Property managers are proud members of the customer service industry. Whether it’s speaking to a prospective resident, discussing market analysis with a home owner, or improving business relationships with a fellow property management professional, having great customer service skills is a must. In the competitive marketplace it is no longer enough to say “please and thank you.” You must go above and beyond the call of duty to meet the demands of every renter, owner, and guest who walks into your property management office.

The most professional and successful property managers will have the following traits in common.

Attentive. You need to pay attention to what a client is actually saying. Truly listen to each and every word, without letting your focus waver. You must be willing to pay attention to the details. I can’t emphasize enough that you should not check your email or text messages mid conversation (even though your guest might do it). It’s also important to be on time for appointments and alert clients of cancellations in a timely manner. A real customer service agent must be attentive to the unspoken needs of both residents and homeowners, as well.

Positive. Remaining upbeat and using positive language when presented with the most challenging or frustrating of situations is critical. In simple terms, “keep your cool.” As a property manager you will meet confrontation head on and often without warning. You never know who will walk into your office and for what reason so approaching every situation with a smile and a good attitude will help you resolve issues quickly and effectively. But there is a fine line between positivity and sounding disingenuous or sarcastic, so just be aware of how you’re coming across.

Personable. As a property manager, you need to relate to tenants, owners, and other employees. You must be able to put yourself in another person’s shoes so that you can better understand and respond to unique situations. Everyone is from a different background; however, customer service agents must be able to relate to each person on a one-to-one basis. Most likely you’ve rented in the past or are currently renting—think about how you would like to be treated by your own property manager.

Calm. Often residents and homeowners enter a property manager’s office in distress. When these instances occur, you must be able to respond calmly to stressful situations. Role playing possible scenarios with your coworkers can help you practice keeping calm under pressure. Another tip: Try to keep your office clean and tidy because messy spaces can cause anxiety or added stress. Make it a peaceful and inviting place for your residents and owners to visit.

If you’re thinking about moving into the property management business ask yourself if you embody these traits. You might have to work hard to keep your stress level down or maybe a positive, sunny disposition isn’t in your natural wheelhouse. That’s OK, I guarantee we all have to work on at least one of these things. Keep practicing, and you’ll be a better property manager and all-around employee for it. Added bonus: You might see a boost in resident retention, referrals, and positive online reviews.

Appfolio | Company Website | LinkedIn Connect | AppFolio, Inc. develops Property Management Software that helps businesses improve their workflow so they save time and make more money. Appfolio submits articles & blogs including topics of Resident Retention, Improved Owner Communication, Time Management, and more.

It might seem obvious, but the contact page is one of the most important areas of your website when it comes to getting potential residents—and it’s also one of the most neglected. The focus of your contact page should be value and functionality. Simply put, can an interested prospect contact you quickly? Many websites put the contact page last on the priority list and that results in a loss of quality leads. While it might not be the first page a potential renter will visit, it certainly could be one of the last, so make it work for you.

One important thing to remember is that while your contact page should include these following features, you should also place your contact phone and email, as well as any social profiles, in the footer of your website so it is easily visible on every page for immediate access. If a prospective renter is on your amenities page and has a question, the phone number and email should be at their fingertips.

Include a [working] contact form. Listing only your email address or business phone number is a good way to lose a large percentage of your intended audience. Use a simple form to encourage people to reach out to your business at the exact moment that they are thinking about doing so. But please make sure the form is optimized—the fields have a long enough character limit to include complete information, the submit button actually submits, it works as expected on mobile devices—basic functionality that can make or break a deal. And don’t overcomplicate it. Ask for only pertinent information; you can collect the rest when you speak to the interested party. It’s also nice to include a thank-you page that states your response time (i.e., one hour, 1-2 business days) to help manage expectations and start the relationship off on a positive note.

Additional features to include:

• Hours of operation (days, hours, timezone)
• Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram (if available)
• Google Map of office locations (for easy mobile navigation)
• Optional: Chat or Skype contact information (a quick way for out-of-towners to video chat you for a more personal experience)

As with the rest of the site, consider a unique design—something that reflects your brand. But remember, this page is about function over fancy. Take a moment to review your company’s current contact page. Does it meet all of the above criteria? If not, start tweaking your contact page so that you can turn more prospective leads into residents.

