Effective December 30, 2009 Harrity Real Estate Services will be accepting Interac® for regular rent collection and other fees. At this time we will be accepting debit payments for rent at our office on the first and last Saturday of each month, from 9am until 12noon. A convenience fee of $2 applies to all transactions.

Why do we accept debit payments?

Debit payments are often easier for tenants as not all of them have personal cheques as we no longer accept cash for rent. Furthermore this eliminates bounced cheques which end up costing everyone money.

Why do we charge a convenience fee?

The cost of our wireless debit unit cost us some money to purchase. The convenience fee helps subsidize the monthly operating cost of the unit.

Do we take debit at the door?

We only accept debit at the door for disabled tenants or during collections. If a tenant is late on their rent we will visit them to collect it at the door, however a late fee will also be charged.

Do we take credit card payments?

We do not and will not be accepting credit cards for rent paid. In the future we may accept Visa® and MasterCard® payments for management fees.

*Please note that our office will not be open for payments during hours other than listed until further notice. Our office is closed for payments during holidays.

As our company grows and evolves we often sit back and evaluate the way our business runs and the systems that are put in place to ensure things are done correctly. Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been taking a look at the past year and identifying our weaknesses and the points of our business where there is an opportunity for things to go wrong.

We have identified some key tasks that require new or updated written procedure. In the next couple of weeks we will be releasing the following new policy:

• Maintenance Policy – This policy will outline how maintenance, renovations and emergency services are carried out by our sub-contractors. It will define a clear policy for payment in regards to regular maintenance, renovations and emergency services.
• Rent Policy – Our current rent policy is being revised and will now include policy related to the remittance of rent, deductions from rent as well as new policy related to our accepted methods of payment.
• Collections Policy (Tenant & Owner) – Will outline late fees and Insufficient Funds charges.

By laying out a clear policy we hope to avoid errors and misunderstandings in our day to day operations. Property owners can review our policy online at any time. Please contact us to request login information.

Below is our online presentation. To navigate from slide to slide, just click anywhere on the slide. To view full screen, press the full screen button (located in the bottom right hand corner of the player).

If you have any questions about the services we offer, please contact us.

Our friend Houston Neal offers Property Management Software Advice over at www.softwareadvice.com. He recently wrote a post on his blog called  5 Amazing Mobile Apps for Property Management. I thought the post was a great idea to foster some discussion about the need for mobile property management software and what features and apps should be developed.

As a property manager, I depend on my Blackberry to keep my day (and business) on track. It keeps my calls coming in, my contacts in order, my email up to date, my day scheduled and even tells me what the weather is going to be. One thing it doesn’t do real well is manage my properties.

Mobile property management apps would certainly make my job and life a lot easier. I spend most of my day in and out of the truck and on the road. Coordinating work orders, collecting rent, making payments – all of which need to be tracked and recorded an our system. It would be great if I had a Blackberry application where I can input all this information, and interact with my property management system in real time. Right now I have to keep my records on paper, and input them to the system when I get back to the office, and some times that’s not until late at night. Wouldn’t it be great to just do it on the go?

Here at Harrity Real Estate Services Inc, we use web based property management software that is accessible from anywhere with access to the internet (including my Blackberry). The problem is that mobile browsing isn’t perfect, websites (even websites optimized for mobile devices) are bulky and often slow. Using an application would help solve this problem. An application is downloaded once and only the data that needs to be uploaded or downloaded is sent, no loading of a web page interface.

That said, I feel that we can take advantage of both  mobile apps and browsing to grow our businesses and mange them efficiently.

Another idea I support is having an application or mobile portal where prospective tenants can drive up to an apartment building and see what’s available for rent, just by punching in an address or tag number. From here, they should be able to view photos and information about the available suites and apply to rent or view the unit.

The bottom line is, that in today’s society the mobile world is becoming a larger market. We want information at our fingertips and the ability to run our lives and businesses on the move. I hope that these suggestions will be eaten up by a software developer and we get what we’re looking for.

I encourage you to visit Houston’s post, have a read and give your two cents.

Life is good,

Luther Harrity

In our efforts to improve the quality of service we provide to our clients and tenants, we have hired a new office manager! This month we welcome Bethany Armstrong to the Harrity Real Estate Team.

Bethany will be taking care of many of the day to day operations at the office and on the road. She’s also available to answer any sales questions you have, so don’t hesitate to contact her.

Welcome aboard Bethany!