Hiring a Property Manager

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buy and hold, Buying a home, buying an investment home, homes in Jacksonville, Homes in Jacksonville FL, property management, real estate, real estate investing

One of the most important decisions you can make as a real estate investor is hiring the right property manage for your investment property. The difference between a cash-flow positive property and a drag on your finances can be an experienced, professional property manager.

You should always interview more than one property management company when you’re evaluating property managers, but do you know what to look for in a property manager? If not, these tips will help put you on the right path.

1. Find certified property managers first. Consult the National Association of Residential Property Managers (http://www.narpm.org/) to seek out property managers with certifications and designations.

2. Look for property managers with ten to fifteen miles of your property. You need managers who are willing to be hands-on and local when it comes to managing emergencies and conducting inspections.

3. Make sure your manager conducts monthly inspections. Just because they’re local doesn’t mean they’re up on inspections, so get a guarantee they’ll inspect the property each month.

4. Inquire as to how many properties the property manager currently manages. You want to be sure they’re not taking on more properties than they can handle. It’s important your property remain a priority.

5. Ask what sort of technology they use to help them manage properties. PropertyWare, Yardi, HERO, and Appfolio are some of the leading software packages on the market. Also be sure to check out their website and any social media presence they may have.

6. Be clear about fees. Make sure you understand every detail about the manager’s fee structure.

7. Ask them to detail their screening process for tenants. Don’t be shy about asking them what sort of modifications they’re willing to make based on your preferences.

If you’re new to real estate investing, I’d be happy to start you on the path to diversifying your holdings with real property. Curious what’s on the market now? Get in touch:

Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORS – The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside 904-515-2479 http://www.HanleyHomeTeam.com

 

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Open House Checklist

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Jacksonville FL real estate agents, Jacksonville Real Estate, open house, open house how to, real estate, tips for open house

The run-up to an open house is as important as the event itself. Preparing yourself and others for the event is crucial to not only showcasing a property, but also building relationships with neighbors, future buyers, and people who may just provide that essential referral. One of the best ways to ensure success every time? Make a checklist of what must be done, and set up alerts on your calendar to remind you to do the tasks on your checklist.

Below is a sample checklist of a successful open house plan:

1 week before: Create flyers with date, time, and contact info for the open house, and home/mortgage info on the house. Create a Facebook Event and invite friends, fans, and prospects.

6 days before: Call all your buyers to let them know about the open house. Hang 25 flyers and 25 door-knockers around the neighborhood.

5 days before: Check on the status of the flyers. If you run into people in the neighborhood while you’re there, introduce yourself and let them know about the open house.

2 days before: Be sure you’ve memorized the house and its details, and know its floor plan well enough to give effective tours that showcase the property. Create an attractive sign-in sheet, featuring your photo and contact info, and offering a line for their own contact info (including email address!) and space for them to share where they heard about the open house.

30 minutes before: Make sure the house is clean, and smells clean (many home sprays are clean and pleasant; avoid overtly floral or scented scents, as many people are allergic or sensitive to strong scents). Place at least 4 directional signs, each with eye-catching accessories, such as balloons to grab people’s attention and pull traffic from main intersections (don’t forget the sign license as they are required in some parts of the county).

10 minutes before: Open house and front door. Put at least two signs and 4 attention-getters out front, and an “Open” rider on the sign. Play background music, preferably something instrumental and subtle, at low volume.

Within 24-hours after: Follow up with all contacts by phone or email.

From open house to open house, you’ll refine your plan. Take notes. Write down what seemed to work, and what bombed. Over time, you’ll have a custom checklist which will help you efficiently and effectively prepare for blockbuster open houses.

Open houses are a lot more work than you might think!  Need someone to help you with your open house? Get in touch! The Hanley Home Team – expert real estate agents (and open house agents!)  Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTOR – Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside 904-515-2479 http://www.HanleyHomeTeam.com

 

What is an MLS?

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homes in Jacksonville, Jacksonville FL real estate agents, Jacksonville Real Estate, MLS, multiple listing service

Do you understand what an MLS is? If you’re searching for a home, an MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is absolutely crucial for discovering homes and marketing homes to agents and potential buyers. Get a clear understanding of the benefits of an MLS!

Odds are you’ve spent a little time online searching for homes. After all, most home searches begin online. You may have even used a broker’s website or a site like Trulia or Zillow to help you browse listings.

But where does listing information come from?

Way back in the day, prior to the Information Age revolution, brokers used to gather and exchange information about their properties. The idea was fairly straightforward: I’ll help you sell your properties if you help me sell mine. It’s a “private offer of cooperation and compensation.” Cooperation meant the real estate industry could thrive and buyers and sellers could enjoy smoother transactions.

This spirit of cooperation gave rise to Multiple Listing Service(s) (MLS). By consolidating information about housing inventory in an MLS, listing brokers and buyers’ brokers can easily share up-to-date information about homes on the market. Though an MLS is typically a private database available to brokers, much of the information is syndicated to outside sites in the interest of casting wider net for buyers and sellers.

As an MLS is the primary source of information about a property, it tends to be the most accurate. It may also contain private information for use by brokers only, such as times the home is available for showings and seller contact information.

There are upwards of 850 MLS databases in the U.S. alone, and to a certain extent, there is market pressure to centralize these into a national MLS database. We’re sure to see changes in how Multiple Listing Services are used in the future, but the core benefits to home sellers and buyers is sure to remain.

Ready to put the power of an MLS to work for you? Search with me today for homes on the market right now.  You can search like us at http://www.HanleyHomeTeam.com or call us at 904-515-2479 – Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORS The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside