Sometimes I think my iPhone might explode with the amount of useless apps I have downloaded! But, there are several apps that my team at First Light Property Management use everyday.  Chime in and let me know if you think there are others that should be on this list! Property Inspector  Make your next property […]

We are pleased to announce First Light Property Management Inc.’s inclusion in a recent article for the Lowes Commercial Services website, www.LowesForPros.com.  Trevor Henson, Partner and COO, was interviewed by writer, Kelly Haglar, as an expert source into the reasons why a property management company, landlord or apartment owner should update their onsite laundry facilities. […]

The American Apartment Owners Association posted an article on their blog that brings up a very relevant point in regards to leasing policies: bad policies can lead to bad tenants.  We, as landlords, must set the standard from the beginning when engaging resident-prospects.  If we are lazy with our reference checks, credit checks, rental history […]

This past year was very strong for the apartment industry here in California as well as for most other parts of the U.S.   Our company’s portfolio of apartments, HOA’s and single-family-homes saw an increase in average rent; increase in occupancy levels; and a fair amount of new acquisitions.  Will 2012 continue to lead owners, investors […]

The housing market will remain depressed, with record high foreclosure levels, rising mortgage rates and a glut of distressed properties dampening the market for years to come, industry experts predicted on Tuesday.

For those of us looking to place money in the money in the multifamily market, rest assured that we have not missed the boat. In GlobeSt.com yesterday, there is a nice, QUICK, break down of the state of the apartment market in Los Angeles.

An apartment building of 10+ units will generally benefit from having an on site laundry facility. Residents enjoy the convenience of doing laundry in their own buildings and owners enjoy the extra revenue. The downside, of course, is the repair cost, which can add up once the machines fall out of warranty. Service technicians for a washer or dryer can be in excess of $200+ per incident, never mind the lost revenue if a machine is out-of-order and waiting for new parts.

My latest post on Property Management 2.0 discusses the feasibility of installing electrical sub meters on a master metered apartment building in the midst of a recession. Do the numbers make sense? Will there be resident turn over? Check out blog.firstlightpropertymanagement.com for the full article.

I had the pleasure of attending Multifamily Insider's webinar yesterday on resident retention in apartment buildings.  The presentation was full of very useful research, facts and suggestions for the property management industry.  In particular, I feel that the information in regards to maintenance requests and how they correlate to tenant satisfaction is very useful to […]

A friend of mine recently bought an apartment building here in Los Angeles and asked me “How do I know when/if I need property manager?”  To which I told him there were several reasons to hire – or at least consult with – a management company.  I then proceeded to rattled off my top ten […]