditions and reduced negative impacts from COVID-19. So far in 2021,  the multifamily market saw $148 billion in transactional activity, representing a 33% total increase over the previous year.

By David Crown

Now more than ever, researching the credit of rental applicants is essential to choosing the most qualified tenant for a vacant apartment unit. Credit-checking has never been able to tell you everything you need to know about an applicant, but historically, it has provided important information in the selection process.

The pandemic, however, has complicated things where credit is concerned. Millions of people were unemployed for a year or longer due to shutdowns for public safety, and they have relied on assistance programs to continue renting their residences. Many still do. We think of our current time as “post-COVID,” but in truth the pandemic is not over yet. As property managers, the question we should ask ourselves is: what do these changes in the effectiveness of credit checks mean for our industry?  Let’s explore some information that’s pertinent to answering that question.

By Jerry L’Ecuyer & Frank Alvarez

Dear Maintenance Men:
What is an economical method of cleaning concrete driveways and sidewalks?  The concrete has oil stains, chewing gum and organic matter stains.
John

Dear John:
There are a few things you can do to help clean up the concrete.  Oil stains can be spot treated with cat or absorbent litter.   Spread the cat litter over the oil stains and grind the litter into the stains with your shoes.  Leave it for 24 hours and sweep up after.  Chewing gum can be removed by chilling the gum with ice or CO2 spray and using a putting knife to lift and scrape the gum off of the concrete. Use detergent and a stiff brush to remove the gum stain.   Organic matter stains can be removed with power washer spray.    If you have a large area of concrete to clean, use a power washer.  Set the power washer to 3000 PSI and use the wide spray head.  Be careful not to gouge the concrete with the spray; keep the hand wand moving.  Softer material like brick will need less PSI or more distance between the spray head and the bricks. 

By Brian Icenhower

(Editor’s Note: In this article, experienced real estate coach Brian Icenhower shares some of the systems and secrets of top real estate agents and brokerages that he has witnessed over his 30+ year career.)

The hardest market in which to be a buyer’s agent is in a buyer’s market. In 2009 and 2010, you would have to show 30, 40, or 50 properties just to get something under contract.  And then it would likely fall out because buyers are fickle, and they found another house they like more around the corner. If you need buyer’s agent motivation, just think on that for a moment.

By Jon Coupal, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

There are days when those of us who follow the news feel as though we’re living in a parallel universe. What else could explain the wildly divergent news stories about California’s employment figures?

On September 17, 2021, the state’s July unemployment figures were released and the reaction from Governor Gavin Newsom was a lot of positive spin. Here is what his press office released: “California continues to lead the nation’s economic recovery, creating 44% of the nation’s new jobs in August and ranking third in the nation in rate of job growth this year. These 104,300 new jobs, the fifth time this year of six-figure job growth, represent new paychecks for Californians and new employees on payroll for businesses.”

Have you or your staff ever been unable to take a vacation, missed out on a family event, or woken up in the middle of the night because of a maintenance issue? If the answer is yes, then you’re not alone. Maintenance is a major pain point for many property management businesses, and weeks of time are often wasted due to poorly optimized maintenance operations. 

Whether you use vendors, keep things in-house, or blend the two approaches, maintenance process efficiency trickles down to every aspect of your business. Resident and owner satisfaction, property values, and your own sanity can all arguably thrive or tank based on the state of your maintenance operations. If you’re tired of letting maintenance dictate your day-to-day, then maybe it’s time to streamline your processes and regain control. Read on to discover three ways you can take back your time and boost efficiency for your maintenance operations.

1.) Put Automation to Work

Maintenance issues often occur off-hours in the middle of the night or on weekends, and need to be addressed immediately. However, if you’re not around or are unable to respond right away, then the issue can become more costly or even hazardous for residents. Automation and artificial intelligence can help you respond instantly and establish a standardized set of protocols for different types of problems, so you can get issues resolved quickly and efficiently. By using automation to collect, track, and monitor all maintenance requests, you can also reduce the amount of errors from manual processes.

By Brittany Benz

How many property types do you manage? If you have both community associations and rental properties in your portfolio chances are your day-to-day is probably more complex than the average property management business. Each property type comes with it’s own characteristics and unique set of needs that aren’t always easy to meet. Read on to find out the top three common challenges of managing community associations and rental properties and how you can overcome them by implementing the right tools.

Challenge #1: Logging Onto Different Systems

You use multiple software systems: one for your community associations and one for your multifamily properties. A lot of time is wasted logging into these different solutions, which makes it harder to keep track of workflows and also leads to inaccuracies with data and reporting. As a result, your team has less time to spend on customer service and focusing on bigger picture initiatives, like growing your business.

What Does That Mean for California Commercial Property Owners?

By Anthony C. Guichard, President / Founder, ACR Concrete & Asphalt Construction, Inc.

There is an overabundance of lawsuits filed against unsuspecting commercial property owners regarding the American Disabilities Act (ADA) Compliance in California. Most of the cases filed are against commercial buildings, apartment buildings with 15+ units, restaurants, strip centers, and retail shopping centers. Nearly 40% of all ADA accessibility lawsuits in the United States are filed in the State of California.

There’s always one thing on a landlord’s mind at any time, summer or winter, beginning of the month or middle – cashflow. Sure, there’s new legislation, a tighter grip on rental housing, more complications to tenant screening. There’s the ever-present worry that the water heater will break, flood one’s precious hardwood flooring or carpet, and cause molding. Even with the most elegant and elaborate rental property possible in a place with simple screening laws, a landlord will always have at least one eye watching their accounts each month. Fortunately, this is 2021 and there are some great ways to feel confident about renters paying on-time.

Setup Automation

Humans can just be forgetful, and sometimes remembering the date is a bit more complicated than remembering the day. Setting up automatic rent payments can be easy, and your renters won’t have to worry about late fees (which you can also automate) or taking a hit to their credit (if you’re reporting their payments). Website, such as PayRent, that offer automation will oftentimes design it to be easy-to-use so you can customize the things you want to automate without having to know much about automation.

With Q4 just around the corner, now is the time to start thinking about conducting your tenant satisfaction surveys. Not only does asking your tenants for their feedback show that you are proactive and care about their needs, it also can help you identify any areas of your property or business management that need improvement.

However, it is important that you request feedback in the right way! You want the process to be convenient and hassle-free for the tenant and provide you with quality and actionable information.

Ready to get started? Here’s what you need to know.