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Resident Experience Management platform can help you deliver superior resident experiences and help you exceed resident expectations.

Resident Experience Management platform can help you deliver superior resident experiences and help you exceed resident expectations.

  • Posted: Apr 03, 2023
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An effective portal solution for managing electronic communications with features that increases the resident experience. In this article, we look at how our Resident Experience Management platform can help you deliver superior resident experiences and help you exceed resident expectations.

By Concierge Plus

Due to pandemic restrictions, many management offices were inaccessible to residents. This caused a greater reliance on telephone and e-mail communication. For many residents, failure of management to respond to their queries in a proper way created distrust and a perception that the management company is incompetent. The root cause to this problem is the lack of an effective portal solution for managing electronic communications with features that increases the resident experience. In this article, we look at how our Resident Experience Management platform can help you deliver superior resident experiences and help you exceed resident expectations.

Efficient maintenance request process

The main responsibility of any management company is to ensure that community associations are well maintained. Residents should be able to report maintenance requests as soon as possible from wherever they are. While calls and text messages can get your attention, residents might not be able to explain the situation entirely. However, via Concierge Plus’ Service Request feature, they can give details of their concern and even upload pictures or videos to aid their explanation.
Requests are always tracked by unit, so you’ll always be able to access a history of what happened. And full reporting features mean you can very quickly generate all the information you need to update your board or your residents.

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Transparency in association governance

Since the tragic Surfside condo collapse in Miami, residents are asking for more transparency from their elected board members. Transparency is characterized by visibility or accessibility of information concerning association practices.
Board members can use Concierge Plus as a platform for keeping residents in the loop with regards to anything related to building maintenance. Since the tragic Surfside condo collapse, we’ve been told that residents are particularly asking for their board’s plan on risk mitigation.
Board members can share documents such as a Reserve Study with unit owners using our File Sharing feature. This is a password-protected repository for important documents and is a great place to store articles of incorporation, meeting minutes, rules and regulations.

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Virtual owner meetings and AGMs

As the pandemic eases and we resume in-person gatherings, hybrid meetings are slowly becoming a permanent part of how community associations function.
Board members can easily add HD web conferencing, automate attendance, enable eligible owners to vote online, and more through our all-in-one virtual meeting platform integration with GetQuorum.
Advanced and real-time electronic voting allows owners to vote securely on important meeting matters before or during the meeting using GetQuorum’s dynamic online platform.
Electronic voting offers substantial cost savings, improved efficiency and significantly reduces errors associated with traditional paper-based voting.

Efficient package management

Community managers, security guards and concierges everywhere are fighting a losing battle trying to keep up with the unrelenting wave of incoming parcels during the holiday season. When staff members spend more time accepting, storing and retrieving parcels, they can’t focus on their security duties.
With Concierge Plus’ Notification feature, you can avoid ending up with front desk congestion and angry residents. Use Concierge Plus to manage package deliveries with automated emails and an easy tracking process. Residents can select to be notified by text message (SMS) or by an automated phone call, which is perfect for urgent and timely notifications.
With our barcode scanner your team can quickly scan every package that arrives, and when residents come to pick-up their packages, they simply sign on a digital signature pad to confirm their identity permanently and securely.
Last but not least, we also offer beautifully designed, 40″ digital lobby display screens which you can use to alert residents that items are available for pick-up.

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Secure resident and visitor parking

For most residents, the safety factors associated with condo living are a huge consideration in choosing life in a community association.
Concierge Plus can help you manage who is coming in and out, where they are parking, and if they have permission to enter the building. Our integrated hardware offerings alleviate confusion with parking pass printers that clearly denote who is parking where.
The printer connects easily to your computer and facilitates tracking of visitor vehicle details such as license plate number, make, and color. A parking pass receipt will print automatically for visitors to display on their dashboards.

 

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Next is, Asking the right questions when hiring a Management Company

Next is, Asking the right questions when hiring a Management Company

  • Posted: Nov 17, 2022
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Asking the right questions when hiring a Management Company

Addressing these questions with owners and board members helps them to understand what a manager does, and how important it is to take the time to find the right company that will care for the properties like they would.

Questions to ask so you can learn more about Property Management company services they will provide, benefits, services, how they collect fees, how repairs are addressed, Vacancies, Rent Collection and the Laws & Licensing.

