Ancillary Income

A Simple Way To Conduct A Utility Billing Audit

Here's how to conduct a quick and simple audit:

1. Know the rules of the game.
2. Collect relevant billing data.
3. Build a spreadsheet and graph the data.

1.  Know The Rules Of The Game

The business entity you choose for your property management company will affect you in very real ways—especially when it comes to taxation and financial and legal liability. This is a big decision and one that you may want to make with the assistance of your accountant or attorney. Following are the four business entities most commonly used by property management companies and some basic information about each.

Sole Proprietor
The title of this business designation pretty much says it all—a sole proprietorship is a business owned by one individual. Unlike more complex options, sole proprietorships do not have to be legally registered with the state you do business in. Rather, a sole proprietorship’s existence is solely based on the fact that you’ve gone into business. In other words, it’s simple and free to set up.

Sounds too easy, right? Well, there is a drawback. Because you are one and the same with your business, business gains and losses are filed on your personal tax forms and, most notably, you are liable for the business, both financially and legally.

Whether numbers are your forte or not, there are certain ratios and calculations every property manager should understand. Following is a look at five key ratios that apply to your property management business, how to obtain them, and what they tell you.

1) Vacancy Rate
Your vacancy rate demonstrates the number of units available or unoccupied versus the total number of units available for rent on a property. The lower your vacancy rates, the better. The formula for this is simple:

Vacancy rate = Total number of unoccupied units in a property ÷ Total number of units in a property

One of the great benefits of the reality television craze is that distance education no longer has to cost any more than the price of your monthly cable television subscription. Of course this certainly does not apply to all sectors of reality television, but when it comes to house-flipping and home improvement shows on channels such as A&E, HGTV, and TLC  it certainly is possible to mix entertainment and education. Here are a few of our favorite TV shows that offer up some great business-minded take-away.

Designed to Sell, HGTV
Designed to Sell is perfect for those real estate investors who have done the hard work of renovations and are ready to flip their home. Or, for that matter, for anyone who is looking to sell their property and wants to command the best price possible. This show is inherently budget-friendly, with the premise of providing sellers with a maximum budget of $2,000 to invest in making their home as appealing as possible to would-be buyers (and, thus, maximizing the sale price). Designed to Sell relies on the expertise of interior designers, stagers,  and home improvement gurus, bringing a team of helping hands straight into your living room.

Income Property, HGTV
Though Income Property is geared toward first-time buyers who are looking to make some money from their homes by renting out rooms within their homes to cover their mortgage, host Scott McGillivray offers up a ton of tips that property managers can apply. With ten years of experience under his belt, McGillivray has made a career out of generating income from property investments. On Income Property, McGillivray offers tips for making renovations that will appeal to renters and can also help property managers increase income by identifying creative ways to parcel off areas with income-generation in mind (for example, refinishing basements so that they can be rented out).

As 2010 draws to a close, it’s a good time to reflect on lessons from the past year and apply them to the future. As you prepare to move into 2011, be sure that you know not only what didn’t work in 2010, but also what did. After all, the goal is not to create a cycle of constantly tweaking systems and procedures but, rather, to find methods that work optimally for you and your tenants and stick with them.

For an overview of where 2010 leaves you, begin by honestly asking yourself the following two questions:

1. What was the highlight of my property management year?
2. What was the lowlight of my property management year?

When you’ve answered both of these questions, you should have a good idea of where you stand. Say, for example, that the highlight of your year was filling 40 percent of your available vacancies throughtenant referrals. This indicates that you are doing a great job of keeping your units in good shape and keeping tenants happy—in other words, in both of these realms, you’ve already found a formula that works. Though you may want to make little adjustments in these areas here and there, for the most part, you should continue doing exactly what you’ve done in 2010 on into 2011.

In many ways, the current economic climate makes for a great time to purchase a multi-family investment property. The prominence of short sales and foreclosures has given way to good purchase prices in many areas of the country. Add to this the fact that there are some incredible interest rates out there right now (even for investors) and the fact that many former homeowners have now found themselves back in the rental market, and there’s a very valid argument that this is a good time to get into the multi-family market. If you are considering making a multi-family property investment of your own, following are a few things to consider before taking the leap.

Know what you’re looking for
Before you even begin to look at properties, have a clear idea of what you’re looking for and what you’re willing to put into a property, both financially and in terms of your time. Of course, this is always subject to change if you find just the right place, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go into the house-hunting process without a fairly narrow baseline in mind. Aside from basics like location and size, you also want to have know whether you’re looking for a “fixer-upper” or a “as-is” property.

While profitability is one great sign of success, there are also many other less tangible indicators that your property management business is doing well. Following is  a list of ten signs you’re running a good property management shop. How many items on this list apply to your business?

1. Your vacancy rates are low.
Low vacancy rates can mean any one (and often a combination of) several good things: 1) that you’re doing a good job marketing your property to new tenants; 2) that you’re maintaining existing tenants; and 3) that your units are generally sought-after.

2. You receive new property management clients from referrals.
In business, referrals are the sincerest form of flattery. When existing clientele are referring potential clients your way, it is a sure sign you’re doing things right.

Anyone who has made a career in real estate knows that the market is always changing. There’s no arguing the fact that real estate professionals must have the ability to accept that while there are times of feast, there are also times of famine. But even when buyers are hard to come by, opportunities for income generation exist. And one of those opportunities is property management.

Adapting to change.
It’s not news at this point: Over the past couple of years, the real estate market has taken a huge hit. With foreclosures running rampant, loan qualification processes that can be difficult at best, and severe job losses across the nation, successful real estate transactions have been hard to come by. Even successful transactions now require far more time and effort than they once did.

While things are slowly beginning to turn around, the real estate market is cyclical — we will at some point see it dip again. This is why it’s so important for real estate agents to have a back-up plan when times get rough. Property management offers realtors a great way to remain in the field and put their skills to use, even when the market is down.

Are Renewal Incentives Worth It?