Establishing mutually beneficial relationships with local businesses in the neighborhoods surrounding your properties is one of the best ways to keep vacancy levels low. If your neighborhood is booming, it’s likely your properties will boom as well. Check out these links for some great advice on forming relationships in your community.

• Start by searching for local restaurants, universities, salons, gyms, shops, and other businesses within a mile of your property. Enter your property’s address into Google Maps to start.
• Next, identify what your ideal tenant pool looks like. Should you consider renting to students?
• Business cards are essential when networking with local businesses. Ensure that your business cards are polished, professional, and effective.
• Cross-promote, cross-promote, cross-promote! Then check out other cost-effective ways to promote your business.

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In this economy, businesses of all stripes are looking for a little extra leverage when it comes to generating more sales. Despite all the gloom and doom news out there, this actually opens up a lot of new doors for property managers to not only lower their vacancy rates, but also to incorporate new business strategies that can pay off in spades over the long haul.

We’ve spent a lot of time on this blog talking about viral marketing and utilizing new technology for growing your business and marketing your properties. While this is all well and good, it’s also important to keep those perennial grassroots marketing strategies alive and well. And one of the most effective grassroots approaches for those in the property management business is partnerships with local businesses.

More likely than not, businesses in close proximity to your rental units are open to strategies that will bring a steady stream of new customers into their establishment, whether it be a restaurant, grocery store,video rental store, or salon. Believe it or not, you have your finger right on the pulse of their potential client base: your tenants. Of course, this is a two-way street—those same neighborhood purveyors may well have just the tenant you’re looking for in their clientele.

Capitalizing on such potentially synchronous relationships is simple. First, sit down and figure out what your ideal tenant pool looks like. Is it students? Young professionals? 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 are most likely frequenting. If it’s students you’re after, they may well be visiting the pub around the corner or the pizza shop up the street. 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 organic grocery store each week.

Now that you know where to seek out your tenants, 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. If you opt to go to that pub around the corner, 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 the pub 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.

Co-op 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. Essentially, a two-way word-of-mouth marketing campaign is established.

Promoting units doesn’t have to involve large investments or technical savvy. 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. After all, everyone wins when your property’s neighborhood is booming.

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When it comes to keeping the books for your properties and your property management company, we could all use some help–especially those of us without a strong accounting background. Here are some additional resources to help further your understanding of accounting procedures and make keeping your properties’ books a breeze.

• Do you understand how to calculate rental property depreciation? Check out PropertyDo.com’s Rental Property Depreciation Guide to learn how depreciation affects your properties.

• ProfitStars and Heartland Payment Systems have partnered with Buildium to allow property managers to convert paper checks into electronic deposits from the convenience of their home or office. This eliminates trips to the bank and retains employees on-site to deal with customers.

• Your accounting questions have likely already been answered at AccountingCoach.com. Feel free to suggest a question to receive free, easy to understand answers to your toughest accounting questions.

• Still need help? Visit Accountants World Directory of Local CPAs to find a professional in your area.

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Property Management Software Rental Property Management Software Landlord Software HOA Software Property Management

When it comes to keeping the books for your properties and your property management company, we could all use some help–especially those of us without a strong accounting background. Here are some additional resources to help further your understanding of accounting procedures and make keeping your properties’ books a breeze.

• Do you understand how to calculate rental property depreciation? Check out PropertyDo.com’s Rental Property Depreciation Guide to learn how depreciation affects your properties.

• ProfitStars and Heartland Payment Systems have partnered with Buildium to allow property managers to convert paper checks into electronic deposits from the convenience of their home or office. This eliminates trips to the bank and retains employees on-site to deal with customers.

• Your accounting questions have likely already been answered at AccountingCoach.com. Feel free to suggest a question to receive free, easy to understand answers to your toughest accounting questions.

• Still need help? Visit Accountants World Directory of Local CPAs to find a professional in your area.

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Not all property managers are accounting experts, but accurate and organized accounting systems are nonetheless a crucial part of effective property management. Luckily for those of us that don’t have a significant background in accounting, there are many helpful tools available to aid property managers in effectively handling their accounting practices.

Software
One of the most critical accounting tasks a property manager faces is the struggle to keep different properties’ finances separate from one another. This means that funds allocated for property A are kept separate from funds for properties B, C, and D and from funds meant specifically for the property management company itself.

The second biggest accounting concern for property managers is maintaining consistently up-to-date accounting records. With money constantly flowing in and out of each properties’ accounts, it’s essential to remain on top of payments received and made. Property managers must be able to quickly and efficiently respond to property owners’ inquiries regarding payments or bills.

Accounting software allows property managers to easily update payments made and received. It also allows you to see all accounts for your various properties. Property management accounting software also allows complete and organized records to be pulled at a moment’s notice, whether you need to review them yourself or want to send them out for a property owner’s review. Be sure to check out Buildium’s property accounting software, specifically tailored for property managers.

Books
In addition to having a software-based accounting system, it’s also helpful to have a basic understanding of property management accounting practices and procedures. Understanding how, why, and when financial transactions occur makes the accounting process a more intuitive one. We recommend some of the following books (beginning with our own, of course):

• Property Management Accounting: A Survival Guide for Non-Accountants
• Accounting for Dummies
• Accounting for Non-Accountants, 2nd Edition: The Fast and Easy Way to Learn the Basics

Professional CPA Services
Finally, remember that it’s always okay to ask for help. Particularly around tax time, you want to make sure that you are taking advantage of all the tax deductions available for property owners, whether the owner is you or your employer.

