Accidental Property Managers May Pose Problems for Brokerages

This is a pretty interesting article I recently read at realtytimes.com. Let me know what you think!

Accidental Property Managers
May Pose Problems for Brokerages
The phenomenon of "accidental landlords" has been with us for a while. Last month’s Wall Street Journal article (Dec. 12, 2011) on the topic didn’t uncover anything new. Time Magazine had written about it as early as 2009. In both cases, "accidental landlord" referred primarily to homeowners who had become landlords as a result of (i) either a need to move or a need for
cash flow, and (ii) an inability to sell in this continuing depressed real estate market.

Full Story: http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20120124_managers.htm

130 Applications in 41 Days

In 2012 we dedicated to spend more money on marketing our properties to Birmingham tenant prospects. We did this under the premise that better marketing, equals more interest, creates more showings and thus more applications. More applications put the owner in the driver seat. Our goal was to have multiple “good” or “great” applications to choose from.

Our dedication to our marketing efforts is really beginning to pay off. So far we have collected more than 130 applications since January 1st of this year. That is 130 applications on the current average of 20 properties available. The simple math indicates that we are receiving 6 applications per available house.

We recently leased a house that we showed to more than 100 prospect tenants! No other marketing system in Birmingham would have the time or the patience to pour through that many prospects to find the right solution. However, we think it is important. Going through 100 prospects is much easier than choosing one bad one.