Property Management and Investor Information: August 2009

If you have not golfed at the 9 hole Land Park Golf Course recently you should give it a try.  Morton Golf has taken over the management and they have done two important things.  First, they moved the tee boxes back creating 3 distance levels.  Second, they are really making an effort to keep the course in top shape.  The greens are very good and the fairways just as nice. 

This course is short, only 1 par 5 and 3 par 3's, making it a par 34 overall.  Just right for a quick drop in after work, and at about $14 for a round, the price is right too.

I have a nephew with a young family that asked for some advice.  Seems their mortgage is now upside down and their mortgage payment has increased.  They wanted to know what to do.

The have tried to talk to the lender, but no response.

I told them that they have a few options.  Keep going with the minimum payment, try to short sell (but if the lender will not cooperate what good is that), walk away and rent somewhere else, or stop making their payment and eventually they will be contacted.

I don't much like the last option, but the lenders have put many people into a position to consider this option in order to get the conversation going. 

It is still not pretty out there, especially in California.

I got a call this week from a do it yourself landlord.  She wanted to know what she could do about a recently moved out tenant that wrecked the central air conditioner.  Seems the tenant's pet used the condensor to relieve itself.

I told her to get two bids and then prorate out the life expectancy of the unit.  Charge the tenant for their share of the life. Or, if it is just a repair, charge them for the whole repair cost. 

Seems simple enough until the tenant complains that they did not do  it.

I have the opportunity this weekend to play golf in Las Vegas.  I paid just over $150.00 to play at Bali Hai on the south end of the strip.  It is a luxury course but the greens to pretty sandy and rough.  The next day we played at Desert Pines and it was a real treat at $99.  Beautiful fairways and greens, very narrow at tmes. 

Both of these courses are a little short, but you can play the championship tees and make it reasonably long. 

If I could only play one course it would be Desert Pines. 

Note:  These courses are related and if you play Desert Pines you get a 20% discount at Bali Hai.

Happy Golfing!

I played golf this morning with a young fellow who can kill the ball with this driver, 3 wood, and irons.  On the first par 4 he pulled out a 3 wood to take to the tee box.  I know him to be very aggressive in both business and sports so I was surprised to see his club selection.

I asked him about his choice to downsize his club.  He replied that he had been playing golf for a long time and had come to realize that he scored better when using the 3 wood on par 4's.  He only used his driver on par 5's.

I thought about this and told him that he should take that approach to his job as a property manager.  Instead of taking the aggressive approach to problems, find out through trial and error what works best and use that tactic.  Maybe it is calling a late paying tenant before serving a notice.  Or maybe getting another opinion on a repair issue rather than taking the quick first bid.

I noted that on the first par 5 we played this morning, my young golf parter used his driver and hit his ball into a big tree on the right.  That was no surprise!

We chose Appfolio as our software solution for several reasons.

First, we wanted a program that could handle our current portfolio of 2,000 tenants consisting of single family, apartments, and commercial properties.

Second, we wanted a web based program. Web based means no more backing up issues (Appfolio does it), no hard drive failures, no network issues, and consistent program availability for our three offices and for onsite staff. We can also use the program at home or on the road.

Third, Appfolio has an accounting program that is both understandable, foolproof, and consistent with trust accounting requirements.

Fourth, we are convinced the Appfolio is committed to providing an ever improving program.

Fifth, we are serious about reducing our use of paper and Appfolio is a great vehicle for both going green and saving money doing it.

Finally, Appfolio was able to migrate all our Yardi Enterprise data which was important for us. We have a large database and being able to bring all our data into Appfolio is a huge advantage.

We are still learning the program but we are confident that Appfolio gives us a competitive advantage over our competition as well as increased productivity. The whole idea is to give our customers the information they want and provide our staff a tool to get that information to them on a timely basis. Appfolio helps make achieving that mission month in month out a reality.

We have noted that in the last 45 days fewer of our clients are letting their investment homes go into foreclosure.  This is mirroring what I am reading in the Sacramento Bee and Wall Street Journal.  We may well have hit bottom or at least taking a breather.

I suspect that most of the upside down owners have already let their homes go leaving the rest of us that have owned for longer periods.

It is noteworthy that the low end is experiencing mulitple offers and price bidding wars.  Things are looking up for a change!  We are also seeing a steady stream of investors needing their homes rented. 

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