Appfolio | Company Website | LinkedIn Connect |AppFolio, Inc. develops Property Management Software that helps businesses improve their workflow so they save time and make more money.  Appfolio submits articles & blogs including topics of Resident Retention, Improved Owner Communication, Time Management, and more.

One of the greatest challenges of any landlord is finding tenants who will adhere to the conditions of the lease and pay their rent on time. To avoid housing discrimination complaints, it is crucial to abide by federal and state fair housing laws during the tenant screening process. The following guidelines will help you find the right tenants and avoid unnecessary problems.

Objective Tenant Screening Process

Legally, your selection of tenants must be based on a fair and objective tenant screening process. This means you are required to use the same pre-established set of criteria to screen every prospective tenant. Factors you may use to make tenancy decisions include:

Tenant Income

Credit History (including bankruptcies)

Personal and Professional References

Rental History

Criminal Background

Tenants’ Pets

As long as you screen every rental applicant equally, you can avoid unnecessary housing discrimination complaints.

Federal Fair Housing Act

The Federal Fair Housing Act and the Fair Housing Amendment Acts (42 U.S. Code 3601-3619, 3631) make it illegal to base your tenant screening process on discriminatory criteria involving “protected” categories such as:

National Origin You may not make tenancy decisions based on an applicant’s country of origin. This includes offering special discounts or deals to applicants from specific countries, as well.

Race Landlords cannot announce that certain races need not apply or covertly turn away rental applicants of a particular race.

Religion It is unlawful to base your tenant screening decisions on an applicant’s religion. This includes making statements like “wholesome Christian community” in your rental ads because applicants could reasonably conclude that you prefer Christian tenants.

Disability Landlords cannot discriminate against rental applicants on the basis of mental or physical disabilities. You are required to make reasonable accommodations for disabled tenants, so be sure to examine federal and state laws that may apply to your situation.

The law also offers limited protection to recovering alcoholics and former drug addicts. You cannot reject an applicant solely on the basis of alcohol or drug addiction, but you are allowed to examine other aspects of the applicant’s history. For example, if the recovering addict has poor credit or a negative rental reference from a previous landlord, you may base your tenancy decision on these factors.

Familial Status and Age You may not base your rental decisions on an applicant’s family status or age. In addition, it’s illegal to only offer certain units to applicants with children.

Sex and Sexual Harassment Applicants cannot be turned away due to their gender or because they refuse a landlord’s sexual advances.

Your state and local housing discrimination laws may offer further protection for prospective tenants that goes above and beyond federal law. In some states, it is also illegal to make tenancy decisions based on age, marital status and sexual orientation.

Exceptions to the Law for Tenant Screening

Certain types of rental properties are exempt from federal fair housing laws. These include:

Owner-occupied rental properties with up to four units

Certain types of members-only rental housing operated by private clubs and religious organizations

Single-family homes rented without the use of a broker or advertising, just as long as you do not own more than three of these homes

Senior citizen rental communities

Even if the Federal Fair Housing Act doesn’t apply to your specific type of rental property, fair housing laws in your state may offer protections for tenants that are exempt from federal law. Be sure to review both state and federal laws before you begin searching for new rental applicants.

– See more at: http://www.american-apartment-owners-association.org/property-management/tenant-screening/legal-aspects-tenant-screening-process-can-refuse-lease/#sthash.SqhSrckO.dpuf

American Apartment Owners Association | Company Website | At the American Apartment Owners Association (AAOA), our mission is to serve the interests of landlords, real estate brokers, property managers, real estate owners and apartment building owners nationally. Visit www.AAOA.com for more information about membership details!

With no on-site visits required, and no need for landlords to collect applicants’ Social Security numbers, Cozy’s new background checks make it easy for landlords to find reliable tenants and protect their investment.

PORTLAND — July 14, 2015 — Cozy, the leading tenant screening and rent payments service for landlords nationwide, announced the availability of fully integrated background checks as part of Cozy’s tenant screening tools.

