This award was created in 2004 and recognizes an alumnus of the Berkeley Computer Science Department who has distinguished himself as a leader through professional and technical accomplishments. This honor includes past recipients of the award Eric Schmidt (Executive Chairman, Google); Steven Wozniak (one of the founders of Apple) and Mendel Rosenblum (Associate Professor of Computer Science at Stanford and co-founder of VMware).
Klaus founded Expertcity (now Citrix Online GoToMeeting, GoToMyPC) in 1999 and his enthusiasm and creativity have really been a gift to the community of Santa Barbara. We are all so proud of Klaus and feel lucky to have the opportunity to work with him on a daily basis.
As a property manager, you get to ask your potential residents a number of questions before approving their rental applications. But before residents decide to submit an application, they may have questions for you as well. This is a good thing, because it helps you to clarify your policies, and can even give you a better idea of the type of resident the applicant will be. Think of it as another step in the selection process. You’ll be able to see what concerns applicants have and address them before they become problems.
Common Questions Asked By Residents
Typically, questions usually involve the schedule for when rent is due, what fees are associated with applying for rental or possible penalties for breaking a lease. More in-depth leasing questions can also involve the lease duration and who can sign it. It is important to be prepared to answer these questions, especially questions related to property policies. Here’s a list of common questions:
Do you allow pets, and is there a fee if you do?
Am I allowed to change the wall color or hang pictures?
What do utilities usually cost per month?
What utilities are included in the monthly rent?
Is there laundry on-site?
How do I request maintenance?
Is the property safe?
Do you typically raise rents ever year?
Here’s a list of 100 questions to ask before renting: This list is pretty long but you might find a few gems that will help your leasing staff be even better prepared!
Are there other important questions leasing agents should be prepared to answer?
We hosted a great webinar with Grace Hill where presenter Patty Morgan-Seager (Marketing Expert) shared tips on how to get more done every day and maximize your time.
Did you know that only 3% of adults have clear, written goals? Patty’s time-savings tips addressed making a “to do list” the night before your work day and how “eating the frog first” can help you end your day with a sense of accomplishment. Patty revealed how the #1 pet peeve in today’s work force is poor time management and described how “procrastination is the assassination of motivation.” This webinar was packed with helpful tips and comical scenarios that all property management professionals can relate to. You may think twice now before checking your email from bed in the morning. Here’s the recorded webinar for your reference.
Patty addressed several real world scenarios and many participants submitted additional questions during the Webinar so we wanted to follow up with Patty’s comments below.
How do I manage a situation when my boss’s “to do list” doesn’t match my own?
That is a great question. I would ask my boss if we could sit and compare our “to do lists” with each other. This will give both of you valuable insight as to what the items are on each of your lists. Then, I would ask your boss to help you prioritize your list with his/hers.
The “Frog” is often the most time consuming thing on my “to do list” – how do I fit everything into my day?
Hmmm…first of all, I would take a look at your Frog and determine why it often seems to be the most time consuming task on your “to do” list. Is it the most time consuming because it is something you do not like doing, you are not comfortable doing or you do not feel you have all the resources to accomplish the task in a reasonable amount of time? You might want to consider asking yourself the above questions. And, another suggestion would be to see if you can break your Frog down into smaller, more bite-size tasks. (no pun intended!)
How do I handle resident interruptions while maintaining customer service?
Wow! That’s a tough one, isn’t it? As I mentioned on the Webinar, I work in the trenches to keep myself up to date on what really happens on a daily basis on site. One of the situations I have been noticing is the fact that residents would enter the office and interrupt a leasing consultant while they were in the leasing process with a future resident. Now, this presents a two-fold situation. One, you want to make sure you address the resident concern in a way that displays your intention to deliver great customer service to an existing resident (because we really do want to focus on retaining our current residents!) and secondly, the way you handle the interruption has a great impact on the future resident you are with, because the future resident is observing your actions and thinking… “Hmmm…is this how I will be treated when I am a resident here?” So, I suggest excusing yourself with the future resident, and addressing the resident’s request, and then return to the future resident interaction. That’s a win-win!
What should we do if the same residents keep calling and interrupting us over the same questions? Can you offer a suggestion?
First of all, I would investigate why the same residents keep calling with the same questions? Are they calling about the same issue, and if so, why is that? Do you need to take a look at their question and how you are addressing it? You might consider meeting with them in person to discuss. Sometimes an in-person discussion is more effective.
What do you suggest to do when there are constant interruptions in the office and it gets very loud?
This world of property management is a busy one. Sometimes, it is almost impossible to find a few minutes of quiet time. Do you have an area in your leasing office that you can go to when you need to Eat Your Frog or focus your attention to specific tasks on your “to-do” list? Or, perhaps you could work on your task in the model?
It doesn’t matter what type of property you’re trying to fill vacancies in, you need to put some effort into presentation when you show it. Whether your property is a single family home or an apartment unit, prospective renters are not going to be impressed if your property is in complete chaos! So put some work into staging using some of the tips below and you’re likely to find that each of your showings is far more successful.
When you stage your property for showing, focus on the following:
De-clutter
Any interior looks better without clutter! For a home, this means that you should make sure existing residents don’t have children’s toys, clothing or shoes lying around. In an office, it means tidying up supplies on desks. Ask the existing residents to pitch in, or bring in whomever you need to assist.
