Source:


Deaton Investment Real Estate & The Wake County Apartment Association



Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Build it and they will come

Have a Web site to attract tenants? Yeah, I know, it's not all that easy for the individual owner/operator. Nevertheless, in these competitive times, it may be something to start thinking about.

Apartment management company UDR has reported 1 million visitors to its Web site through September of 2007, demonstrating that the move to the online apartment search is complete. In fact, UDR is aiming to make the process about more than simply looking for apartments. With their "always open" service code, current tenants can pay rent, request maintenance and find rent incentives.

What I find pretty intriguing is that the company to which they outsource (they may own them, I didn't delve that far) online rent payment, www.erentpayer.com, could be something the small apartment owner could use, especially in the student market, where they even by beer online.

Do you use PayPal? That could be a real easy way to accept rent payments electronically. Remember, the easier you can collect your rent the more apt you are to get it. If your tenants don't have it, they don't have it---online payment options won't make that any easier. Still, even the more loyal tenants forget when rent is due. Why not do all you can to help them out? By using Outlook, you could trigger an e-mail to distribute to all your tenants a rent reminder notice, complete with a link to your PayPal account.

I'm sure some of this is harder than simply writing about it, but remember that investing in rental property is all about collecting rent. A 10 cap isn't a 10 cap if you can't collect the rent.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

CA apartment owners want to ban smoking

Interesting debate, to say the least. I wonder how this would stand in the Triangle?

See the USA Today article.


Oh, and here's a novel idea: Pay or get out.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Apartment industry news and stuff

Seems Cary Crossroads will get just a bit busier.

I think saying it will make the area "mixed-use" is a stretch but the tenants should fill in quickly given the location.

A Texas apartment community is saying no to tatooed applicants.

Fair Housing says its okay and the owner isn't budging. Nevertheless, it could spark a good debate about pre-judging tenants. We've spoken to a landlord who says his best tenant was one that served hard time. Before a minor technicality in court landed the tenant in lock-up for a few months, the payments arrived on time for a number of years. Not only that, if something was broken, it would get fixed. Even during the tenant's time away, the rent was paid. After a few license plates and time off for good behavior, the tenant moved right back in.

Great new Multi-family industry Web site

This site is in only in Beta but appears to be doing everything right. Have a look at this video, which is a great, but very unfortunate, example of what property managers often go through.

Have you met Mr. Landlord?

This guy has been around a while and lot of people visit his site. In case you don't, you should. I include him here because he visited the Triangle Apartment Association recently and the man can really hold on to an audience. Not to mention a tenant. Or, resident.