Cozy’s new background checks don’t require landlords to collect Social Security numbers or any other sensitive information, and they don’t require any on-site visits. Cozy’s background checks are fully FCRA compliant, and provided in partnership with Checkr.

Cozy’s background checks include full searches of national and county criminal records, past evictions, sex offender lists, and terrorist watch lists. Paired with Cozy’s recently redesigned tenant credit reports, landlords will also get detailed information about outstanding debts, payment history, account history, and more. Together, Cozy’s tenant screening tools provide landlords with a complete picture of their applicants’ histories, so they can make a more informed decision.

Incomplete tenant screening can be costly: the average cost to evict a problem tenant can exceed $10,000, which could be avoided with a complete background and credit check. Best of all, these screening tools are completely free for landlords. Purchased together, Cozy credit reports and background checks cost applicants just $34.95, or $19.95 each.

“The introduction of background checks represents one more step in our mission to democratize technology to make renting less painful for everyone,” said Gino Zahnd, CEO and founder of Cozy. “Paired with credit reports that don’t hurt tenants’ credit scores, a reusable online rental application, and fee-free online rent payments, we’re well on our way to making renting easier and more secure.”

Cozy tenant screening reports are integrated with Cozy’s free rental application, where landlords can get all of the information about their applicants in one place. For landlords who prefer to use their own rental application, all they need are their applicants’ names and email addresses to run a background check and credit report.

About Cozy

Cozy (www.cozy.co) makes renting easy for landlords, property managers, and tenants. Simple rent payments, rental applications and tenant screening make Cozy the best way for landlords and renters to deal with every part of the rental lifecycle.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Cozy is used by tens of thousands of landlords who run their rental businesses in over 3,500 cities nationwide.

Property managers understand that a happy resident is likely a repeat resident. But the mood can change quickly if promises aren’t kept (and the “but you said so five months ago” argument usually doesn’t hold up). You need to find a balance between keeping your renters happy and staying in control of your property. Here are four tips for you to help manage your renters’ expectations.

1) Create a Policy and Stick to It The best policy is a written one. You will find yourself in an awkward situation when person A quotes you as saying one thing, while person B is certain you stated the opposite. Create a fair policy and stand by it—don’t make up the rules as you go. Instead, let residents know about your policy upfront. Write it down, have them acknowledge and sign it, and enforce it as needed.

2) Quality Service Will Lead to Quality Tenants As a general rule of thumb, the quality of a renter will largely depend on the quality of the home that you provide. By providing a better-than-average home you can set the standard for the type of renter that you want to attract and keep. As a property manager, it’s your job to make sure that the needs of your residents are properly met before they ever need to come to you with requests. For example, seasonal maintenance should be conducted to identify issues and fire alarms checked regularly.

3) Set Office Hours Unless you love rolling out of bed at 11:00 PM to fix a broken toilet, set office hours. Office hours help prevent people from becoming frustrated by your response time. Format your email and voicemail to reflect your availability. Make it known that during office hours you will respond to an email within one hour; however, during out-of-office hours you will respond as quickly as possible. Open communication with residents about your availability will help establish a strong foundation for a beautiful tenant/property manager relationship. It’s also wise to have an emergency number handy for residents.

4) Know When to Outsource While it might seem like a good idea to don your tool belt and try to repair the busted window, HGTV proves how often DIY home repairs end in disaster. Keep a list of local and reputable contractors nearby. From electricians to plumbers, have reliable professionals you can call when it’s time to resolve a maintenance issue. In addition, having a strong network of contractors can become a major selling point to new residents. Tenants like to know that when they submit a maintenance request it will be resolved efficiently and at the highest quality.

Keeping these things in mind, you will soon find yourself on the path to having happier residents (and improved renewal ratings).

Appfolio | Company Website | LinkedIn Connect | AppFolio, Inc. develops Property Management Software that helps businesses improve their workflow so they save time and make more money. Appfolio submits articles & blogs including topics of Resident Retention, Improved Owner Communication, Time Management, and more.

Original article posted on Landlordology, by Cozy.

