The Rush to Securitize Single Family Rentals: The Fitch Report Changes the Rules

Many of the key points made in last week’s Fitch Ratings Report on REOs to Rentals were not new or surprising.  However, seeing them in black and white under the letterhead of one of the most powerful ratings agencies in structured finance changed the rules and probably the timetable for the birth of SFR securities−bonds created by pools of single family rental properties backed by rental payments and the underlying value of the homes…Read More

A Strategic Approach to Using Social Media for Sales & Marketing [Slides]

I gave the following presentation to the Greater Dallas NARPM Chapter where I shared strategies everyone, not just rental housing professionals, should consider prior to, and when using, social media. It was my first opportunity to present solo (eeeep!) and to mingle with single-housing property owners and managers…Read More

Rental Homes: Making More Money by Keeping Your Tenants Happy

As an individual landlord, as opposed to a property owner with apartment buildings and an on-site manger, you have unique challenges in maximizing the money you earn on your rental property. I work with and teach many small-scale landlords — plus I am one myself — and some common themes come up about how to make the most money with the least hassle. And all real estate has issues and hassles, so reducing them should be your top priority…Read More

Apartment Website Design: Make Your Site the Center of Your Property’s Digital Universe

Your website is the center of your digital universe.  Much like the leasing office is the center of a physical property’s universe; the website is the center of today’s digital premise. There is no better place – no internet listing service, no visiting site, no social media site –to credibly talk about your property than your website…Read More

U.S. Apartment Market Update from MPF Research’s Greg Willett

Property Management Insider’s resident apartment market research expert Greg Willett recently appeared on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show where he took a look at the performance of the market in the first half of 2012 and then shared what to expect in the second half of the year…Read More