Why Next Year's Business Plan Should Include Working with a Property Management Company

With January fast approaching you're probably setting goals and planning for the New Year. At the top of most peoples' lists is becoming more profitable, but it can be hard to take on more clients when you already have a full work-load. So this year, why not plan to be more profitable by retaining more of the clients you already have? By referring clients whose homes aren't ready to sell to Provident Property Management in St. Charles, you will save clients, build your network, and make more money without any extra hassle or worry.

Be more profitable. Unlike other management companies that are part of real estate brokerages designed to generate their sales from your rental referrals, Provident does not sell property. Repeat... Provident does not sell homes even though they are a Real Estate Brokerage. That means that when your client is ready to sell they are referred right back to you; many times after the home's value has risen - earning you a larger commission.

It's easy and hassle free. Provident is known for outstanding customer service, and strives

to ensure that every client is taken care of. You can expect them to take care of your business and return it to you when it's time to sell. There are no contracts to sign or forms to fill out, simply make a referral and your information is automatically included with the owner's file. Provident designates you as the client's real estate agent in their software, ensuring that they make it back to you when it's time to sell.

Provident's service is so good, your clients may decide to invest in even more income producing property - bringing even more business your way from clients you already have.

There is no doubt that when you team up with Provident you win. The best part is that there is no downside - why wouldn't you retain your client and be more profitable?

So what are you waiting for? Get more information, or make a referral today by emailingMarketing.ppmrents@gmail.com or calling (314) 403-2049.

You can also find even more helpful tips - for you or your clients - for free at ppmrents.blogspot.com. 

Don't forget to visit us on Facebook!

The 3 Things You Must Check Before Winter

Prepping your home for cold weather protects your investment and your family.

Here comes the cold, are you ready? Well, even if you aren't; the cold is still coming. And with the cold comes winter threats on your safety and home. Luckily, by checking three things - trees, heat and plumbing - you can save yourself thousands of dollars as well as protect your family. So, instead of hoping the cold decides not to show up this year, take these steps to protect your most important investment; your home.

1.) Trees - Trees are great! Trees make air, give us shade and - oh yeah - crush your house when they fall. Actually, the part where they crush your house actually isn't that fun. Act now to take off those branches that threaten your safety and investment before those trademark Missouri ice storms hit. While you're at it, clean all the leaves from your gutters to prevent water from pooling and freezing; destroying your gutters. 

2.) Heat -Your furnace or heating unit has been sitting all summer long, just waiting for you to need it. After all that waiting, it may not be ready for winter. Have an

 HVAC contractor stop byand make sure your heating unit is safe, vacuum the unit to get rid of dust and install a new filter. If you have a chimney, go ahead and call the chimney sweep as well. These steps can save you hundreds in heating over the course of the winter.

3.) Plumbing - Outdoor plumbing is the main issue. Sprinklers need to be blown out and emptied of water. Outdoor faucets need to be covered or they can crack in the cold. A broken outdoor faucet often leaks inside the house and can quickly flood a basement before anyone notices. Be especially careful with plumbing in the attic, as some older homes have, if they aren't insulated with pipe wraps they may freeze and explode - flooding the house.

Checking these items will probably take an afternoon to accomplish, but they will protect your home from the harsh winter weather. Don't wait until the first cold hits because it will be too late. Take action now to protect your home and your family.

Need help getting your home ready for winter? Just give Provident a call; we do all this and more.

4 Ways to Use Your Pumpkin after Halloween

You spent hours planning, carving and admiring your jack-o-lantern, and we believe you when you say that it is a true work of art. However, now your work of art is rotting and looks a little more interpretive then you intended. Here are four great ideas to use your pumpkin before it stains your porch.

1.    Compost – Take a sledgehammer to that pumpkin or drop it off the roof, then bury those pumpkin pieces in the garden. Leftover jack-o-lanterns make great fertilizer for next-years garden, and burying them will keep your yard smell-free.



