By Matt Donnelly, Buildium, Boston, MA

I spoke with a property manager the other week who was lamenting the tight profit margins he said he was forced to accept in order to get more business from property owners. He was interested in property management software as one way to cut costs and boost margins, which is a great solution. But are there other ways for property managers to cut costs in addition to increased automation.

One of them is forming or joining a property management cooperative. The idea is simple: Bring together a group of property managers in your area with common needs — trash pickup, maintenance, etc. — and pool their negotiating power to get lower costs for products and services.

That idea is the brainstorm of CCA Global Partners, which has found a niche implementing cooperatives in many different industries. Now they’re turning their attention to property management, creating INNOVIA.

“The purpose of INNOVIA is to bring together property management firms from across the U.S. so the aggregation of goods and services can be achieved at a much greater discount than by doing it on your own,” Justin Gargiolo, senior vice president and director of corporate operations for Great North Property Management in Boston, told the New England Real Estate Journal.

The savings can be substantial. Gargiolo elaborates:

As one of the 12 founding members of INNOVIA (and growing) we’ve already achieved 12% saving on our trash hauling costs and have seen the opportunity for 10-12% savings in energy procurement (gas/electric). We expect to see additional savings opportunities in office products, insurance, mortgages, pest control, and flooring, among many others.

He adds that there are already plans to let rental owners benefit from cooperative purchasing as well.

Do you have experience with property management cooperatives? How could you benefit from joining one? What are the risks? Please share your experiences in the comments section below.

By Matt Donnelly, Buildium, Boston, MA

Property management software isn’t just for the big guys. It’s for any landlords or property managers who want less stress, more free time…and a growing business.

Most property management software runs in the cloud, which is just a fancy way of saying you don’t have to install anything — just go online and log in to access your information at any time and in any place. Think of property management software as a personal assistant that’s, well, not a person.

More than just managing your properties, property management software is designed to make your life easier. It’s designed to help you easily perform those routine tasks like collecting rent payments and handling maintenance requests. It also lets you maintain records and run reports, which are always helpful at tax time!

Death by spreadsheets

I know what you might be thinking: I’ve managed my properties on paper or in Excel for years, so why should I use property management software?

It’s a good question. This takes us into a discussion of the benefits of property management software.

Only half joking, one landlord once quipped, “Without property management software, I would actually have to work.” While property management software can’t automate every aspect of property management, it can be an affordable and simple solution where property managers and landlords can manage properties, accounting and marketing all in one place — anywhere, anytime and on any device.

Let’s look at some of those property management tasks you might be having trouble with and see how property management software can ease your pain in each area.

• Doing the books: What would your life be like without having to manually update Excel spreadsheets? With property management software, you can get a complete financial picture for your properties and owners. Track income and expenses, and run key financial reports on demand.

• Payments: Imagine the tenant in 3C claims he gave you his rent check, but you have no record of it. It takes precious time to deal with the resulting hassle. But with property management software, you can allow tenants and association owners to make payments online, via EFT or credit card. And you can pay your bills online too. Trips to the bank will be a thing of the past.

• Maintenance requests: If the tenant’s dog chews through the fence, you don’t need to get called at one o’clock in the morning. With property management software, you can accept and respond to maintenance requests online 24/7. You get instant notification of the request, an easy way to assign tasks to your maintenance staff, status updates and a clear paper trail in case your tenant with a peckish pet gets litigious.

• Access to your information: Property management software is going mobile, so all the features are available to you and your tenants 24/7 on PCs, phones and tablets. No longer do you have to drag around your laptop and find a Wi-Fi hotspot in order to check on maintenance requests, rental applications or rental payments. Spend more of your time meeting with tenants and growing your business.

• Advertise for and screen for new tenants: Many property management software options will allow you to largely automate the process of advertising vacancies to sites like Craigslist or Zillow, handle rental applications and even facilitate background checks. Then, once the applicant becomes a tenant, the property management software will let you manage that relationship so it benefits both you and your tenants. You can also save your ads to use whenever you have more vacancies.

