Property Management Brainstorm

As the host of the show, Bob often gets asked about the name of his podcast, Property Management Brainstorm. That often leads to the question, is Property Management a creative business? is the business of being a landlord and managing rental properties an open landscape for brainstorming and innovation? If asked, many of our listeners would answer "no" and they would not necessarily be...

A common question we get at North County Property Group is what type of rental should I have for my investment property, long-term rental or short-term rental? Long-term rentals involve annual leasing on a home that is normally unfurnished. Short-term rentals, sometimes called vacation rentals, are homes that are furnished with all utilities and amenities provided by the owner, rented to incoming...

This episode is dedicated to property managers wanting to grow their business. Bob discusses hosting landlord seminars with Mike Connolly, Broker/Owner at East Bay Property Management of Freemont CA. Mike's company has successfully hosted landlord seminars to bolster their business development efforts and grow their rental property portfolio.  Heading into the Fall of 2020, the market may be...

There are two times of the year when a functioning HVAC system is critical for a tenant in a rental property, winter time when in need of heating, and the middle of summer when cooling is necessary during hot temperatures. In this episode of Five Minute Friday, Bob explains why regular HVAC service is not only worth it, but how his company considers it a mandatory regular maintenance item. Many la...

When society emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, will there be a paradigm shift across industires, our economy, and even how we live our lives?  Might that shift create a need for us to make permanent adaptations to the way we run our property management businesses?  In this Five Minute Friday, Bob Preston ponders these questions and more as he discusses what happens when the usual way of thinking...

As landlords and property managers, have you ever experienced the dreaded “blackout” at your rental property when the tenant utility transfer was not handled properly? This is when you arrive to move your tenant into the home and guess what ... no power!  Even worse is getting a bill a month later and discovering that the transfer never happened and you’re now being billed for tenant’s utility usa...

We are starting to see them everywhere, “smart devices" installed for home automation. These devices might include thermostats, doorbells, home security cameras, lighting, appliance monitoring and more. Homes are becoming more efficient, secure and convenient. So is it something that makes sense for your rental homes as property manager or landlord?   On this Five Minute Friday, Bob discusses...

In FMF #36, Bob speaks to the importance of open communication as a landlord and property manager. This is true with all of our stakeholders: tenants, maintenance vendors, and property owners. One question Bob hears a lot from new San Diego Property Management prospective clients is: Will you keep me informed throughout the rental listing process?  You see, they want to know what is going on!  We’...

On this episode of Property Management Brainstorm, the focus is what it takes to build and grow a property management business from the ground up AND the importance of the support provided by our National Association of Residential Property Managers, otherwise known as NARPM (N-A-R-P-M). Bob Preston discusses these topics with his guest, Kellie Tollifson, owner of T-Square Properties in King and S...

In this week's FMF, Bob discusses one of the challenges he had in the early days of his company with the delegation of authority … the process of transferring responsibility for a task to another employee. When working in a small company, finding the time to properly offload an aspect of the business to another person, and more importantly trusting that aspect to another person can sometimes...

Built to Last. These are three simple words that communicate a powerful punch. It is actually the name of a a book written by James Collins and Jerry Porras in 1994. Bob explains how he was given the book 25 years ago by his boss at the time, Bill Krause, who had been an executive at HP and was the CEO of the start up where Bob was working in Silicon Valley. Bob still has the book to this day and...

On this episode of Property Management Brainstorm, Bob discusses home wellness as an essential part of healthy living with Andrew Smallwood, Director of Sales at Second Nature. One aspect of home wellness and healthy living is regularly changing filters on heating and air systems (HVAC) for improved air quality within a rental home. Second Nature, provides an easy and automatic way to get the righ...

On this week's FMF, Bob shares some fun news about his personal involvement in the industry association, the National Association of Residential Property Managers, also referred to as NARPM. Bob has taken office as President of the California State Chapter of NARPM, known as CALNARPM, for the 2020-2021 term.  Bob shares his thoughts about CalNARPM, the other people involved on the leadership...

