The last couple of years have taken a toll on investment properties. With vacancy rates climbing and weakening Cap Rates, some properties have lost 30% or more of their value.  Regrettably, property taxes on commercial properties have not been adjusted to reflect this new value. As such, already strapped owners are paying an even higher percentage of their revenues to property taxes.

The rule I have always given my teams is don’t present me with a problem…unless you also have a solution.  Having identified a problem…here’s a great solution: Prime Property Tax Negotiation, LLC.  Prime PTN was formed to be an advocate for property owners that have been over-taxed. They will evaluate your taxes at no charge to you and fight for a lower assessment on your part.  There are no up-front fees.  Here’s the very best part: There’s no cost to you unless they are successful. 

Contesting assessments that overstate a property’s value is an extremely important component of wealth management.  I worked on a multifamily project in Phoenix, AZ that had an assessment that inflated the assessed value well over what it was really worth. By contesting the assessed value we reduced taxes and created over $150,000 in additional profits in one year.

How much will you benefit? To discuss potential savings call 503.336.6382 and ask for information about Prime Property Tax Negotiation, LLC.

--- END POST ---

One of the great ways to improve NOI is to minimize concessions. 

Remember that in a 8% Cap market that each dollar of NOI translates into $12.50 of imputed value.  $25K of concessions equals a $300K reduction in value.  This can make a material difference when selling the property or negotiating a new loan.  Of course if you are keeping the property, the $25K goes to the owner.

Gracehill has done it again:  they are offering free training on a subject that all multifamily management pros need to understand.

DATE/TIME: Thursday, November 12, 2009 – 4pm ET, 3pm CT, 2pm MT, 1pm PT

SESSION DESCRIPTION: Don’t slash your rents until you take the time to participate in this chat forum aimed at selling value versus concessions.  If you’ve heard the old adage, “You get what you pay for,” then your customers have too!  Learn from the industry’s leaders how offering specials is rarely the best answer and how reducing them is quite often the way to go.

COST: Absolutely free, thanks to Spherexx.com.

RSVP: Visit us at www.gracehill.com and look for the details of this event on our home page.  Click the RSVP link to sign up and receive Chat Event Instructions.  Then, login to Grace Hill about 10–15 minutes prior to the event and click on the Chat Room link, under the chat description, to be delivered to our Chat Room.  

--- END POST ---

Where else in the business world do you see someone paid $38,000 running an asset valued at $30,000,000?

Are you losing potential profits due to an inadequately trained staff?  Multifamily Property Managers (PMs) and Leasing Agents (LAs) must be thoroughly trained in a number of areas before they can effectively run an asset.  More often than not we ask these folks to work pretty hard for darn little money…must we also withhold the tools and training necessary for them to be successful?

Remember that in a 7-cap market every  buck of Net Operating Income (NOI) translates into $14.29 of value at the time of sale…and all properties are always for sale…at a price.  Having a happy crew is nice…having a well trained group is a must.

Riverstone Property Management is notable for their meteoric rise in market share.  That’s largely due to shrewd acquisitions of competitors, but there’s much more to their success than that.   They are an industry leader in employee training and employee retention by design. They feel that focusing resources on these two items delivers a better value to their owner/clients, and retaining the best employees help retain clients.  Every Riverstoner (an unfortunate nickname…but that’s the one they chose) has training in non discrimination laws, company values, how they are to treat residents, how to do market research, safety, reducing liability, etc.  Hours and hours of training, with a mentor.  Each leasing agent works from day one on developing their “kit.”  The kit is a mobile office with calculator, tape measure, lists of amenities, competitive information, local attractions, great area restaurants, ATMs, dry cleaners and churches.  In short, leasing agents are prepared for every question and have resources in hand (that they have personally developed) to resolve a host of housing related challenges.  After four months a Riverstoner may have more valuable industry specific knowledge than many of their competitors gather in a decade.

