First Rate Property Management Blog

Feds Change Water Heaters

Blog Post

By Melissa S. Sunday, January 1, 2017

The company that handles our after-hours maintenance calls, NightTenders, sends out certain maintenance alerts. The most recent was from the US Department of Energy for improved energy efficiency for water heaters that goes into effect as of April 16, 2015. This change will ...

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Below is a link to a Wall Street Journal article...

Blog Post

By Melissa S. Sunday, January 1, 2017

That article discussed the current rental investment market. For the most part, I agree with what the article says. There is no doubt that at today’s prices, the right investment property can produce a great return. I love the example of the California investors who are boa...

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$8K Housing Credit Termination causing some urgency with tenants

Blog Post

By Melissa S. Sunday, January 1, 2017

In order to receive the $8,000 Housing Tax Credit first time home buyers need to be under contract by the end of April and closed by the end of June. Based on the number of tenants giving First Rate Property Management notice to vacate due to buying a home, there seems to be a se...

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War Is Declared on Fake Assistance Animals

Blog Post

By Melissa S. Sunday, January 1, 2017

Before the holidays we blogged about a potential law making it illegal to lie about the need for an assistance animal. Maybe it was the photo, but for whatever reason that post got the most attention of any blog entry before. I guess I finally got to see sensationalism at work. A...

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Property Management Insurances

Blog Post

By Melissa S. Sunday, January 1, 2017

Idaho is often criticized (or lauded) as being the "Wild Wild West." We have fewer laws and requirements than most states. With fewer barriers to business, such as property management, we see greater competition. Greater competition puts an emphasis on quality and price...

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Legislation, Lead Based Paint, and Vacancy

Blog Post

By Melissa S. Sunday, January 1, 2017

Our vacancy dropped a tad bit to 2.56%. Below is a graph that we will publish every so often so that you can see the trends. As I stated before, February was a great month for us. We leased a lot of properties up. Our system creates a report of all properties on notice and vacant...

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More on Legislation and Lead Base Paint

Blog Post

By Melissa S. Sunday, January 1, 2017

First Rate Property Management becomes a Certified Lead Based Paint RenovatorLead based paint was banned from residential use in 1978 due to the known health issues it can cause, especially to children under the age of 6 years old. A new law was passed by the EPA and will take ef...

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How Credit Scores Are Calculated

Blog Post

By Melissa S. Sunday, January 1, 2017

I receive updates from about five different lenders. Some of these are daily updates, while others are weekly, and they almost always include current rate information. But sometimes they include other information that I like to pass on. Below is a link to an update from Eric...

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NARPM Travels

Blog Post

By Melissa S. Sunday, January 1, 2017

Last week I was in Concord California attending a property management training conference. I learned a lot of things, but the advantages and uses of social media was the most intriguing. So, I’ll be studying it and if it can benefit us in renting up properties and communica...

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Don't Complain or Else

Blog Post

By Melissa S. Sunday, January 1, 2017

A Florida Property Manager posted the article below (Huffington Post) about an Apartment complex that required tenants to sign a "Social Media Addendum."Florida Apartment Complex Threatens Tenants With $10,000 Fine For Bad Reviews OnlineThey might be the landlords from ...

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