The process of renting out your property can be emotional, tiring, tedious, infuriating, and fruitless at times.

I used to dread turnovers, but I’ve come full circle with how I find and sign new tenants.

Back in the Day…

When I first was getting started as a landlord, I simply put a sign in the yard and prayed. I’m not kidding!

You can laugh, it’s okay, but there was a time where yard signs were the best way to find new tenants. Back in the day when I started, Craigslist didn’t even exist!

My Biggest Change and Reward

The biggest change I’ve made (with the exception of the technology I use) is that I have transitioned from “trying to sell the tenant on the property” to “letting the tenant sell me on why they are worthy of the property”.

It’s like a job interview. You don’t want just anyone – you want the one.

I’m not trying to sound arrogant, but I’ve found letting the tenant come to me not only produces a higher quality tenant, but it saves me a lot of time, hassle, and headache.

This attitude and business change has resulted in less showings, but the showings I do have are with highly qualified renters.

Many of my friends in real estate, including Lucas Hall, reduce their vacancy rates by showcasing their units while the current tenant is still living in the unit. This does reduce vacancy, but it’s never really worked for me.

I prefer to have the unit thoroughly cleaned before advertising it. Again, for me, it’s about finding a few quality tenants, rather than having dozens of showings.

Pre-screening helps me skip over the tire-kickers.

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With that disclosure, I’d like to share with you my exact process to finding and securing new tenants.

Let’s get started.

Step 1. Clean and Capture the Condition

Thoroughly clean the place, take lots of pictures and capture a full video walk-through.

Doing so will help your listings stand out from others.

Related: How to Handle Dirty Tenants

If there is anything negative, go ahead and point it out in the listing. Disclosing some negative items will actually build trust.

For example, several of my properties have wall heat and window units for air. These can be a “turn off” for many people, but disclosing it, will likely save me time from doing a pointless showing of the property. Wholesalers typically do a great job of disclosing issues, and it helps them to create a good reputation.

Related: How to Attract Tenants on Craigslist with Irresistible Pictures

Step 2. List Everywhere

Create an all out assault plan for listing your rental property.

I have a select list of resources that I utilize when creating an advertising assault plan. The ultimate goal is to create a “feeding frenzy” of potential renters chasing after the property.

When renters compete, you win.

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The specific benefits of a “feeding frenzy” are:

1. You can schedule “open house” times and not worry about individual showings.
2. You can better qualify potential tenants.
3. Likely your property will be rented faster using a combination of many different methods.

Related: How to Host a Landlord’s Open House

My Favorite Listing Resources

I’m going to categorize all the resources into one of six fun categories: Old, New, Short-Term Rentals, Organizational and Corporate, and Social Resources.

A. Old Resources

A lot of people disregard “old school” ways to get renters, but it’s so important to consider the demographic you are targeting.

For example, if you own single-family houses in a nice area, you might find that an order demographic will want to live there.

According to the PEW Research Center, the majority of people who read traditional newspapers are over the age of 55. Therefore, the majority of people who will see your classified ad will be over 55 years old. They also might be more inclined to drive around looking for “For Rent” signs rather than searching the Internet.

• Newspaper Ads I have to admit, this is my least favorite. However, there are still enough people reading the newspaper to justify the investment,especially if you have some vacancies you’re struggling to fill.
• Yard Signs Believe it or not, this works fairly well – especially with single family homes. Be sure to put another sign at a major intersection telling them to where to turn. Additionally, I would recommend buying cheap signs in case they get stolen.
• Referrals from Tenants Obviously this only works if you have a good relationship with your tenants. Most investors use some type of financial incentive like a gift card or $100 cash. This is well worth the money if it reduces vacancy time.
• Referrals from Friends This is a good strategy for me. My friends know that I have rental properties in a certain areas. If anyone is ever looking in that particular area, my friends always recommend my rentals. Related: 4 Steps to Creating a Competitive Advantage as a Landlord
• Referrals from Other Landlords and Investors This is another great strategy I use. I’m a pretty small fish in comparison to most of my friends who are full-time investors/landlords. I always help them out if someone is looking in a certain area where I know they have a property and they return the favor when they can or I proactively ask.