2.    Feed Animals – If you live in an area where wildlife frequent, you can attract some furry friends by throwing chunks of pumpkin out in your yard. The only problem is that you’ll have to get up early to see Bambi and his friends eating your treat.

You can also use any leftover pumpkin seeds in your bird feeder. – Don’t have a bird feeder? Cut one of those pumpkin in half and WHAMO! You have a bird feeder.

       
3.    Make a Planter – Run out to your local nursery and buy some seasonal flowers, fill your jack-o-lantern with soil and you’ve got a seasonal planter. It will be a festive decoration for a few days, and then you can plant the whole thing right in the backyard. The pumpkin will naturally compost and provide fertilizer for your plant.

4.    *Eat it – Pumpkin purée is the No. 1 use for the fleshy insides of your pumpkin, and it’s easy to do. Start by cutting your pumpkin in half. Place your pumpkin cut-side down in a baking dish with about a cup of water, and bake until the flesh is tender. Then, scoop out the flesh and puree in a food processor. Once you’ve made your pumpkin purée, it’s ready for use in all your favorite pumpkin recipes, from pies to cookies. Any extra can be stored in the freezer for several months. 

You don’t like any of these suggestions? The simple solution to your pumpkin problem is to toss it. Just remember to get rid of it before it begins to smell and stain your porch. If you are like me, you’ve probably waited too long and now don’t want to touch your once-proud work or art. So, here’s my pro tip: use a shovel. There you go four ways to re-use or dispose of your pumpkin.

*Be sure that any pumpkins chosen for eating are in good condition and suitable for human consumption. 

Preparing for Spring

Spring is in the air. Flowers are blooming, trees are budding, the grass needs mowing. With the arrival of spring, it's time to clean up our homes. Though there is no clear historical background for the seasonal cleaning urge, people around the world respond to it and houses become the cleaner for it. So what items should be taken care of as the seasons change?

Fire detectors and carbon monoxide detectors should definitely be checked. Detectors have a roughly 10 year lifetime before they should be replaced. They should also be cleaned regularly to ensure they are working properly, and have batteries tested. We all know how annoying it is to hear that incessant "beep beep beep" when the battery dies, but sometimes they just quit working. If we don't individually test them periodically, they may not work should we ever need them. At our house, we like to test ours about once a week or so on our family pizza night. Kidding. The oven tends to smoke and set off the alarm near the kitchen, which sets off the whole house. But it's always a good reminder to me and a good way to check them out too.

Furnace filters need to be changed regularly. If you have an HVAC unit (a heater and air conditioner in one), the filters need to be changed all year round. Depending on the type you prefer to buy, you need to change them monthly or every few months. With pollen and other airborne allergens hitting their high points for the year, changing filters can help alleviate any allergies your family members may experience. It's always a good idea to give the furnace a once-over when changing the filter also. Does everything look normal? Does it look dirty? If you ask questions of your furnace technician when they come out to inspect it yearly, than you know what to look for and can spot and potential problems. I'm not sure what's a worse situation- losing the heat on the coldest day of the year or losing the air conditioner on the hottest. Regular furnace and air conditioning inspections can help spot problems before they become major.

Inspect the exterior of the building. You should be looking for any damage that may have occurred during winter storms- missing roof shingles or loose siding. Also check the rain gutters and clear out any debris. April showers bring May flowers after all, but April showers plus clogged gutters can cause a mess and problem for your home if the rain is pooling somewhere and not draining properly. Now is a good time for clearing out any debris that may have blown into the flower beds or up against the foundation as well. Piles of leaves are very attractive to critters and pests of all sorts. If these piles are near the home, the pests may decide your home is even better than the leaves.

As your property management company, Provident can address all of these maintenance issues for you. We offer quarterly inspections of the property as well as coordinate any maintenance needs that are beyond our expertise (HVAC for example). A well maintained property saves money in the long run because small problems can be addressed before becoming huge headaches. Please contact us today to see what we can do for you!