 

Then find out how our members can do to help you with the management of your buildings?

Managing properties can quickly become overwhelming, even for experienced investors. There is always something going on that requires attention and it takes very little time for things to get out of hand.  Hiring a Property Manager can provide an opportunity to regain control and restore stability to both your properties and possibly life in general.

The importance of having income real estate to you and your family? We are here to help you with the selection process for hiring the right company for the management of your buildings. Your Property Manager will make critical decisions on your behalf making it extremely important that you do your homework during the hiring process, your decision to hire or not hire a management company should hinge on whether or not it is a good fit with your lifestyle and makes sense financially. Individual investors will have to assess the opportunity cost of both options based on their unique circumstances.

 

Benefits of hiring a Property Management Company

A competent manager can add significant value to your investment, which is why many seasoned real estate investors will tell you that a good management company is worth their weight in gold. Here are a few ways that a good property manager earns their keep

Getting Better Tenants

Think of tenant screening as the moat and draw bridge around your castle. It is certainly possible to get a bad tenant out of your home once they are in, but it’s a real hassle and you are so much better off never accepting them in the first place. a thorough screening process results in reliable tenants that:

  • Pay on time
  • Rent longer
  • Put less wear and tear on the unit
  • Generally cause less problems

An experienced management company has seen thousands of applications and knows how to quickly dig for the real facts about candidates and analyze that information for warning signs. By allowing a management company to handle the screening, you will also be shielding yourself from rental scams directed at owners, and discrimination lawsuits resulting from an inconsistent screening process. This kind of experience takes time, and insomuch as it means avoiding bad tenants, scams and lawsuits it is arguably one of the most significant benefits a property management company will provide.

Veteran landlords & managers know it only takes one troublesome tenant to cause significant legal and financial headaches. A good property manager is armed with the knowledge of the latest landlord-tenant laws and will ensure that you are not leaving yourself vulnerable to a potential law suit. Each state and municipality have their own laws, these plus federal law cover a number of areas including but not limited to:

  • Tenant screening
  • Safety and property conditions of the property
  • Evictions
  • Inspections
  • Lease addendums
  • Terminating leases
  • Handling security deposits
  • Rent collection

 

Lower Vacancy & Better Tenants

A Manager will help you perform three critical tasks that affect how long it takes to fill your vacancies:

  • Improve and prepare the property for rent – A Property Manager will suggest and oversee cosmetic improvements that maximize revenue.
  • Determine the best rent rate – Too high and you are stuck waiting, to low and you’re losing money every month the tenant is in the unit. Determining the optimal price requires knowledge of the local market, data on recently sold comparables, and access to rental rate tools.

Effectively market your property – An experienced Property Management company has written hundreds of ads and understands what to say and where advertise in order to get a larger pool of candidates in a shorter period of time. Additionally because of their volume they can usually negotiate cheaper advertising rates both online and offline. Lastly, they are familiar with sales and know how to close when they field calls from prospects and take them on showings.

While its easy to see the effects of lost rent, there are other equally serious problems with a high tenant turnover rate. The turnover process involves a thorough cleaning, changing the locks, painting the walls and possibly new carpet or small repairs, not to mention all the effort associated with marketing, showing , screening and settling in a new tenant. This is a time-consuming and expensive process that can often be averted by keeping tenants happy and well cared for.

A good management company will have a time-tested tenant retention policy that ensures happy tenants with lengthy stays in your properties. These kinds of programs require a consistent, systematic approach, which is where a good Property Management company will shine.

Rent Collection Process

The way you handle rent collection and late payments can be the difference between success and failure as a landlord. Collecting rent on time every month is the only way to maintain consistent cash-flow, and your tenants need to understand this is not negotiable. By hiring a property manager, you put a buffer between yourself and the tenant, and allow them to be the bad guy who has to listen to excuses, chase down rent, and when necessary, evict the person living in your property.

If you let them, your tenants will walk all over you. They have to be trained to follow every part of the lease or deal with the consequences. Property managers have an advantage because tenants realize that they, unlike the owner, are only doing their job and are obligated to enforce the lease terms. Many Managers will tell you that it is considerably easier to manage other people’s units rather than their own for this reason.