B. New Resources

• Postlets LOVE POSTLETS! This is MY FAVORITE SITE! It lets you save your company profile and information from other properties saving you tons of time when you have a new property to lease up. The best part? It populates, Zillow, Hotpads, and Trulia as well.
• Craigslist An oldie but a goodie. Be sure to really fill out everything including pictures and a video walk through. There really isn’t an excuse for not doing this and it definitely helps “sell” the property. Related: The Landlord’s Guide to Marketing with Craigslist
• Zillow Zillow is one of my new favorites. I don’t get as many leads as I do with Craigslist, but the leads are higher quality.
• Hotpads Similar to Zillow, but a little clunkier 🙂
• Trulia For some reason I get leads from people looking to relocate on this site and it has been an excellent resource for me.
• Rent.com Designed and built for large apartment owners, but the word on the street is they are going to be opening it up to smaller players (like me) soon!
• ApartmentGuide.com Obviously built for apartment owners. I haven’t used it, but a lot of apartment managers say it’s a good investment.
• Realtor.com If you are in “emergency” mode, why would you not use a realtor to get them to help you lease up a property? Great cash for them for the amount of work.
• PadMapper The reason this isn’t my favorite is simply that a lot of tenant prospects don’t use it. Nevertheless, I think it has a lot of potential for the future and I still use it occasionally.
• Facebook This is part of the referrals from “Friends” section. I usually just post a link from the Postlets listing, making it easy to share.
• YouTube For some reason I’m the only one in my area who uses this and people really love it. It saves me a ton of time qualifying tenants.

C. Short-Term Rental Resources

Some have created a sustainable business from short-term rentals, while others use it as a last resort. I’ve had a lot of fun with this type of housing and encourage you to try it out. Once I rented an empty house for a weekend and made $400!

• Airbnb This is by far my favorite site. It’s easy to sign-up and easy to use as both a renter and a property owner. Related: How to Make Extra Money by Allowing Tenants to Sublet with Airbnb
• VRBO This site has been around longer than Airbnb and receives more traffic. However, it’s more difficult to use. I would only use this if you were serious about making money part-time.
• HomeAway I haven’t used this site, but friends who own full-time vacation rentals love it. VRBO is part of the HomeAway family of sites.

D. Organization and Corporate Resources

There are several organizations that will actually pay the housing costs of certain types of tenants, for example, lawyers or nurses. I’ve never used this strategy but I sense it’s a solid strategy and will pursue this with future properties.

• Section 8 There’s probably no other type of rental property that is more debated than Section 8. On one hand you get guaranteed rent (kind-of). On the other hand, if the tenant no longer qualifies for Section 8 and refuse to move out, you have a bad situation. In my opinion, you should either focus on this or not – all or nothing.
• Churches Many churches provide temporary housing. Excellent option, particularly if you have furnished housing.
• Non-Profits Some non-profits help certain disabled groups and/or other groups of people and can be a great source of revenue.
• Businesses I know some businesses that like to pay for a year’s rent up-front. This can help your cash flow tremendously!
• Veterans Administration Excellent organization. I haven’t ever used them but intended to. I served in the Marine Corps and loving helping my brothers out.

E. Social Resources

The simplest form of social media marketing for potential tenants is simply asking your followers and fans if they know anybody looking to rent a place. Every investor I know utilizes social media, however, there are several other ways you can enhance this resource.

I listed some social resources above, but there are a variety of ways landlords can use social media resources to their advantage.

• Facebook Videos are extremely hot right now on Facebook. I highly encourage you to post video walk-throughs of your rentals on your fan page. If you have large multi-family properties, consider creating a Facebook group for your tenants. You could offer incentives for referrals in one central place.
• Twitter The key with using Twitter is the search function. You can use the search function to find people who have been looking for a place to rent in your area. Additionally, you can use # (hashtags) to easily sort through this information in your feed.
• YouTube For years I’ve been doing video walk-through tours of my properties. This drastically reduces the number of showings to people who don’t like a particular characteristic of one of my properties.
• Google+ Hangouts You can host a live hangout with Google+ and do a video walk through tour and answer questions. Note: you can also do this with Periscope.