New Year's Goals for your home

New Year's Eve is a time of renewal for most people. Lots of people make New Year's Resolutions, which generally fail within days. But it's also a great time to make realistic goals for the year ahead. Aside from personal goals to lose weight or make healthy improvements in your life, consider making some goals for improving your home.

One good place to start is removing clutter. Most people have at least one area of their home that gathers clutter. A good goal for the New Year is to work on removing clutter. Set a realistic goal to clear one surface a week or one room a month. Having clear spaces and clear surfaces makes it easier to keep the home clean. A cleaner home is healthier for all who live there.

Once the clutter is under control and the home is kept cleaner, maintenance issues can be addressed easier. Set a goal to address maintenance issues promptly. Set a realistic time frame based on your personal schedule that will be your goal for addressing maintenance issues. Whether it's to change the furnace filters monthly or fix that squeaky door within 2 months, setting realistic goals will help you keep the house maintained. A well maintained home holds it's resale value and is generally more pleasant to be in.

A third area that you can consider setting goals in is energy efficiency. I heard all the time growing up "turn the lights off!" and "close the door! We aren't cooling the outside!" At the time, it was annoying, but the habit stuck, and I find myself teaching these habits to my kids as well. We can practice energy efficiency without spending money simply by following common sense tactics. Turn the lights and electronics off when you leave a room; set the thermostat a few degrees cooler in winter or warmer in summer; and keep the doors and windows closed when using the HVAC systems. These habits not only save energy, they save money.

Here at Provident, we are committed to helping landlords and tenants set and keep realistic goals. We can't turn the lights off for you or clear your clutter, but we can maintain your unit in a timely fashion. We are committed to using earth and wallet friendly practices whenever possible. You can be sure we won't be wasting your money. We want to be your management team, so please contact us today.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Ahh snow. It creates such picturesque scenes to photograph. It evokes memories of childhood for most- days spent home from school, building snowmen or sledding down the nearby hill. And it creates an awful lot of work! Shoveling snow is definitely low on the list of favorite things to do for a lot of people. It's cold hard work. But it is something that is very important. Last winter, we got quite a lot of snow in St Louis, and usually in one big storm. So why is it important to remove snow promptly? Safety and ease of transportation.

Safety is the first big issue with snow. Just having snow on the sidewalk isn't a big deal. But often in this area, the snow will melt or partially melt and then refreeze, making for dangerous icy conditions. If it's an early snow, the bottom layer may melt on the warmer ground, than freeze as more snow piles up on top. Ice creates a dangerous condition for walking on. People can fall and seriously injure themselves on just a small patch of ice. I'm sure most people have experienced a small slip at one time or another.

Transportation is the next major hurdle with snow. Even when it snows, kids will have school, parents will have work. We have to get there somehow. The plows do a good job of clearing the streets, but we have to make it to the street. Take it from someone who got stuck in her own driveway more than once last winter. It's frustrating to not know if you will be able to park the car or go to the doctor's appointment on time. And it's rather embarrassing when the propane delivery driver offers to help shovel out the car so he can do his job. (Though it was awfully nice of him!)

So how can we address these two issues? Stay on top of things. Be aware of weather forecasts. The days we got stuck in the driveway were the days that we didn't realize it would be snowing a foot or more overnight. (We also have a drift issue to overcome.) If we had known, we could have taken some preventative measures. 1) Put out ice melt BEFORE it snows. And during if you are awake. This helps keep the snow from accumulating and keeps the ice from forming. 2) Shovel during the storm (if you are awake) or as soon as it's done or is possible. The longer the snow sits, the harder it is to move. And 3) Try not to let several storms worth of snow build up before your try to shovel it. It just gets harder the higher the snow gets.

Remember, Provident Management does offer snow removal services. This is especially convenient for multi-family housing where the tenants are not responsible for snow removal or landscape maintenance. Or if your rental unit is currently vacant, having the snow removed regularly will keep it presentable and showable. Contact us for more information!

