What Happened to 80 Degrees!!!?

Last week in Idaho Falls and Pocatello it was literally 80 degrees.  Yesterday a snowstorm struck.  The storm beat us down all day Thursday and into the evening.  The suddenness of winter seems to strike every year.  Many times early in the spring and late in the fall when the temperature is scarcely cold enough to freeze the rain, the snow clings especially tight to the tree limbs.  The weight of the wet snow challenges the strength of the limbs and sometimes wins out.  Broken limbs and power outages adorned the gloom of the day.  Though weather wove poem-like picturesque, the weight of the day struck with reality. 

Thanks to local 8 news for the picture.
The property management version of this story includes some minor mayhem, damage to yards, cars, and insurance claims.  The question of insurance always piques the interest of many.

In the case of a normal limb breaking and falling onto an automobile, who covers the damage?  The landlord policy does not cover the damage.  The "Act of God" line protects the insurance company in this particular case.  The insurance policy the tenant carries on the car will pay for the claim with a deductible.  In this case the deductible was $500.  There is no apparent way around this.  Renter's insurance does not help. 
The power outages riddled Jill, our office manager, throughout the day on Thursday.  The question for tomorrow is, "who covers a fence damaged by a fallen tree."  I suspect the insurance company will be on the hook for the fence damage, but not the tree removal.

Though there some challenges to overcome and some new things to learn, the best part of the day came with a cup of chocolate, a sugar cookie and a cozy fire with the family. 
Written by http://www.jacobgrant.com

Deck repair at fairway

Marketing Rentals

Marketing Update:

Jacob Grant Property Management works to select the strongest ways to market your vacancies.  Please consider the data:

·         40% of leases come from craigslist

·         20-30% come from marketing at other websites

·         5-10% world wide web searches

·         10-15% newspaper

·         5-10% from yard sign

Idaho Falls property management is an unusual market because there are still leases coming from the newspaper.  I was at a property management conference (NARPM) and they asked all of the people still using the newspaper to advertise vacancies, raise their hand.  Out of about 50 property managers nationwide, MY HAND WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT WAS UP! 

                You can understand my frustration at the Post Register’s email last week telling me that their rates are going up.

                Based on the new information, Jacob Grant Property Management is making a change to marketing policy.  Consider our complete marketing policy:

·         We offer an after-hours phone service so working people can view vacancies on weekends and after 6pm.

·         List on website with pictures and video when possible.

·         We list vacancies on craigslist at least once per week (usually twice).  Days and times listed are based on traffic data.  For example, Monday is the highest traffic day of the week, so listing on Monday is imperative.

·         Our website shoots listings to other websites including hotpads.com and oodles.com.

·         Yard sign.

·         Newspaper ad (billed to owner)

We are considering removing the automatic newspaper, and we will be beginning a webservice called rentalhomespro.com.  This will greatly increase exposure for web searches for rental properties.  This will also include cutting edge technologies including a text feature, so prospective tenants can send a text and receive more listing information.  Based on our research and the continual shift in technology we believe this service will lease out your properties sooner.  The fee for this service will be $35/month (only while vacant).  The fee for the newspaper will continue to be approximately $50 while vacant.

The best justification for this is a reduction in days vacant.  If your rental rate is $800/month the daily rate is $26/day.  If we can reduce the days vacant by 4 days your marketing is paid for.  If we reduce it by a week or more then the marketing investment will bear returns.  I believe this marketing will put money in your pocket.

Thanks

Jake

New drop down ceiling at 403 maple. Looking good