I have a smaller property, so I can’t afford training…The smaller your staff the more important that each one be trained because they don’t have as many co-workers to back them up.  In the case of a single employee on site, it is imperative to have training programs.  Remember that not all training is expensive.  Grace Hill www.GraceHill.com is the industry standard for excellence, offering both affordable and free courses.  They also have apartment news updates, on line webinars and flexible plans permitting you to custom tailor your training program.  They offer a great variety of products free, hoping multifamily professionals will also subscribe to their paid products.  Riddle me this:  With all the poorly trained Leasing Agents out there…why isn’t every single property using Grace Hill or one of their imitators?

Note:  I am not affiliated with Riverstone Property Management, nor Grace Hill Training.  I am not compensated in any way for promoting them…I’m just an ardent supporter of the way they go to market, and their approach to taking care of their clients.

Are you ready for a client centric multifamily broker?  Please call me at 503.577.1034.

--- END POST ---

Grace Hill does it again! 

One of the challenges of multifamily management is creating knowledgeable and professional employees.  Each month Grace Hill offers free training as a partial solution to the problem.  They also offer additional training on a variety of multifamily topics at affordable prices.  This month Kate Good & Jennifer Stamp will be presenting information on marketing, advertising and promotions.  I feel that apartment owners should change their “I can’t afford training” refrain to: “I can’t afford not to train!”  Why would anyone let someone be in charge of a multimillion dollar asset and deny them the resources to perform their job with excellence?

DATE/TIME: Wednesday, 6/17/09 @ 4pm ET, 3pm CT, 2pm MT, 1pm PT

SESSION DESCRIPTION: No need to rack your brain over advertising and promotions any longer.  Sign up for this exceptional chat experience and let these marketing gurus lead the way to unique and original campaigns that will certainly bring customers running through your doors.  Flex your marketing muscles and RSVP now!

COST: Spherexx.com and Video Rental Services have made this chat available to you at no cost.  Thanks for your sponsorship!

RSVP: Visit them at www.gracehill.com and look for the details of this event on their home page.  Click the RSVP link to sign up and receive Chat Event Instructions.  Then, log into Grace Hill about 10 minutes prior to the event and click on the Chat Room link, under the chat description, to be delivered to the Chat Room.  

*Please note that space is limited to 350 attendees in our chat room.  Be sure to login to the chat room 10–15 minutes prior to the event.

Rose City Commercial Real Estate supports all efforts to improve the effectiveness of multifamily pros.  If you would like to work with a pro, contact Rick M. Bean at 503.577.1034 or rick@rosecitycre.com

--- END POST ---

 

If you follow my blog, you know that I’m a strong advocate for training all multifamily employees, and that I hold Grace Hill as the creme d’ la creme in that niche.

Their newest online course, Property Management Financials, is now available!  Grace Hill’s Apartment Management Learning Center, the premier destination for online multifamily education for more than 10 years, has expanded offerings yet again. 

 By completing this highly interactive course, you will learn how to manage your community’s financial performance in order to maximize value and earn a positive return on investment.  Property Management Financials includes engaging exercises and scenarios to reinforce knowledge.  In addition to the thorough course content, Property Management Financials includes numerous downloadable resources to be used as job aids.  You will be empowered to take control of your community’s fiscal fitness, which is more important than ever thanks to today’s challenging market.

Here is what is covered in this 2-hour title:

• How to earn a favorable return on investment, or ROI, in multifamily real estate management
• Learn about the two most useful tools for understanding the financial goals for a community: the Budget and the Income Statement
• How to impact your community’s value by maximizing income and controlling expenses
• How to use key indicators found on the Income Statement to help monitor your community’s fiscal fitness

Property Management Financials is an Essentials title and included in our Unlimited Training Subscription at no extra charge.  Property Management Financials is also available at the Pay-Per-View price of $79 per student, per course.

WHO SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY?

Multifamily managers, assistant managers, leasing teams, investors, and multifamily service providers that want to understand facility owner’s perspectives.

Grace Hill can be reached at: (866) 472-2344, or www.gracehill.com.

For quality training think of Grace Hill…for quality investment properties, think of Rose City Commercial Real Estate.  You deserve the best, don’t you?

 

--- END POST ---