It’s a new year full of new possibilities, prospects, and (hopefully) profits. So what better time than now to consider integrating some new technologies to help run your business more efficiently.

Michael Mino, PropertyBoss Solutions president and technologist extraordinaire, highlights the new technologies every property manager should consider implementing in 2012 in the January issue of Residential Resource.

The first of a two-part series highlights the technology trends of Mobilization, Visualization, Socialization, Virtualization and Personalization.

“Technology implementation should make you money, not cost you money,” says Mino. “There are two ways of accomplishing making money with technology: increase revenue or decrease/eliminate expenses.”

He goes on to explain how exactly you can do that with new technologies like tablets, mobile configured websites, digital and video marketing and more! To read the full article, visit our Technology Matters page.

Prepare vendor 1099 forms and your 1096 with PropertyBoss 9.07R

The latest PropertyBoss upgrade (9.07R) includes the ability to prepare and print 1099-Miscellaneous forms for owners and vendors, as well as compile a 1096 summary for your own records.

9.07R also includes Minnesota’s 2011 Certificate of Rent Paid.

Current PASS clients, download PropertyBoss 9.07R now!

(*Note: PropertyHost clients have already been upgraded).

Clients whose PASS subscriptions have expired, please contact your Solution Consultant or email solutions@propertyboss.com for a complimentary account review.

For more information on other 1099 services, including electronic filing, visit our 1099-Misc. Services page.

For more information on all the latest features in PropertyBoss 9.07, please review our Release Notes.

Spend three days in beautiful Greenville, SC, learning from PropertyBoss staff, networking with fellow property management colleagues from across the country, and learning everything about PropertyBoss you have wanted to know but haven’t had the time to ask.

Classroom training will be held again Feb. 21-23, 2012 and is $895 per person (group discounts may apply). Plus, each attendee receives a complimentary PropertyBoss 101 Training Manual (a $39.95 value).

After classroom training you will be able to:

• navigate PropertyBoss interface
• edit, add and delete properties, units, tenants, leases and owners
• manage repeating charges for properties and create lease defaults
• maintain lease data by performing activities such as move-outs, renewals and transfers
• and more!

Call (800) 562-0661, email marketing@propertyboss.com, or contact your account manager directly to reserve your spot today!

It may only be mid-December, but it’s not too early to start planning how you’re going to deliver 1099s to your owners and vendors by Jan. 31. PropertyBoss can now help make that deadline easier to meet!

We have recently partnered with 1099FIRE to assist in the preparation and filing of 1099-Miscellaneous forms for property managers.  Services include preparation, TIN Matching, E-filing, E-delivery and mail options.

A special 50% discount is available to PropertyBoss clients who sign up with 1099FIRE during the month of December. For $249.95, 1099FIRE will prepare and E-deliver 1099s to your recipients at a fraction of the cost of mailing.

1099FIRE Services include:

• Importing Data
• TIN Matching
• E-filing
• E-delivery
• Mailing

For more information, or to sign up for 1099FIRE’s services, visit the PropertyBoss enrollment site.

The holidays are a wonderful time of year for family gatherings and festivities shared with friends. Unfortunately, it’s also a prime time of year for thieves to try to cash in on the distraction of others.

News reports from South Carolina and Florida of thefts from rent payment drop boxes indicate thieves are getting even trickier (and stickier) in their quest for loot.

Pamela Vesper, J.D., C.R.E.I., an auditor / investigator with the N.C. Real Estate Commission, says most thefts she investigates from property management offices are inside jobs.

“Most of the embezzlements we see are done by bookkeepers who have no one watching over them,” says Vesper. “If some of the brokers had just been more proactive checking the mail and answering the phones, they could have avoided losing a lot of money.”

According to Vesper, there are some basic steps property management offices can take to discover and deter theft or fraud, including conducting background checks on all employees, bonding any employees who handle money, and completing monthly reconciliations of the books.

