Just because you own some rental property doesn’t make you a better person. It’s easy, when you’re a landlord, to think of tenants as sources of rent money that sometimes uncontrollably damage their environments with their own stupidity or ignorance. That attitude leads quickly to a situation where you as the landlord are basically spending […]
Realtors use the same strategies their competition is using and somehow expects better results. Any kind of post proposing to talk about ‘targeting’ a property advertisement has to begin with a caveat: do not take anything in this post as advising you to do anything that would violate the Fair Housing Act. That will get […]
Different in a good way. Recently, one of our employees — the wonderful young woman who represents us at all of the local trade shows and association gatherings — asked me a question that really got me thinking. “What makes Royal Rose Properties different from the other property managers in the Metro Detroit area?” It […]
It may surprise you to learn that the biggest problems in Maintenance have nothing to do with houses.’. When it comes to property management, every phase of the cycle has its own unique challenges. This month, we’re going to ‘go deep’ on a few of the most challenging areas of our business, talk about what […]
Save money on your rental by dealing with condensation. The question that every landlord ultimately runs up against is “how can I make this property Rent Ready without opening up a line of credit to do it?” In the very long run, the most important thing you can do toward reducing your rent readiness costs […]
Warm, cozy and safe – might not be all that tenants look for when deciding to rent your property. So you’ve got yourself a single-family residence that no one is living in, and you’ve decided that you want to rent it out to make some side money, and you’ve decided that you’re going to personally […]
When you have to walk to get food and medicine, having food and medicine within walking distance becomes pretty important. In many of the real estate markets in big cities across the country, walkability is a crucial factor in the urban core. If you can’t get to your grocer, pharmacist, and a few hangouts without […]
Sorry, this is not the theory where defenestrating tenants makes them respect you more. In the late 60s, psychologist Phillip Zombardo did a fascinating experiment. He took a car and parked it on the side of the street in the Bronx, and an identical car in the same situation in Palo Alto. His goal was […]
It’s easy to be nervous about being a jerk to your friends — but they’re not just your friends, they’re also your tenants. The #1 reason why folks who are landlording their friends and family prefer informality in their dealings is simple: they don’t want to be seen as a jerk. It’s easy to become […]
Drew’s Law #2: In property management, nothing is ever as simple as it looks — even when you take this rule into account. “Holistic” is a word that has an interesting reputation: either you hear it as a synonym for “snake oil,” or you hear it as a synonym for “comprehensive,” and those two things […]