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Our Newsletter is designed to give you cutting edge information and advice regarding real estate investing, property management, and the economy that can help to make your business all that it can be. You can view past newsletters on our website at www.FastForwardpm.com
April Features
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April Economic Highlights
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Building Your Informant Network
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Craigslist May Start Charging Landlords for Rental Ads
- Distressed Sales and Home Sales Rise
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Advice For New Landlords
- 4 Steps to Building a Powerful Incentives Program for Property Management
Welcome aboard to our new clients!
April Economic Highlights
Mortgage Rates
30 year fixed - 4.81%
15 year fixed - 4.04%
5/1 ARM - 3.62%
1 year ARM - 3.21%
Source: Freddie Mac
Prime Rate - 3.25%
Source: Wall Street Journal
10 Year Treasury Yield - 3.45%
Source: CNN Money
Unemployment Rates
National - 8.8% (down from 9% in January and 9.8% in December)
California - 12.2% (Down from 12.5% in the previous month)
San Francisco Bay Area - 8.9%
East Bay - 11.1%
North Bay - 10.5% (Sonoma County)
Sacramento - 12.9%
U.S. Western Region - 10.8%
National Average Hourly Earnings - $22.87
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Building Your Informant Network
By Fast Forward Property Management
Do you know what is going on at your property at all hours of the day and night? Most property owners and managers wish they did, but the reality is they don’t! Some multi-family properties have issues with unauthorized dumping and trash disposal, vandalism, noise, domestic disputes, crime, burglary, drug dealing, and loitering. These problems can happen in the best of locations. Even with video surveillance systems and paid security services, which can be very expensive, problems will still arise. There is free solution that can be very effective in monitoring your property and reducing unwanted issues that come with managing your real estate assets. The solution is building an informant network.
Click Here for the Full Article
Craigslist May Start Charging Landlords for Rental Ads
National Apartment Association Units Magazine
According to numerous
multifamily housing ad experts, Craigslist will likely move to a pay-per-post model for
apartment listings in major U.S. metros within the next year or so. Apartment
marketers have been expecting a broad
move to a pay-per-post model ever since
Craigslist’s 2006 decision to begin charging
$10 for brokered New York City listings.
The move is more likely now, as the San
Francisco-based company has seen the pay
model help significantly reduce illegitimate
listings in high-volume growth categories,
such as apartment listings in large urban
markets, as originally reported in MFE.
Click Here for the Full Article
Home Sales and Distressed Sales Rise
The California Association of Realtors
Pending home sales rose in February, as did the share of distressed properties sold. Pending home sales:
Pending home sales in California increased in February, according to C.A.R.’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)*. The index was 112.1 in February, rising 20.6 percent from January’s revised index of 93.0, based on contracts signed in February. The index was down 1.6 percent from February 2010, when the presence of housing tax credits played a strong role in home sales. Pending home sales are forward-looking indicators of future home sales activity, providing information on the future direction of the market.
“The increase in pending sales is typical for this time of year, as we usually see a seasonal improvement in the spring,” said C.A.R. President Beth L. Peerce.
Click Here for the Full Article
Advice For New Landlords
By Jeffrey Taylor
The following words of wisdom are shared by seasoned and successful rental owners who, on average, have 20 years of landlording and school of hard knocks experience. These tips are especially targeted to new landlords.
1) Get Started! (Most successful landlords wish they had started sooner)
2) Start, but not too fast, until you are comfortable and more knowledgeable at what you're doing.
3) Always try to use other people's money (banks or other lenders) instead of your own capital when buying property.
4) Don't overpay for your properties (especially in these times when unbelievable deals are out there for the taking).
5) Make sure you stay focused and treat this like a business and don't be afraid.
6) Don't take things personal and don't get yourself upset about problems (which WILL come).
7) Prescreen, Prescreen, Prescreen.
8) Fully do your homework on checking out potential residents.
9) Only accept certified funds for deposit and first month's rent (no personal checks unless funds are verified prior to move-in).
Click Here for the Full Article
4 Steps to Building a Powerful Incentives Program for Property Management
By Ernest Oriente
Want to build a successful incentive program for your property management company? Have you dreamt about finding ways to have more fun at work and still see big results? At the heart of every employee incentive program is the ability to motivate and reward your property management team for excellent performance. In this article, I will show you four easy steps to build an incentive program that allows everyone to win!
Setting objectives: For any type of employee incentive program, your property management team must feel the goals are attainable and realistic. An incentive program should also fit into your company’s overall business strategy and be easy to measure. Using targets such as revenue growth, occupancy, resident retention and NOI, are some of the ways to establish incentive objectives. In addition, the ideal incentive program will allow each person in your company to feel they have an opportunity to win.
Tip From The Coach: To build a powerful incentive program, plan a brainstorming session with a few of your key resident managers and property supervisors so they can share unique insight about ways to make the program a giant success. Listen to their input, as they will lead you to the gold!
Click Here for the Full Article
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