The importance of a maintenance fund

Provident Property Management strives hard to keep maintenance costs low for homeowners. However, there comes a time in every home's life that something will need to be fixed. Even newer homes need regular maintenance to keep them in good shape. That's why Provident recommends that clients keep a maintenance fund. But why is it important and how much money should they save?

Creating a maintenance fund is invaluable, especially to the investor with multiple properties or older properties. Older properties obviously have more problems associated with age than other properties, and just having more properties will increase the likelihood of something needing to be fixed.  Routine maintenance and larger repairs need to be addressed. Just like we know that our cars will need gas and an oil change every so often, we know that our homes will need furnace filters and lightbulbs changed. These needs can be addressed through a maintenance fund. We also should anticipate that a roof will need to be repaired or replaced. There are also times that a disaster of some sort may hit our homes, when we will need to have an insurance deductible available in order to get the damage fixed. In the face of a large repair cost, turning to a credit card may not be the prudent solution.

So what should homeowners plan for and how much should be saved? One source suggested a maintenance fund should be more than the monthly mortgage amount. It should definitely be more than the insurance deductible, just in case the large repair is covered by the insurance company. In order to budget accordingly, the homeowner should be familiar with the home and it's needs. Be familiar with the age and condition of the roof, the furnace, and the air conditioner. If tenants are constantly complaining about pipes backing up, than having a plumber out to assess the problem and recommend solutions and prices may be helpful in deciding how much needs to be saved.

Provident is committed to keeping maintenance costs low, while keeping your property in good repair. A well maintained property is easily rented. We can help you assess your property and decide how much money should be saved for maintenance needs that may arise in the near future and long-term. Please contact us for more details.

Childproofing- smart for you, smart for baby

Childproofing is one of those things that parents don't think of until it's almost too late. Especially with a first baby, it's easy to think "oh, I can do it later." But before you know it, the newborn is crawling around, putting things in their mouths and generally making mischief. So how can you protect your child in a rental home or temporary housing situation? Luckily, most childproofing items are removable and leave no lasting damage or marks. Here are three important areas to consider when childproofing. For more information, check out this article.

1) Get on baby's level. It's easy to think things are safe when you only examine them from an adult perspective. We might bust our shins on the coffee table from time to time, but baby can bust her head. After examining the room from baby's level, remove or make safe any potentially dangerous items- coffee tables, low entertainment centers with heavy television sets, fireplace hearths. Get some outlet covers and use them all the time.

2) Protect baby from falls. Obviously, falling is part of learning how to walk. But there are some falls that baby shouldn't be allowed to learn from- down the stairs for example. If you have a staircase, buy a baby gate for the top and bottom of the stairs. Make sure it is for stair use. These usually anchor to the walls, which shouldn't be a problem with the landlord, but you should always check to be sure. The damage to the walls of a few holes that need to be filled with spackle before move-out is definitely easier to repair than anything that may happen to the baby if she tumbles down. A gate at the bottom is also important, as babies usually learn to climb up before they can figure out how to get down.

3) Keep the floors clean. This can be an ongoing battle, especially if you have pets or older children. But it's important to keep any items smaller than a toilet paper tube out of baby's reach. They can potentially choke. Also, remember that babies mouth everything they come in contact with. If you wouldn't lick your floors, would you let your baby?

Unfortunately, childproofing is not a service we offer at Provident Management. But it is an important part of having children and keeping them safe and happy. If you have any questions or would like more information about services we do offer, contact us.

How Home Maintenance can save you money

Ahh the joys of owning your own home. It seems there is always something that needs attention. Sometimes the items can take just a few minutes to fix, and sometimes it is better to call a professional. But why bother keeping up with the maintenance needs of your home, especially if it is a rental home? By consistently addressing maintenance needs, you can protect the value of your home.

Small maintenance needs add up over time. What was once a small problem can become a large problem over time. Let's say the garbage disposal stops working. By doing a quick web search, you can find several troubleshooting websites. There are several easy and quick fixes that will fix most problems. Check to make sure there is nothing in the disposal blocking the grinding mechanism. Press the reset button. Check the power supply. In a few moments, even an unhandy person can probably determine if these are the root of the problem. Most of the time, after checking a few items, the disposal will be working again.