Hello Brainstormers!  Wishing you all a very happy and safe 4th of July holiday. I'm taking a pause in broadcasting for a month or so while I'm on vacation during the first half of July.  Property Management Brainstorm full episodes and Five Minute Fridays will back be back on the air with great content again as of early August, 2020.  Thank you so much for subscribing, listening and sup...

In this episode 31 of Five Minute Friday, Bob shares with his listeners one of the most common questions he gets from prospective clients: are we locked into a long-term property management contract? The answer is and has been, for the 20-year history of his company, an emphatic "no".  Bob calls this his Satisfaction Guarantee. If for whatever reason a client is not satisfied, they can d...

Bob continues a series of podcast episodes dedicated to the topic of security deposits. For most landlords, security deposits continue to be a highly challenging aspect of leasing rental properties. Laws are changing, tenant move-in costs can be prohibitive, and security deposit deductions can often lead to conflict. Bob discusses these challenges with Derek Merrill, Co-founder and CEO at LeaseLoc...

What is corporate responsibility and why is it important?  In episode #30 of FMF, Bob explains why he believes in the concept of corporate responsibility for his business as a property management company at North County Property Group. The objective is simple ... be accountable for our actions to our stakeholders and local communities. During the current times of COVID-19, Bob explains how North C...

On this week's FMF, Bob discusses the lingering impact of COVID-19 on tenants who have suffered a job loss, decreased work hours, medical expenses, or other loss of income. Many laws and local ordinances have been implemented to protect tenants with eviction moratoria if they have had financial impact due to the coronavirus. There have been no laws established, however, which  give tenants a...

On this episode, Bob discusses legislative updates in 2019 and 2020 that impact California landlords with Tracey Merrell, Managing Attorney of Education, at Kimball, Tirey & St. John (KTS). Along with other updates, Tracey provides a thorough review of the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (AB 1482) which imposes rent caps and just cause eviction restrictions for residential rental property throug...

On this week's FMF, Bob discusses the concept of lagging indicators and considers if there might be a maintenance surge coming for those of us managing rental properties. As a quick definition, a lagging indicator is a data point that tells you what has already happened.  Most of us in managing our rental properties focus on lagging indicators in the form of financial statements to track rent...

On this week's FMF, Bob makes a fun announcement that he is now an RMP!  Some of you may be wondering, what the heck is that? Those listeners who are property management members of NARPM likely already know.  RMP stands for Residential Management Professional, a designation awarded by the National Association of Residential Property Managers. The RMP designation is earned and awarded to indiv...

As a landlord or property manager, have you ever wondered what it would be like to rid yourself of the need for security deposits? For most landlords, security deposits are one of the most challenging aspects of managing a rental property. It can be conflict laden at the end of a lease and in most states there are rigid regulations and laws which must be followed on when and how the deposit needs...

On this week's FMF, Bob explains why he believes it's a mistake to not acknowledge the COVID-19 pandemic on a company website. Call it reality marketing. He further offers his rationale for placing a pop-up on the North County Property Group home page to communicate available resources which may be helpful to their stakeholders. Here is a copy: As the COVID-19 crisis continues to have an...

In the State of California and many cities throughout the country, including right here in San Diego, a housing crisis has emerged in which many citizens have become homeless or live in substandard housing. Simply put, housing that people can afford may now be more out of reach than ever. On this episode, Bob discusses the housing crisis with California State Assemblymember Todd Gloria. Assemblyme...

Last week on FMF Bob talked about being the Lighthouse, a metaphor for being a strong leader to guide your team during times of crisis like this current Covid-19 pandemic. On this week's FMF, he pleads with you to not be the opposite of being the lighthouse.  Don’t be a weenie! Weenies are whimps, lack resolve, and avoid tough decisions. If this is you and you are a self-managing landlord, it...