Step 3: Human Relations

Working with prospective applicants.

Before I go into this process, I’m going to share a personal story that made me rethink how I did things.

A Promise to Be Better

After this episode, I promised to create a better experience for my tenants. For starters, I switched to using online rental applications. 13 years ago, I just simply gave them a paper form, and asked them complete it on the spot.

Sometimes I would email the application; they had to print, sign, and send it back, but I never knew if they would or could return it. It was a paperwork nightmare, especially considering I had a business partner and he needed to review the applications too. This created an entire new circle of email chains.

Better Technology = Happier Tenants

I use Cozy to collect online rental applications!

I recently solved this paper problem with Cozy! I’ve been watching Cozy grow for the last couple years, and had always wanted to use them to collect rent.

Recently a property became empty and in less than 5 minutes I had signed-up for a free account at Cozy and sent a rental application to my tenant.

The best part for me was that my business partner could see everything. Entirely eliminating email 🙂

Since then, I’ve discovered the other amazing benefits Cozy… but that will have to wait for my next guide coming soon!

About Jimmy Moncrief

Jimmy is a multifamily real estate investor and bank credit officer. He has written a complimentary bank negotiating guide on how to get around the 80% LTV rule which can be found at http://realestatefinancehq.com/

Many landlords automatically add a fresh coat of paint to their rentals between tenants. While new paint can certainly help freshen-up an apartment after a tenant moves out, there are several other inexpensive ways to make your rental unit more desirable to prospective tenants, too. The following five fast and affordable home improvements can spruce up the look of your rental home, without the need to hire a professional contractor.

Replace Old Hardware throughout the Unit

Shiny, new door hinges, knobs and drawer pulls can breathe new life into an aging rental unit. After several years’ worth of tenant turnover, these small pieces of hardware often end up covered in paint drips, tarnish and surface wear. Replacing your old hardware may seem insignificant before you do it, but you’ll be amazed by how much it improves the look of a vacant apartment.

Install Fresh Floor Tiles in Your Rental Unit

A dingy, stained floor can affect the look of an entire room. If your rental unit’s current flooring has visible flaws that detract from the unit’s appearance, new flooring may be a more viable option than you think. New vinyl flooring tiles are available with self-stick backing, eliminating the need to apply adhesive. Plus, depending on the current type of flooring material used in the rental unit, you may even be able to install the vinyl tiles over your existing floor.

Add Personality with a Colorful Kitchen Backsplash

Adding a colorful backsplash to your rental home’s kitchen can dramatically improve the appearance of the entire room. Since many landlords use neutral colors in the kitchen to appeal to the greatest number of prospective tenants, a colorful backsplash is just enough to add personality to the room, without dominating it. Since you’re only applying tiles to the small backsplash area of the kitchen, your investment in materials is low and the job can be finished quickly.

Modernize Your Rental Unit with New Fixtures

Even if your rental’s bathroom fixtures are older than you are, simple updates, like a new toilet seat or new faucet handles, can make them appear more modern. A shiny chrome shower head can vastly improve the appearance of an aging shower stall or bathtub, as well. If you can’t justify investing in modern fixtures right now because the current ones still function properly, try updating only the visible, removable parts.

Install Window Treatments for a Finished Look

Crisp white mini blinds can provide a tidy, finished look to every room in your vacant rental unit. Also consider adding permanent curtain rod hardware above the windows to prevent tenants from pounding more nail holes into the window frames. Over time, a wood frame can become riddled with holes and damage from tenants haphazardly installing their own hardware. Installing hardware for window treatments can be a pain, so most prospective tenants will see fresh blinds and permanently installed hardware as a major bonus.

These five easy and inexpensive ways to improve the look of your rental unit can be accomplished in a weekend or less, so they won’t cause your rental home to remain vacant any longer than necessary. In addition, they don’t require any special expertise beyond a quick web search or two for basic “how-to” instructions. Try one or more of them to spruce up your rental unit so you can attract the right tenant, even if you’re working with a limited budget.

