Happy holidays + a new rental blog for you to check out

No posts at all this month so far! Sorry, readers.

I do have two rent-related articles written and awaiting publication, but it seems the holiday is slowing things down. Once they are published, I'll link to them from here. One details the pros and cons of living in duplex apartments and the other is a how-to guide for landlords. Stay tuned!

Speaking of duplex apartments, I stumbled upon another blog you might find interesting. Check out http://www.iboughtaduplex.com/. I love to be a fly on the wall -- or in this case, the reader of a blog -- as landlords and property managers discuss the ins and outs of rentals from their perspective.

Meanwhile, happy holidays to the readers of the Easy Rent Editor blog! See you in 2011!


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Autumn tree care for your rental property

A couple of weeks ago, I asked my renter-readers what apartment maintenance tasks their leases require them to be responsible for.

To follow up: If you're responsible for yard maintenance, you might find this article about fall tree maintenance helpful.

Tree maintenance isn't normally something renters are too concerned about; thankfully, that's usually a landlord's job. So we'll just consider this a "bonus" blog post amongst friends -- unless you, yourself, are a property manager like I used to be. In that case, you'll be more inclined to check it out.



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This one's for harassed on-site apartment managers!

Sure, you're SUPPOSED to be off-duty but that never seems to stop tenants from knocking on your door, does it?

I battled for my off-duty time a lot when I worked as an on-site apartment manager. An emergency? OK, no problem. That's why I was there. That was part of my job.

But a drippy bathroom faucet is not an emergency. Call me about it tomorrow during office hours.

You suspect your neighbor is violating her lease because her boyfriend has moved in and now your favorite parking spot is always taken? Not an emergency. Stop by tomorrow during office hours.

You are bothered by the cigarette butts and beer cans in the courtyard? So am I. But I'm not dealing with it at 9 p.m. because I already worked a 10-hour day today and I will deal with it tomorrow.

If you're an on-site, live-in apartment manager who is often bothered by tenants during your scheduled off hours, you might find my advice helpful. Read it here: Apartment Managers - Live On Site? You Can Still Go Off Duty. It's all about the strategies I successfully used to train my tenants to respect my free time. A worthwhile read!




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Two great property management blogs -- hilarious and keepin' it real

As a former rental property manager, I am so thoroughly entertained by two fellow bloggers' property management blogs that I have to recommend them both here:

Check out both Apartment Manager Kaos and Stories from Apartment Managers. Especially if you yourself work in the apartment management industry.

These two blogs make me giggle, nod in agreement and, to be honest with you, make me feel a little relieved to know I WASN'T crazy after all when I was doing the job, though it sure felt that way sometimes.

When I was managing apartments I was always so worried that it would be unprofessional to blog about the daily goings-on in my buildings and among my tenants. Of course I write under my real name -- right there in the upper right hand corner (oh hey, hi there) -- so that was probably a valid concern.

Not so for "TxAptMgr" (Kaos) and "Apartment Manager" (Stories), who were both smart enough to stay anonymous so they can give you the uncensored lowdown on crazy tenants, scammy landlords and all the reasons that property managers might sometimes come across as anal, evil, uncaring b*tches when really they're mostly pretty normal, nice people doing a hard job in which you can never make everyone happy.

Highly recommended reading for others in the apartment industry!

Thinking of a career in property management?

What's the skinny on working as a property manager? Is the pay as good as recently reported by CNN Money? What are the hours like?

If you're thinking about getting into property management, you'll want to read this.