Category

Property Management

Jan 02
1

Rental Property Management Tips

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Managing your rental properties can be a challenge considering the fact that it involves a great amount of patience and requires you to make the right decisions to minimize headaches and avoid pitfalls. Affordable real estate prices have lead to an increase in the number of investors, and so have increased the responsibility of rental property management professionals.
It can be tough to be a good landlord. You will have to face various types of tenants; some will be easy going, while others will be nerve-racking. You’ll be running after the tenants who delay payments as well responsibly dealing with maintenance issues.

Rental Property Management Tips
Here are a few tips that will help you to manage your portfolio.

• You will have to ensure that you have measures in place to deal with any maintenance issues or repairs, sometimes immediately. Keep a good contractor on standby so that you can deal with such issues on a timely basis.

• Once a tenant is evicted, you must ensure that you renovate the property as quickly as possible and with the bare minimum expenses. The longer the renovation takes, the more you’ll skip on money earning opportunities, so make sure you get it done quickly.

• Finding tenants is not an easy task. You’ll have to take measures to advertise in classified ads, signs and through flyers.

• One error that many investors make in managing their rental property is that they have a lack of communication with their tenants. You should keep in touch with your tenants as this is important for building a strong relationship.

• Without a doubt, no one can care for your property like you will. This is why regular property inspections are important. Keep an eye on your property to make sure it’s being taken care of.

• There are various federal and provincial laws that outline your responsibilities and liabilities. If a problem arises regarding these, ignorance of such laws will further aggravate the situation. This is why it’s essential for you to read them thoroughly; after all, spending 10 hours reading is better than 10 hours in court.

• Joining a Landlords’ Association can provide you with lots of experience and guidance as well as copies of sample leases, laws and regulations, lists of good lawyers, contractors and inspectors.

• Ensure you have the right insurance in place. An insurance professional can help you select the right package for your specific rental property.

• Get acquainted with a lawyer and a commercial mortgage broker – you may need legal assistance or help with commercial mortgages.

• While it is understandable that you will be expecting a positive cash flow, be reasonable with your expectations.

• Don’t forget to run credit checks on your prospective tenants. It is not recommended to rush in filling vacant properties as it is better to have an empty property than have a tenant that defaults on their payments.

Apr 28
0

Commercial Building Costs

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Operating a commercial building can have significant monthly expenses. It is a challenge for building managers to reduce these monthly commercial building costs, of which the energy bills comprise a greater proportion. Proper maintenance and energy saving measures can go a long way in bringing down a commercial building’s costs without compromising on the operational efficiency.

Generally, the ratios of operating cost categories to the total operating cost are stable in most parts of the country. Total utilities including electricity, water, steam and natural gas adds up to approximately 25% of the Total Operating Costs, according to the statistics by Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM).

Retro-Commissioning to Reduce Commercial Building Costs

Altering a building’s operational timing can significantly reduce energy consumption. For example, there is no need to run the air conditioner at night, especially when the building is not occupied.

Meanwhile, as the buildings get older, the overall efficiency also starts to decrease. Energy efficient designs cease to be as efficient as they were initially. This is when a retro-commissioning process can go a long way in restoring efficiency to the intended amounts.

Steam Trap Maintenance / Replacement

Steam systems that are poorly maintained are a common issue for old commercial buildings, especially those that rely on larger boiler systems. Such buildings usually have hundreds of steam traps that regulate the condensate inside the steam system. These can get stuck open, thereby returning steam back to the boiler. The ultimate result is an excessive usage of energy.

Professional maintenance crews can work to solve these issues with the steam system and restore efficiency to previously high levels.

Optimization of HVAC Systems

Chillers and boilers consume large amounts of energy in commercial buildings. This can account to as much as 20% of the total energy costs. If your building is located in a cold region, then you’ll have to ensure that boilers work at their peak efficiency. Same goes for buildings in warm climates – their chillers should be replaced with newer, more efficient models.

Controls of Energy Management

Incorrectly programmed controls can make a building owner assume that their building is running as efficiently as possible, whereas the building may be performing poorly. It is wise to replace, or upgrade such components and reprogram the energy management system of the building; thus allowing the building to run at a peak efficiency rating.

Lower Financing Rates

The expenses of a building aren’t only limited to its running costs. Commercial mortgage borrowing costs can also form a significant part of overall operating costs. Partnering with reputable, experienced commercial mortgage brokers can ensure you arrange low cost borrowing while including the added benefit of saving you time negotiating your mortgage terms. Lower financing rates can significantly reduce the overall operating costs for all businesses and help redirect capital to fulfill a company’s individual goals.

 

Oct 25
0

Managing Commercial Properties

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Property management requires years of experience. It involves an extensive job that entails the operation and control of real estate, as well as involving the accountability with regard to a particular property. The sheer size of commercial buildings, as well as the various stakeholders and people involved, makes managing such properties to be loaded with patience and perseverance. These are only a few of the reasons why success in managing commercial properties is correlated to past experience.
 
Commercial properties are those buildings or lands that are mainly for profit or revenue. Typically, these properties are categorized into six classifications: office, industrial, retail or restaurant properties, multi-family housing, land, and other non-residential properties, like hotels and medical centres. It also involves both cash inflow and outflow. Cash inflows are those that enter as revenues, such as rentals and fees. Cash outflows are those that exit through expenses and other payments.
 
Managing large commercial properties requires extra care and skill. This extends to the financing process to arrange commercial mortgages on these assets. Commercial real estate loans of this size can consist of several participants including banks and other financial institutions. Often debt can be arranged with both first and second mortgages that require more than one lender participant. Having a solid understanding of debt placement and management, is critical to properly manage these properties as the cost of borrowing can considerably impact profitability.
 

The Importance of Effective Property Management

When it comes to businesses and commercial real estate, the proper cash inflow and outflow is a very crucial component of managing the property. The right timing of cash inflow should be in harmony with the cash outflow, to maintain positive liquidated assets.
 
Management also requires the proper prediction of possible risks when it comes to properties. If a property is not leased out for long periods of time, this could seriously harm your cash flow and the value of the real estate. Good management foresees these kinds of risks to predict the future cash flow of properties.
Of course, there are always unexpected changes in the cash flow. However, with the right management of such, these contingencies would be covered by an effective property manager. It is a crucial role to maintain profits and revenue over time.
 

Ensuring Successful Commercial Property Management

In today’s evolving world, a property manager is not just somebody who collects rents and pays the bills. It is now composed of a team that works closely together to maintain an efficient way to realize profits and revenues, and at the same time, take care of the properties.
 
Managing such a significant number of tenants can be daunting task. However, there are automated and computerized ways of actually maintaining clean records for large properties. By using traditional and effective means to manage such, coupled with artificial intelligence, administration of these properties can be made easier.
 
Effective management also needs to be knowledgeable about commercial real estate. It allows managers to continually make properties attractive for the tenants, efficiently calculate the ups and downs of the real estate industry, and allow them to better understand the properties and its surroundings.