Address small issues before they become larger.  What happens if no one checks on the disposal? If the sink is still being used, it could become clogged with food, leading to slow running or backing up. This creates a bigger problem because the sink can't be used properly. Over time, the clog could get worse until the sink refuses to drain. Now it's time to call the plumber. If the disposal had been checked when the problem started, a lot of money could have been saved. I'm sure most of us have experienced a small chip in our car windshield that suddenly becomes an enormous crack the first time we turn on the defroster.

Whether you own one home or several, it's important to address maintenance issues promptly. Smaller issues cost less to repair than larger issues. Allow us to help you save money. As your property management team, we will address small maintenance issues promptly, saving you money and protecting your investment. Well-maintained units are easier to fill with good tenants who will also care for the unit. It's a win-win situation. So contact us today!

Autumn leaves

If you are looking to attract new tenants to your units, fallen leaves can be a detriment. A few leaves scattered about may look cute and even festive, but an abundance of leaves can look unkempt and uncared for. They can also become a hazard when they cover the walkway or stairs; especially if they are not removed before the first winter storm. So how can you get rid of all those leaves?

Rake or blow them into a pile. Then what? You can bag them and put them in the trash, or allow them to compost or use them as mulch for the flower beds.You can also blow the pile into the neighbor's yard, but that probably isn't advisable. Burning leaves is often against city codes, so check the law before you go that route.

Mow them over. This is probably the easiest way to get rid of them. By mowing over the leaves, you are actually breaking them into tiny bits. These bits decompose faster than a whole leaf and can provide welcome nutrients to the grass. You may need to mow a few times depending on how many leaves are falling into your yard.

And if all that work sounds like..well...work, you can call us. We want your units to rent as quickly as possible. For a small fee, we will take care of the leaves for you, maintaining your curb appeal and boosting your image among possible tenants.

Winterizing Your Investment (Pt 2); Two Easy Steps to Protect your investment

Last time we talked about how to make the interior of a home more comfortable during winter. Now let's talk about how to protect your investment properties. These two easy and important winterizing tips deal with the exterior of the home; something a lot of tenants forget about. Let's face it, a lot of homeowners forget about it too!

So before your house looks like this: 

here are two easy tips every homeowner should take to protect their investment.

1) Clean up! One of the most important ways to protect your investment is to get it cleaned up. Specifically, any area or system that can be damaged by winter's cold weather should be cleaned up. Gutters should be cleared of debris so that rain or snow melt can be removed quickly and not pool or damage the roof. Any tree limbs that may be damaged by Missouri's frequent ice storms and cause subsequent damage to the house should be removed. Window air conditioning units should be removed and the windows should be checked for proper function. The furnace or heating unit should be checked by an HVAC contractor to ensure proper and safe function. If there is a fireplace, it should be checked and cleaned as well, both to protect the house from fire, and the occupants from injury.

2) Protect! Outdoor plumbing is the main issue. Sprinklers need to be blown out and emptied of water. The system should be shut down for the winter so no water reenters the system prematurely. Outdoor faucets or hose bibbs need to be protected and covered from damaging freezing temperatures. A broken outdoor faucet often leaks inside the house, usually in a basement where no one goes for long periods of time. A broken faucet can quickly flood a basement. If there is plumbing in the attic, as some older homes have, it should be inspected to be sure that it is properly protected with insulating pipe wraps.

So the question is: who do you want protecting your property? If you're like most landlords, you won't be able to trust your tenants to properly winterize your home and protect your investment. Luckily, we're on your side! Provident Management offers a winterizing package to make your life headache free and keep your property in good shape so that you make money! We will cover all those items listed above and arrange for an HVAC contractor or Chimney Sweep if needed. Just another way Provident Management protects your investment while offering you the highest possible return. Contact us for more information. We also provide free referrals to HVAC contractors or plumbers in the St. Charles area if  that's what you need. Please call us so we can help protect your house.