While accounting is not your primary function as a property manager, it is certainly one of your most important. Using property management software with accounting capabilities, educating yourself about basic accounting principles, and not being afraid to ask a professional for help when necessary will all contribute to greater efficiency in handling the accounting procedures necessary to run your property management business.

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• Follow professional organizer John Trosko for some tweeted tips on office organization.
• Have you had the same furniture for the past twenty years? Probably time for an upgrade. Ikea offers inexpensive, modern office furnishings.
• Did you know correct office lighting is one of the keys to a productive work place?
• Need a simple, systematic plan to organize your office? Check out eHow’s 6 simple steps for organizing your office.
• Stay green, stay clean. Use green office cleaners to keep your  company presentable and eco-friendly.

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First impressions can either take you a long way or stop you before you’ve even passed go. And when it comes to clients (both potential business associates and potential tenants), their first impression of you may very well involve your office. While it’s not necessary to spend a ton of money creating a luxurious office setting, it is important that everything is functional and presentable. Following are some low-maintenance tips that will help you and your office put a professional first foot forward.

1. Clear signage.
Your client’s first impression of your office may well begin before he even sets foot through your front door. Make sure that your office space is clearly marked from the exterior so that customers can easily identify it and start things off on the right note.

2. Showcase yourself.
Your office is a great place to do some self-promotion. Lining your walls with professional looking photographs of some of your most appealing properties and any awards or certificates you have sends great visual cues to potential clients.

3. Make space.
Even if your office is a small space that is occupied only by you, be sure that you have some sort of seating option for clients. This can be as simple as a single, comfortable chair on the opposite side of your desk. But it is important that there is a place—whether it be just a chair or a conference table—where your client can sit down and make herself comfortable.

4. Points for hospitality.
Putting potential clients at ease and making them as comfortable as possible can only benefit business negotiations. While you don’t have to offer a fully-stocked bar and appetizers, be sure that you do keep the basics on-hand. Have coffee, tea, and water available and up for offer when clients pay a visit to the office.

5. Organization is key.
No matter how nice your office is, too much visible clutter pretty much guarantees that you won’t start off with your best foot forward. Cluttered surroundings send out the impression that you are disorganized and perhaps over-worked (certainly not the impression you want to convey while attempting to obtain new business).

In an ideal world, we would all be organized all the time (and your business will certainly run more smoothly if you do remain as organized), however this is simply not always possible. So if it’s a chaotic day and you simply don’t have time to de-clutter before clients arrive, be sure that you do at least disguise your clutter. Providing each staff member with storage drawers, shelving, and file systems means that you will always have somewhere to stash the chaos away, even if it’s not exactly filed in the most detailed manner possible.

Clearly, it’s your properties and business experience that will really woo potential clients and tenants. But when it comes to obtaining new business, it’s always best to have all factors on your side. These simple tips will have potential clients impressed  from the moment they walk through your office door.

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Saving time is saving money. But sometimes it’s more difficult to realize that we need to spend time to save time. Here are links to some tools that may save you time in the long-run.

• Need help with your website marketing? Sign-up for HubSpot and invest some time learning their tools . With this solid understanding you’ll be well on your way to saving time otherwise spent blindly trying to get your site to the top of search results.
• Yes, sometimes we’re self-serving. Spending the time to learn property management software will save you time in the future. Time that can then be used to market your services and grow your company.
• Understand your site traffic by learning to use Google Analytics. Inserting the code into your website is easy and learning the basics of the tool is simple. You’ll immediately save time by eliminating poor keyword targets.
• Still struggling with accounting? Spend some time reading Property Management Accounting: A Survival Guide for Non-Accountants to decrease your accounting frustration and save valuable time.

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Time is of the essence in the property management business. Let’s face it, there are just never enough hours in the day to get everything accomplished. So, for many, the notion of taking time out for training and other sorts of continued education (whether it be about real estate rules and regulations or maintenance tasks) seems like a nice idea, but also completely unrealistic.

When considering such matters, though, it’s important to apply a bit of foresight to the decision-making process. Following are just a few examples of common property management scenarios where spending time up front might just save you a whole lot of time (and sometimes money) in the long-run.

Computer and Software Training
Incorporating financial and record-keeping software into your property management program can save you a ton of time in the long run, whittling formerly drawn-out tasks such as rent collection, payment recording, and maintenance tracking down to just a few clicks of the mouse. But installing new property management software and learning how to navigate it can be a daunting prospect. Taking time to learn the ins and outs of navigating office software that automates tasks and keeps electronic records is always time well spent. You’ll literally save yourself hundreds of hours down the line.

Learning Basic DIY Tasks
Having a stable of good repairmen to call when the need arises is crucial to keeping your tenants happy. And, certainly, you should always call in the experts when it comes to major or complex repairs. But the truth of the matter is, there are just some things you can do on your own. And, in some cases, it’s quicker and cheaper to take care of minor glitches and quick-fixes on your own. Consider investing your time in learning some basic DIY tricks of the trade so that when small repairs come up you can take care of your tenants quickly and inexpensively.

Organizing Your Office
No one works well in a cluttered environment. And even if you think you do, chances are you’ll save yourself a whole lot of time in the long run if you know exactly where to locate a file or document when you’re looking for it. Investing a bit of time into office organization is one of those things a lot of us think about, but few of us rarely do. Setting aside a half-day every quarter to really get things organized will make everything run smoother in the long-run. And the truth is, most of us are more likely to keep things organized once they’re already tidy. The more diligent you are about organizing on a regular basis, the smoother everything will run and the less you’ll actually have to do once that next organization day rolls around.

Ultimately, think of your time as an investment. Just as you sometimes have to spend a little money to increase the value of your property, sometimes you have to spend a little time to increase the value of your business.

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