Depending on the property management software you use, you might have access to other time-saving features, including the ability to run credit and background checks, file tax forms and even outsource mailings.

It’s also easier than you think. Property management software companies spend a lot of time listening to their customers (people like you). They know you have an extremely busy job with no time to dedicate to learning a product. That’s why most of the software is designed so you don’t even need a product manual. Support is always there to help you out along the way and make sure that you are being as efficient as you can possibly be.

Do you use property management software? How has it helped you? Please share a comment below.

By Brooke McDonald, VSM Real Estate, St. Paul, MN

The unique nature of older properties makes renting them out a bit of a challenge. While newer homes and apartments boast modern conveniences, older properties sing charming songs from an earlier era. They just don’t build ‘em like that anymore, the old fogies mourn. There’s truth to it: People are truly not able to recreate the age and qualities of an older home, unless you take the expensive route and custom build and design a home.

The challenge of preparing old properties for market fits the analogy of a beauty pageant like a glove (an old-fashioned Grandma glove, no less). Not only is your contestant up against the fierce competition of the newly-remodeled-three-car-garage-whirlpool-tub crowd, but her charm and character need to make a fast impression.

Most real estate agents and property owners emphasize that the most important marketing strategy is to foresee common buyer objections and address concerns with renting an older property. What can you do to showcase your elderly gem’s best qualities and minimize any concerns from cautious renters?

The best of old and new

Old homes are stereotypically smelly and dark, with out-of-date appliances, peeling paint and dirty carpet. Property owners may be tempted to scrap it all and invest heavily in renovations. The key, however, is to retain the character and uniqueness your old property boasts but equip it for modern living as best you can. Conducting a deep clean, ensuring the working order of major home systems and making small renovations will go a long way to beautifying your old property.

• Make sure it looks good on the outside. Eliminate a new renter’s concern that the property is falling apart by making any big property renovations that must take place – like a new roof, chimney repairs, new windows, new siding, etc.

• Check mechanical systems (water supply lines, drain lines, heating system, circuits, etc.). Make sure everything’s working like it should so that renters do not worry that something will break in the middle of the night.

• Update ancient appliances. Ensure that everything works, and buy new appliances to replace near-death ones. Consider consulting a designer to make sure you choose appliances consistent with the home’s character.

• Freshen up the bathrooms and kitchen. These rooms sell a house. New coats of paint, new hardware on the cabinets, and perhaps new countertops or mirrors all go a long way in maintaining the charm and loveliness of the property. Nobody likes the look of kitchens or bathrooms that are in disrepair, dark or dingy. You can update these without a huge investment. For the showing, set out new towels, soap and flowers.

• Know the story. Time permitting, take a look at the history books, old newspaper articles and library archives. Having interesting tidbits on hand to share with your potential renters will help people value the property more. It’s not a bad idea to create some marketing materials specifically for telling the story. Often, older properties are located in areas with rich history and great ambiance.

• Have a property inspection done. Do this before renters show up in order to give relief to suspicious prospects who think a big bad issue will crop up at any moment.

Once you have your older property all spruced up, it’s time to show it to potential renters. What are the secrets to showing an older rental property? That’s the topic of, “How to Show Older Rental Properties,” my next blog post.

A guest post by Joe Dawson, PrintingPeach.ca, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

If you run your own property management company’s website, you have likely heard of search engine optimization (SEO). One popular scheme that low-rent SEO companies use is to add blog comments or send unsolicited emails to website owners claiming that they can get your site hundreds or thousands more visitors every day by optimizing your page for search engines. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true …

So what is SEO and why does it matter to you? SEO determines how search engines categorize you in terms of what search terms are relevant to your page and how far up the list of search results you belong. The text clues on your page should let a search engine know that you belong in the search results when someone Googles “property management in Anytown.” It should also specifically let the search engine know whether or not you belong on the page when someone searches for “condos to rent in Anytown” or “pet-friendly rentals in Anytown.”