Regarding evictions, there are strict laws concerning the eviction process, and doing it wrong, or trying to evict a “professional tenant” can be a major fiasco. A good property management firm knows the law and has a good process for obtaining the best possible outcome given the circumstances. Never having to handle another eviction can be a compelling reason to consider hiring a property management company.

State of Florida Property Management Association has a partnering member www.NationalEvictions.com they can help all landlords with the information needed to understand the Florida eviction process, all members, real estate professionals & building owners can get the required forms for a Florida eviction and help with hiring a lawyer to help with an eviction.

 

Maintenance and Repair Costs

Good maintenance and repairs keep tenants happy and preserve the value of your investment which make them a very important part of land-lording. By hiring a management firm you gain access to both their in-house maintenance staff, as well as their network of licensed, bonded and insured contractors who have already been vetted for good pricing and quality work. This can translate into significant savings compared to going through the yellow pages and hiring a handyman yourself.

*State of Florida Property Management Association has our own Member Directory these members directly aid our Management members giving them cost savings for any work needed in the buildings they manage. This savings means savings for the building owners.

Increased inspections means happier tenants, It aids in the value of your investment

Preventative maintenance is achieved through putting systems in place that catch and deal with maintenance and repair issues early on, before they grow into larger more costly problems. This requires a written maintenance check program, detailed maintenance documentation and regular maintenance visits. The management firm can also offer you suggestions and feedback on upgrades and modifications, both how they will affect the rent you can charge, as well as their impact on maintenance and insurance.

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“Smart managers ensure the community as a whole is running smoothly both from an operational standpoint and from the resident perspective. That’s why Concierge Plus is part of our team; it simply makes everyone’s life easier.”

“Smart managers ensure the community as a whole is running smoothly both from an operational standpoint and from the resident perspective. That’s why Concierge Plus is part of our team; it simply makes everyone’s life easier.”

  • Posted: Jun 30, 2022
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Increase the efficiency of parking enforcement and guest permits with real time solutions at your community. Our Visitor & Parking Management solution increases transparency between managers and residents and shifts conflict resolution scenarios to a digital format.

  • Record and report on frequency of parking usage by unit, license plates, and determine peak parking usage times with our easy-to-use, friendly reporting system.
  • Set controls on how many times units can request parking during a particular period.
  • Allow residents to print their own parking passes for guests in such cases where there is no one on-site to manage your parking facilities.
  • Prevent owners sneaking in additional vehicles and overstaying their allotted time.
  • Track guests digitally and record visitor signatures using our optional digital signature pads.
Book a meeting with me now  and see for yourself how you can increase the efficiency of parking enforcement and guest permits with our Resident Experience Management solution.
Members of SFPMA their services are offered to our Management Industry.
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Best Regards,

Charlote Alvarez

Business Development Representative — Concierge Plus
T: 305-850-7676 x114
charlote.alvarez@conciergeplus.com
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Does your community give residents the ability to make online payments? 

Does your community give residents the ability to make online payments? 

  • Posted: Jun 08, 2022
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Does your community give residents the ability to make online payments? 

Concierge Plus give residents more convenience and control by allowing them to view their account and pay charges from their bank account or credit/debit card – all integrated with your existing accounting platform!

  • Spend less time collecting and depositing checks by automating the payment process for your residents.
  • Residents can make recurring or one-time payments from their bank account by ACH or by using a debit/credit card.
  • Residents can access a history of charges and payments on their unit anytime, from any device.
  • Payments are deposited and settle directly into your bank account.
  • Built-in reminder email campaigns help drive online payment adoption and automatically remind residents that they have an overdue balance.
  • Flexible fee structure allows you to pay transaction fees or pass them on to residents.

“I love the platform. I think it’s extremely user friendly and it has so many functionalities. It’s my favorite platform and my favorite tool.” 

Joy Gilbert, Community Property Manager

The Building Group

Book a meeting with me now and let me show you our fully integrated, easy payment solution that gets results.
Best Regards,

Charlote Alvarez

Business Development Representative — Concierge Plus
T: 305-850-7676 x114
charlote.alvarez@conciergeplus.com
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How to Become a More Efficient Community Association Board Member, By Concierge Plus

How to Become a More Efficient Community Association Board Member, By Concierge Plus

  • Posted: May 25, 2022
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How to Become a More Efficient Community Association Board Member

Whether you are an experienced board member or thinking about becoming one, having a foundation for effective community association board leadership is important.