Here are the top 10 signs to detect if fraud may be occurring in your office:

1. Excessive Non-sufficient Funds (NSF) and voided checks.
2. Calls from property owners complaining about late rent payments.
3. Lifestyle changes of employees.
4. Employees who never take vacation.
5. Excessive transfers from one account to another.
6. Unusual interest in the mail and/or telephones.
7. Checks for large, round figures.
8. Checks to unknown payees.
9. Checks mailed to post office boxes.
10. Missing bank statements or cancelled checks.

In general, Vesper says owners, brokers and managers should follow the old “trust but verify” adage. And that includes keeping a close eye on all of your in-boxes!

Earn CE credits through NARPM Georgia

Property managers can earn three CE credits through NARPM Georgia with the course “Technology Matters for Property Managers,” presented by PropertyBoss Solutions President Michael Mino Thursday, Nov. 17 at the Villa Christina in Atlanta.

Mino, the author of NARPM’s “Residential Resource” monthly column “Technology Matters,” will present a three-hour course on how various technologies are used to raise your level of service to your owners, residents, and prospects while reducing your costs.

The interactive session will share best practices and explore topics such as web portals, ILS syndication, digital signatures, QR codes, social media, virtual assistant services, cloud computing and more.

The course, from 1:15-4:30 p.m., follows the NARPM Atlanta chapter’s regular monthly lunch meeting, which also includes a presentation on “Demystifying SEO,” by PropertyBoss’s Mario Villanueva.

Villanueva will “demystify” the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) process for property managers and share best practices for increasing SEO rankings, as well as SEO tactics to avoid.

To register for the “Technology Matters” course, the chapter luncheon, or both, visit http://www.narpmga.org/events_list.php. Cost for the luncheon and class is $85 for members and $95 for non-members. Register by Sunday, Nov. 13 to avoid a $20 late registration fee.

NARPM Atlanta Chapter Meeting Agenda

Nov. 17, 2011

11:00  Lunch Registration Begins

11:30  Networking & Lunch / SEO Presentation

1:00    Lunch Adjourns

1:00    Class Registration Begins

1:15    Class Begins  / Technology Matters for Property Managers

4:30    Class Adjourns

 

PropertyBoss President Michael Mino, center, Lance Plumblee, right, and McCreary Realty Management’s Michael McCreary enjoying the 2011 NARPM Annual Convention and Trade Show in Dallas, Texas.

This year’s convention theme “Serve and Protect” was appropriately chosen, as workshops were designed for attendees to learn more about serving the owners they work for and protecting the properties they manage. Topics include tenant screening and selection, managing renter risk, increasing income, top 10 problems to avoid when managing properties, and how to keep customers happy.

We always enjoy hearing from happy customers, like McCreary, and any NARPM event where we get to visit with them.

“The move to PropertyBoss and all of its resources is going to immediately save me almost a full staff member in man hours each month,” says McCreary. “That is an ROI I can believe in. And the customer service is second to none.”

For more information on the National Association of Residential Property Managers, or to become a member, visit narpm.org.

 

We are beyond excited about our trip this week to the NARPM Georgia Conference in Roswell, Georgia, hosted by the Atlanta Chapter of NARPM (National Association of Residential Property Managers).

The conference schedule includes presentations by two PropertyBoss clients: Mike Nelson with Excalibur Home Management, who will be speaking on “Best Practices & Trust Accounting,” and Dan Wilhelm with 3 Options Realty, who will be speaking on “License Law and the Property Manager” and “The Well Litigated Landlord.”

If you’re planning to attend, please stop by the PropertyBoss booth for a visit. And, if you haven’t yet made plans to attend, visithttp://www.narpmga.org/ and select “Events” for conference registration details.

We hope to see you there!

 

 

 

 

We’re hoping to see all of our South Carolina Realtors, property managers and friends at the SCR 2011 UnConference & Trade Expo Sept. 14-16 in Greenville, SC.

If you’re there, please stop by the PropertyBoss Solutions booth to say hi.

For more info on the UnConference, hosted by the South Carolina REALTORS, visit http://www.screaltorsunconference.com/home, or email marketing@propertyboss.com.