Search engine programs called “spiders” scan the Internet constantly (they “crawl” all over the web, so they’re “spiders”). When search engine spiders look at your site, they determine what you’re all about. The spiders read all of the content on your site that they can, looking for groups of words that put you in the same category as other sites. If you have a lot of instances of the words “dog,” “treats,” and “chew toys,” then it’s safe for the spider to assume that your page is related to dog treats and chew toys and that your page might be relevant for similar searches like “dog bones” and “rawhide chews.”

This is why SEO matters — making sure your site is search engine-friendly is one of the best ways to find people who are trying to find you. People searching on the Internet for “rental properties” are likely very interested in what you have to offer. Make it easy for those people by taking simple steps to optimize your site. The returns on SEO investment are usually much better than advertising to get your company’s name out to the public as a whole.

The first step to optimizing your site is keyword research. You want the terms that are highly relevant to your site that lots of people search for to appear a lot on your site. The first step of keyword research is thinking about your company — what you do, what you would search for if you were looking for your own kind of company, and if you have any unique qualities that similar companies don’t have. If you have a specialty, like if your properties are the only ones in town that are pet friendly, you should likely think of keywords to include on your site to reflect that. There are lots of tools on the Internet to help you with keyword research (Google’s keyword tool is a good one to start with) and plenty of information if you want more on the topic.

Now that you have keywords in mind, go through your site and make changes if you need to. Also keep these rules of thumb in mind if you create new content or pages:

• - Emphasize those places on the page search engines think are important. Make sure you include the really important keywords in your page titles, headings, and URLs.
• - Sprinkle keywords into the text on your pages. About three times within the body text on your pages is enough.
• - Add information to your objects, images, and videos. Search engines can’t read through information that’s included in a block of Java code or interpret images or videos. Give them a hand by adding description tags to objects on the page, making a descriptive name for media files, and adding a transcript of video files that are heavy on spoken information.

Most of the tips presented here fall into the category of “on-page SEO.” There is a whole realm of SEO not mentioned here, “off-page SEO,” that deals with the other job search engines have, like ranking related pages on the results page. Off-page SEO’s scope is much bigger than on-page SEO’s, and professionals make careers out of it. We’re not going to tackle it here, but a good primer is available on SEOMoz. For now, implement these tips on your site and you will be well on your way to a better search engine experience for your property management company’s website.

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

If you are in the industry of caring for properties, leasing properties, or even selling properties, there is one tool you should never be caught without — the Emergency Calling List! It’s the one tool that does many things for anyone charged with caring for a property.

When you think about the word “emergency” it connotes visions of fires, floods, crime, etc. However, when you think of the words “crisis” or “disaster,” it sounds much more evil and sinister. The difference to me is that you can have an emergency, but if you are not prepared, it can quickly become a crisis or a disaster. There is a huge difference.

Being prepared, like Boy Scouts are always known to be good at, is an incredible skill. It takes thought, the ability to anticipate, and planning. On top of that, it does requiring testing from time to time and many “what if?” scenario considerations.

The first step to being prepared for any emergency, at the most basic level, is to start an emergency calling list. The list needs to be from the top down, and include all things you would need to know or people you can count on at 2 a.m. on Christmas Eve. Yes, can you reach these people at the worst possible time you can think of? How about 5:30 p.m. on a Monday night? Everyone is in rush hour driving home and all of the businesses you rely on are closed! That is what an emergency calling list can and should do for you.

Creating the emergency calling list is the first thing I do when I take on a new property. I create my emergency calling list before anything else is even considered. Why? Because I have been there and done that in my career, and extreme emergencies can hit when you least expect them.

The emergency calling list should start with the local and/or public authorities and work itself down through the chain of command, including vendors, neighbor properties, and key information you will most certainly need when you least expect it. The emergency list should contain phone numbers, email addresses, home phones, relative phones, cells, pagers, and whatever means necessary to reach individuals, as well as options if those fail. Just keep thinking, “What if this fails?” and “What if that fails?” If you keep thinking about “Plan B,” then “Plan C,” you are doing a great job in building your emergency calling list. Do not just accept a number for an office of a vendor either! Be sure you ask for the after-hours numbers! I have been there, done that. I know from years of practice that you must ask all vendors who are on your list what the procedure is for contacting their technicians on weekends and evenings.

Formatting an emergency calling list is something to consider as well. In my sample provided here, I have always kept my emergency calling list in alphabetical order by incident type, combined with sections for in-house personnel, public services, and neighbor properties. But this is just a sample! There are so many styles and layouts in how you create your form. The emergency calling list should be a daily event. Are there changes? Are people on vacation? Are there new vendors to add? New phone numbers? Et cetera. When you learn of a change, make it immediately! Do not procrastinate. Also, when you physically print the list, consider how many you need to print and distribute. How many do you need to hand out to your key personnel? Remember this is a tool and we must distribute physical lists, even with our high-tech world. One of the most severe emergencies you may experience may be loss of power. Without power there are no computers or Internet! Since we printed our emergency calling lists constantly, we simply added the number of copies next to each member of the team, and even that information was maintained on the emergency calling list. This would indicate next to each key contact name type how many to distribute physically. Yes, physically. Remember, if there is no power, all computers are down.

Once printed and distributed, think about where you want to maintain the physical lists. The emergency calling list needs to be maintained in several locations. Here are my locations:

1. Refrigerator
2. Car/trunk/glove compartment
3. Briefcase/laptop bag
4. Computer
5. Cell phone

In other words, I have physical, online versions and cell phone access to the data. If I am driving in traffic, I have one in my vehicle. For home use, I have a clipboard with a magnetic back that adheres to the side of my refrigerator. Believe it or not, it is the most often used list. Most emergencies happen after hours and in the late night hours. In other words, everywhere I go, I am prepared. It is such a relief when you receive an emergency call and you have your list at the ready. It can make the difference when you get your next emergency call and it helps to prevent any emergency from becoming a crisis or disaster. Why? Because you are prepared! Here is a blank sample form of what my most favorite type of emergency calling list looks like. Click here to check it out.

Do you and your team have the #1 most vital property tool ready? If not, stop now and get it done.

By Ashley Halligan, Software Advice, Austin, TX

Just a year ago, several California-based real estate agencies had already begun implementing aerial real estate photography via Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) — significantly reducing the cost of employing manned aircraft to capture high-end estate images. Furthermore, new technologies allow these UAVs — or drones — to capture high-resolution images that were before impossible.

In February 2012, however, a new bill — the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act — led to the LAPD cracking down on aerial photography operations — but only temporarily. The new bill will actually pave a a freer path for both private and commercial use of drones. The bill has approved more than $60 billion in funds to the FAA and also requires that the FAA have its new laws loosening the airspace restrictions in place by September 2015.

Aside from aerial photography, what other ways are real estate and property management professionals considering the future impact of loosened restrictions?

David Record, CEO of Advanced Unmanned, brings up an interesting point about satellite imagery — and its impact on property maintenance, for example.

“These UAVs allow the end-user to have imagery that is fresher and more relevant; thus the imagery itself becomes a party of the decision-making process,” he says. “The expansion of accessible, relevant data allows property owners, planners, and other entities to make decisions from a desktop rather than having to travel on-site to acquire the same information.”

In an article I recently wrote for Software Advice, I explored real estate professionals’ opinions and some of the public apprehensions encompassing this hot topic. What else did they have to say?

Read the original story — Drones: A Controversial Eye in the Sky for Property Managers.