By becoming a community association board member, you step up to take on positions of service and responsibility. You’re now expected to anticipate issues, solve problems, meet the expectations of residents, and protect property values.

 

Here are five important skills to possess as a board member:

  1. Governing Documents and Roles & Responsibilities. To start you on the right path, you must understand the legal authority for your association. You must have a thorough understanding of the duties and responsibilities of each board member and the professionals who are available to assist you.
  2. Communications, Meetings and Volunteerism. You should also learn how to maximize volunteer involvement in your community association by improving board communications, conducting effective meetings, and building community spirit.
  3. Fundamentals of Financial Management. As a minimum, you should learn the fundamentals of association financial management, including guidelines for protecting your association’s assets, preparing a budget, planning for the future, and collecting assessments. Since the tragic condo collapse in Miami, many board members have realized the importance of risk mitigation and reserve studies.
  4. Professional Advisors and Service Providers. Because putting together the right team to support your association can be challenging, you should seek practical tips on finding, evaluating, and hiring qualified professional advisors and service providers. Visiting CAI’s forum for Community Associations is a good tool for such information.
  5. Association Rules and Conflict Resolution. You should learn the guidelines for making reasonable association rules, enforcing rules fairly and resolving conflict effectively.

Since the tragic Surfside condo collapse, residents are asking for more transparency from their elected board members. Board members can use Concierge Plus as a platform for keeping residents in the loop with regards to anything related to their community.

 

Below are few Concierge Plus features that can help you become a transparent board member:

  • Resident Announcements
    You can send out notices of upcoming meetings using our Announcements module (as well as posting those events on the Community Calendar). Concierge Plus announcements can be delivered to residents by email, SMS, or even through an automated phone call based on the resident’s opt-in preferences. This will save you from having to slip printed materials under your residents’ doors.
  • File Sharing
    You can share important documents such as a Reserve Study with unit owners using our File Sharing feature. This is a password-protected repository for important documents and is a great place to store articles of incorporation, meeting minutes, rules and regulations.
  • Discussion Forum
    Our Discussion Forum feature allows residents and staff to discuss various topics. The forum increases resident engagement by allowing residents to pitch-in with their views on any topic related to their community.
  • Virtual Owner Meetings & AGMs
    As the pandemic eases and we resume in-person gatherings, hybrid meetings are slowly becoming a permanent part of how community associations function.
    Via our all-in-one virtual meeting platform integration with GetQuorum, you can easily add HD web conferencing, automate attendance, enable eligible attendees to vote online, and much more.

 


Concierge Plus

Community association board members should serve with the best interests of their communities in mind. The law imposes a level of care and loyalty, owed by board members to their associations. It is vital that you receive proper education and training in order to understand your obligations and fulfill your fiduciary duty to the association.

Book a meeting with our experts today, and see for yourself how thousands of board members across North America have become more informed and effective using our platform.

 

 

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Securely store and share all of your community documents online with our File Sharing feature.

Securely store and share all of your community documents online with our File Sharing feature.

  • Posted: May 05, 2022
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Securely store and share all of your community documents online with our File Sharing feature. Documents, files for owners, meeting minutes, forms, by-laws, photos, and even videos can be shared with permission-based access.

  • Uploading and distributing documents and images is very easy with our simple drag-and-drop system.
  • Keep all your community files organized in a centralized location.
  • Upload an unlimited number of various file types including .pdf, .doc, .xls, and many more.
  • Increase security by determining exactly who sees what with our permission-based controls.
  • Sending out a blast to residents? Easily include a file from what you’ve already uploaded with just a couple of clicks.
  • Don’t waste time searching aimlessly for a file ever again. Use the quick search functionality to find specific files or folders in an instant.
BOOK A MEETING

“It will make your life so much easier and make your business run much faster.” 

 

Maria Desforges, Property Manager

J&W Condominium Management

Book a meeting with me now and let me show you how you can deliver superior resident experiences with our Resident Experience Management portal.
Best Regards,

Charlote Alvarez

Business Development Representative — Concierge Plus
T: 305-850-7676 x114
charlote.alvarez@conciergeplus.com
Get a fully responsive public website for your community association with your own domain name included! by Conceirge Plus

Get a fully responsive public website for your community association with your own domain name included! by Conceirge Plus

  • Posted: Apr 28, 2022
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Get a fully responsive public website for your community association with your own domain name included! Strengthen your community’s brand with our curated and customizable templates and fully featured mobile app option.