Clean If there’s no one occupying the space currently, do a deep clean. Have the carpets cleaned, the walls, and anything else that’s necessary. The whole place should be sparkling clean when you’re done. Studies show that this can make a really big difference so be sure not to show a dirty apartment.
Redecorate
If you have the option, paint the home so it looks new and fresh, since it’s an inexpensive fix. Choose an appealing color for the walls. You could even use a staging company to bring in new furniture. This option is even better when the property is vacant already. It can help individuals to envision living or working in the space, increasing its appeal.
Presentation is everything in the property management industry – it is so much easier when the property sells itself. We always recommend to customers of our property management maintenance software to use the recurring work order feature. With just a few clicks users can set up these kinds of routine tasks so they are done as soon as the apartment / house is vacant.
Facebook is one of the most important avenues for communication today. Whether people are using it to talk to their childhood best friends or find sales from their favorite stores- your residents are using Facebook today. That’s why it is so important for you to use Facebook for your property management marketing, communicate with your current residents, and even bring in new renters.
People talk. In some cases this can be good, and in some it can be bad. Using Facebook can help you both see and control what’s being said about you, giving you the chance to work on your image. Good publicity isn’t the only thing you can use Facebook for, though. Advertising (research Facebook Ads), collecting rental applications, offering online-only specials – these are just some of the great ways social networking can be used. Just remember, keeping your residents happy is the key to keeping them with you.
Resident Retention and Facebook
When people are happy, they’re more likely to stay where they are and one of the best ideas is to keep helping your residents remember how great their community truly is!
We always recommend that you create a Facebook page and use it to regularly communicate with your residents. You can answer questions they may have, let them know more about your online system for rental applications (in case they want to refer a friend!), post photos of people having fun together, add restaurant reviews and even advertise events that are happening around your community. Interactions like this can even help residents get to know each other. It’s amazing what the feeling of community can do.
As a property manager, it is essential that you maintain a great relationship with owners – after all, they are very important to your business! You may not need to get along with them on a personal level or meet for 18-holes on Sunday afternoons, but you do need to ensure that you stay on positive terms. This can look different for each owner depending on their specific expectations of you, but there are some basic things that all property managers should focus on doing in order to show owners that their property is in great hands.
Keep The Residents Happy
To keep the owner happy, you’ve got to keep people in their properties. To keep vacancies to a minimum, you’ve got to keep the residents happy. Generally, ensure that you meet any needs that are reasonable and that were agreed upon in the lease. Keep the property well maintained and communicate openly with residents as necessary. Do what you’ve got to do to keep the property rented out.
Be Proactive
Never wait for an owner to tell you that they haven’t received a rent payment for a specific property, or that you’ve failed to provide essential reports. If ever there is an issue, you should be the first one to know and in a position to communicate it to the owner. As long as everything is running as smoothly as can be expected, stay on top of your game. Get them their money before they ask for it, and stay on top of rent collection and the like!
Keep The Money Coming In
Money isn’t everything in life, but when an owner hires a property manager, the point is that they want to be hands-off and simply receive the profits. So that always has to be on your mind!
Leverage Your AppFolio Owner Portals
To make the process of dealing with an owner even easier, we offer Owner Portals through AppFolio. You can give owners access to all the necessary reports so they can download them whenever they’d like. The portal is designed simply enough that you don’t need to worry about providing them with IT support, either! This part of the property management app provides one more way for you to get your job done and keep owners happy.
For property managers, safety is key. When you manage a property, you’re responsible for a great deal, and the safety and upkeep of your property is one of the most important priorities you have. Without proper upkeep on your property, you’re setting yourself up for problems. However, if you manage many different properties, it can be hard to keep track of everything that needs to be done.
Not to worry. One of the best ways to stay up to date with maintenance is to use property management maintenance software. It helps you keep track of both regularly scheduled maintenance tasks and one-time issues. It also gives you the ability to access your data and deal with problems from anywhere.
Legal Issues for Property Managers
As a manager, you accept the responsibility for the safety of the residents and staff on your property. This includes their health and physical well-being. If residents are injured on your property, they may choose to take legal action against you, citing poor maintenance practices as the reason they were hurt. This could prove to be quite costly for you and can damage your reputation. You can help protect yourself from liability by simply using technology to manage the maintenance of the properties.
Preventing Hazards on Your Property
Hazards come in a number of different forms. Property managers have to be conscious of both physical and biological hazards. Physical hazards like broken steps are often easily fixable and even preventable with routine maintenance. Routine maintenance can also help prevent leaks in plumbing, gas lines, and HVAC units.
Biological hazards are also preventable, despite their more ominous name. For instance, inspect your property regularly for mold and mildew, and if any is found, clean it up promptly. The sooner you take care of potential hazards, the better off your residents will be.
AppFolio’s Work Order Feature Helps You More Easily Maintain Your Properties
With AppFolio’s property management software, maintenance doesn’t have to be a constant headache. You can access information about your property and manage work orders from within the software to get the problems fixed promptly. By responding to maintenance requests quickly, you’ll be able to take care of minor issues before they become more serious ones that threaten the safety and well-being of your residents. Who can argue with that kind of efficiency?
On February 23rd, 2012 Klaus Schauser (our Chief Strategist and Founder) was one of the recipients of the UC Berkeley Computer Science Division’s 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award.
