If you are interviewing a landlord on the phone and he asks you why are you moving, then the answer that you give him may reveal more about your rental situation than you think it does. If you are downsizing to a smaller apartment, then that makes perfect sense. Or let’s say that you are in a two-bedroom apartment, and now you are looking for a larger apartment, maybe a three or four-bedroom apartment. Then that makes perfect sense too. […]
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Probably the second biggest mistake prospective renters make before they call the landlord, is not reading the entire ad. A lot of the questions you may have, are probably already answered in the text for the ad. Say for example, you see an ad for an apartment for rent on Craigslist, Zillow, Trulia, HotPads or some other apartment rental resource. The landlord has already taken the time to figure out how much rent he’s asking for. They have already listed […]
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Welcome to our new office! Searching for a place of our own Since 2001 we have been managing small to medium size properties from Ayer to Athol in Massachusetts along the Route 2 commuter corridor. We have written hundreds of leases with residents, renovated scores of rental units for our clients, and learned a lot along the way. For the past three years we have felt the growing pains for space to have a professional location to conduct out business. The […]
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This past week we were all tracking Hurricane Matthew and watching the devastation and destruction left in its wake. It is hurricane season now and we all have our eye on the weather. Well folks, this is New England so you’d better not blink or you will find your self covered in snow before you know it. It may be hurricane season now, but you should be prepping all of your rental properties and buildings for winter while there is […]
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Recently one of my Real Estate Colleagues sent me the following email looking for advice in buying their first Massachusetts Rental Property. The following exchange is a reply to that inquiry that you may find helpful as well. And all of this was written from memory before my morning coffee. %^)) _______________________ Hi Brian, As always, good to see you again at last week’s NEREIA meeting. You always keep the presenters on their toes! I have a favor to ask. I am in the […]
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Your property should not be a revolving door of bad tenants coming in and going out. The number one cost you cannot ever recover from a property, is a vacancy. When you are not collecting rent you cannot cover your debt for the property. You cannot pay your contractors; you cannot pay your mortgage taxes and insurance. The worst of all is that you cannot make repairs and your property accumulates deferred maintenance issues. This is the slow death of […]
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Lord help me if I run into another would be property manager who just came fresh from some seminar and thinks they know everything they need to know to run a property successfully. This is not a get rich quick business. This is a customer service relationship business. The faster this notion becomes clear to the property owner or manager, then so much better for everyone involved in the process. Having some sales experience is always a plus, but customer service […]
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