  • Your community website on your own domain name for the most customized resident and staff experience – included in Concierge Plus!
  • Incredibly easy-to-use content management system built right in to your community site.
  • Include data from your site that can be viewed without needing to log in (you pick the content, and there’s no need to maintain two sources of information like with a traditional, separate website).
  • Upload high-resolution images and/or videos of your community, and showcase them in various ways using our curated templates.
  • Want more branding functionality? Our native, fully featured mobile app option gives your community an app searchable and downloadable with your name, logo, and information.
BOOK A MEETING
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New to Property Management? Quick Tips for First-Time Landlords  By Concierge Plus

New to Property Management? Quick Tips for First-Time Landlords By Concierge Plus

  • Posted: Apr 24, 2022
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New to Property Management? Quick Tips for First-Time Landlords

Being a successful landlord means juggling lots of hats and more importantly, doing so in an organized, efficient manner. Otherwise, you’ll quickly find yourself overwhelmed and unable to do your job effectively – whether that’s answering emails, fixing repairs, managing equipment or any number of the other tasks you’re responsible for.

Learn Everything Possible

As with any major venture, knowledge is key. Before you set out to buy your first property, get to know the market. You’ll need to understand everything from local employment statistics to generally accepted rental rates. Homee further recommends understanding local housing laws and getting familiar with common property management metrics, such as maintenance cost, turnover, and occupancy rates.

If you have very little experience in real estate investing or management, consider taking a course, such as Property Management 101 from Udemy. While, at less than $50, the course is likely not fully comprehensive, it can help you understand the fundamentals and shape your mindset so that you can be a more effective manager.

Find the Right Property

Finding the right property is a crucial element in your management success, especially if you’re looking to turn a profit. But, before you buy, it pays to know why, exactly, people move into apartments or multi-housing units in the first place. Single people will often choose an apartment for the safety aspect, while others may want access to a clubhouse, fitness center, and swimming pool that they do not have to maintain.

When saving money at the beginning is one of your top concerns, you’ll need to take your time deciding on a property. You might wish to speak with a realtor about purchasing a home in “as-is” condition. This is a property that will likely need some work but, if you don’t mind rolling up your sleeves and doing some of the upgrades, seasonal maintenance, and repairs yourself, you can get a good deal and an even better return. Do keep in mind, however, that homes with an active termite infestation or other significant issues may not be the best bet. You should also have the property inspected for any potential red flags and, if possible, include a cancellation clause in the contract should your inspections yield negative results. Real estate agency Redfin suggests having an attorney perform a title search and examine pertinent land records.

Staying Organized & on Top of Things with Concierge Plus

When it is time to open your new property for tenants, being organized is essential. You will need to be able to do everything, like maintaining a resident databasebooking amenitieshandling service requestsaccepting card payments, and tracking visitor/tenant parking. This is where Concierge Plus comes into play. Our Resident Experience Management platform can do these things and so much more. Having a reliable property management app in your toolbox from the very beginning will help you grow and seamlessly add new properties to your real estate portfolio.

Staying organized may not solve all your problems, but it will help you look and be more professional so that you can manage your property effectively. Keeping accurate records, and knowing where those records are, will also save you money in the long run.

Owning your first tenants’ property is a big job. It takes lots of preparations, from learning about local tenant housing laws to finding ways to save money from the very beginning. But, real estate is a rewarding endeavor, and there is lots of income potential.

Watch our On-Demand Webinar

We recently held a webinar on how landlords, property managers, and board members can use our resident experience management platform to help stay organized.

Watch our webinar and learn about:

  • Getting a straightforward snapshot of what’s going on in your community with our Daily Overview feature.
  • Keeping track of all tasks with our Tasks & Reminders module.
  • Keeping a digital record of every piece of equipment in your community with our Equipment Management feature.
  • Distributing information about important happenings on site, or key knowledge that just needs to be handed to the next shift with our Pass-On-Logs feature.
  • Securely storing and sharing all of your community documents with our File Sharing feature.
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