– See more at: http://www.american-apartment-owners-association.org/property-management/remodel-and-repair/5-fast-cheap-ways-spruce-rental-unit/#sthash.tajOH6LE.dpuf

American Apartment Owners Association | Company Website | At the American Apartment Owners Association (AAOA), our mission is to serve the interests of landlords, real estate brokers, property managers, real estate owners and apartment building owners nationally. Visit www.AAOA.com for more information about membership details!

While some industries have “spring fever,” Real Estate professionals save the craziest time of the year for the summer months. From May 2014 to August 2014 an estimated 60 percent of all homes that were actively for sale were sold / purchased. The fierce competition means that it is time to review a few helpful tips to help your vacant property be seen and rented.

Top Three Tips to Advertising Summer Rental Vacancies Tip # 1: Get active on social media. — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, your company blog, or all four; when it comes to social media, your audience is waiting and active during the summer months. Advertising your summer vacancies requires you to keep your intended audience in mind. What types of posts will keep them on your page? How will you get them to share the property, click to learn more, or call you to schedule an appointment? Keep these following tips in mind when posting on social media sites.

• Photos have the highest engagement levels from fans.
• Post local updates to connect with the local market.
• Promote user generated content to enhance audience engagement levels.
• Include “how-to” posts. A recent Hubspot report found that how-to posts received an average of 18.42 percent of shares.
• Use popular hashtags to easily promote your summer vacancies to like-minded individuals. For example #summerrental, #beautiful, #architecture, and #beachlife can help you to reach someone who is interested in renting for the summer, is interested in architectural elements, and wants a property that is on the beautifully situated on the beach.

Tip # 2: Use free internet listing services. — There are several free Real Estate listing services that can help you to easily promote your vacancies to hundreds (if not thousands) of interested tenants. HotPads, Oodle, Trulia and Vast are some of the best known free Real Estate listing services. To really make your advertisement pop, consider the following tips.

• Add photos of the property, surrounding area, and community amenities.
• Use buzzwords in moderation. While buzzwords are great, they can become disingenuous when they are used in abundance.
• Highlight the property’s best features with bullets or numbered lists.
• Clearly and easily provide your contact information at the beginning and end of your ad.
• If the site offers a “premier certificate” or a “certificate of trust” make sure that you apply and proudly display the badge. Interested tenants want to know from the start that you can be trusted.

Tip # 3: Be flexible. — Summer is an incredibly busy time of the year for many people and the last thing that they want to do is get caught leaving work early so that they can go look at new properties. Make sure that your advertisement promotes flexibility.

• Clearly advertise when the property is available to lease.
• Make it known if there are set viewing hours.
• Distinctly display contact information.
• Allow interested tenants to contact you via phone, email, or in-person.
• If you have more than one property available, make it known. Interested tenants are more likely to sign a lease if they can easily compare more than one residential property at a time.

Real Estate advertising requires you to be creative, smart, and diligent. Follow-up on all leads, build strong industry relationships, and keep the above three tips in mind. To beat out your competition and lease your rental properties to valuable tenants, you will need to leverage the power of social media, advertise on popular free Real Estate listing sites, and be flexible.

Appfolio | Company Website | LinkedIn Connect |AppFolio, Inc. develops Property Management Software that helps businesses improve their workflow so they save time and make more money. Appfolio submits articles & blogs including topics of Resident Retention, Improved Owner Communication, Time Management, and more.

I believe that late fees provide the only real motivation for tenants to pay rent on time.

While some landlords mess around with early payment rewards to entice tenants to pay on time, I believe nothing works as well as a hefty (but legal) late fee.

Be Reasonable

My state doesn’t have a statute on late fees, therefore I’m only responsible for ensuring they are “reasonable” – which is completely subjective.

As such, I charge different one-time late fees, depending on the rent amount:

• 10% if the rent amount is less than a $1,000,
• 7.5% if the rent is between $1,000-$2500, and
• 5% if the rent is over $2,500.

Some lawyers will tell you that anything over 5% will get thrown out in court, but I would argue that a $30 late fee on $600 in rent, does not motivate even the poorest of tenants. They will still pay you whenever they feel like it.

Related: Daily Late Fees Provide Motivation to Pay Rent Quickly

You Won’t Get Rich

My goal is not to actually collect late fees – but rather to motivate my tenants to pay on time.

The cost of receiving rent late is far greater than the few hundred dollars you’ll make by trying to collect small late fees.

Whatever amount you choose, make sure that it’s written and agreed to in the lease.

You can’t assign a late fee, no matter how small, if it’s not in the lease.

Late Fees & Grace Periods by State

State regulations vary greatly on this topic, so it’s imperative that you learn and abide by your state laws.

According to my research (though I’m not a lawyer), only 15 states regulate grace periods and/or late fees. Please click on the links to the actual statutes, to ensure accuracy of the data.

by: Lucal Hall | Cozy Co & Landlordology.com

It’s beginning to look like enticing 25- to 34-year olds into purchasing their first home won’t be easy. According to CoreLogic, homeownership rates for this group pale in comparison to the 1980’s rates for the same age bracket. In 1980, slightly more than 50% owned, or were buying, their homes. In 2012, just over a third (38%) of Millennials owned homes.

But, just looking at the percentage of current mortgages doesn’t present an accurate picture of what young adults in the United States are doing across the nation. California based mortgage lender Carrington Mortgage Service took a closer look at what factors motivates some Generation Rent members to shelter in place while others embrace homeownership.

It appears where they live plays a critical role in the decision-making process.

Interest rates are still low, hovering around 4%, but interest rates may not be the best indicator of who buys and who rents. The national mortgage interest average in the early 1980’s (as determined by Bankrate.com) was 18-20%.

Carrington’s survey found a strong correlation between down payment averages and homeownership rates for this group. In areas where down payment requirements exceed the national average, fewer Millennials are willing to take the plunge.

For example, western states – California, New Mexico, Washington, Utah, Montana, Alaska and six other states – reported an average down payment far above the national average. While the national average (according to a 2014 RealtyTrac market survey) was 14% of the purchase price, Millennial migrations for work often led the group to areas where lenders and market conditions demanded much larger down payment investments. Take the San Francisco, California area as an example. Down payments ranged from 27.81% to 30.01% for high-end homes, that’s roughly two times the national average.

There are bright spots for these young adults looking to buy their first homes. Although Millennials paid an average of 3% more down to qualify for a mortgage in 2014, some found places like Des Moines, Little Rock, Arkansas and Columbus, Ohio quite affordable. Two Ohio counties, Ashtabula and Clark, were ranked in the top five markets with the lowest down payment averages in the lowest-priced markets, 9.68% and 9.56% respectively.

Interest rates and down payment requirements aside, there are still some common factors keeping Millennials in the renter pool. Student loan debt, high credit card balance, low FICO scores and a general anxiety about how to even start the buying process keep some renewing the lease every year.

In the same way that location impacts cost of living and property values, perception varies widely among Millennials depending on where they live. In the northeast, the biggest financial concern keeping respondents from applying for a mortgage was credit card debt. Nationally only 14% of those surveyed perceived credit card debt as the most important factor. In the southern states, respondents worried most about low credit scores and navigating the buying process.

Carrington’s survey showed that some put off buying a home in the Midwest because they typically earn lower wages. When they look at adding a mortgage payment to the formula that already includes student debt burdens and lower salaries, the debt-to-ratio looks overwhelming.

Delving into the data shows that Millennials are still thinking about homeownership, in fact, 50% think they’ll buy in the next two years. It’s interesting to note that although this cohort shares many things in common, when it comes to making the commitment to a mortgage many factors are holding them back. The Carrington survey highlights the reality that location is still one of the primary factors driving home sales, especially for 25- to 34-year olds.

Appfolio | Company Website | LinkedIn Connect | AppFolio, Inc. develops Property Management Software that helps businesses improve their workflow so they save time and make more money.  Appfolio submits articles & blogs including topics of Resident Retention, Improved Owner Communication, Time Management, and more.