Do you own an investment property that you’re renting out, and you’re currently handling all of the chores of being a landlord yourself?Are you thinking about investing in rental properties, but you’re not sure if you’re up for the task of being a landlord?If you answered yes to either of those questions, whether you are holding onto or considering investing in a single-family rental (SFR), duplex, or triplex, you should think about engaging a professional property management firm to take the work off your shoulders.Let’s take a look at what property management is, what a professional management company handles, and how to decide not only if it’s time to hire one but also how to hire the right property management firm.What is Property Management?Let’s start off with getting an understanding of what a property management firm does and doesn’t do. There are several critical tasks a property manager can help you with.Setting the right rental rate: You can always ballpark this by looking through the classifieds, but a good property management company actually conducts thorough market studies to set a rental price for your property. This makes sure you have a great balance between maximizing your monthly income and keeping a low vacancy rate.Collecting the rent: One of the most difficult aspects of being a landlord is collecting the rent. Property management firms have efficient, tried-and-true systems that will do a great job of collecting the rent and maintaining on-time payments.Marketing and advertising your rental unit: When vacancies occur, you want the rental unit occupied as quickly as possible. A professional property management firm has experience that helps it market your property in just the rate way to make sure someone moves in quickly.Finding and managing tenants: The property management firm will take the work out of finding and managing tenants for you. This means screening new tenants for criminal and credit checks, collecting references, and getting the lease signed. Once the home is occupied, handling routine and emergency maintenance and inspections are part of what a professional management company will do for you.Managing relationships with contractors and other vendors: Do you have deep-seated relationships with all of the maintenance workers, tradesmen, contractors, suppliers, and vendors needed to properly manage your rental? Probably not. But a property management firm does and can get you the best work for the best price, while handling the burden of overseeing necessary maintenance projects for you.Keeping you in compliance with the laws Housing regulations and property laws are complicated and confusing when you’re renting and maintaining your rental property. These can include local, state, and federal regulations, along with fair housing regulations like the Americans with Disabilities Act. A property manager can keep you out of hot water by keeping your property up-to-date and in compliance with all of these regulations.Allowing you to invest from afar: If you’ve moved to a place where investing in rental units don’t make sense, you might think that investing in SFRs or other rental properties isn’t possible. With a good property management company by your side, you won’t be so limited in your investment opportunities.I only have one property; so why do I need a property manager?If just reading through all of the tasks that a property manager can handle for you isn’t convincing enough, consider this: do you want to be able to go on vacation without interruption? Do you really enjoy phone calls about backed up plumbing at 3:30 in the morning?Chances are, you want the freedom to leave town for vacation or just have uninterrupted time with family for the holidays. You don’t relish the task of dealing with emergency maintenance chores in the middle of the night, and you probably dread the thought of trying to find a good tenant when your existing ones move out.Even if you only have a single investment property that you’re renting out, you can benefit strongly from hiring a property management service. They have decades of experience that you’d be hard-pressed to match yourself, and can ensure your property is maintained impeccably while still maximizing your profit.Okay, I’m convinced, but how do I know who to hire?The best way to find out about quality management companies is based on the experience of others. If you are local to your rental property, attend your regional real estate investment association meetings to get recommendations from other landlords.You want to make sure you find out how many units the company is managing, and how many employees they have doing the work. A trained employee with the right tools and proven processes can successfully manage between 30 and 40 units, as long as they’re not also playing accountant.When you’re interviewing different qualified property management firms, here are the questions you should get answers to:

What is the cost? Generally, the monthly fee for property management is between eight and twelve percent, plus expenses. Remember you get what you pay for, so it is important to balance the cost and services.

How well do they communicate? You want someone who uses email, but is still responsive to the telephone. If you don’t get a response in a timely fashion, it’s time to walk somewhere else.

How easily can I terminate the agreement? If things work out, what will it take to terminate your agreement? Make sure you know this up front, along with any penalties.

How experienced are they with Section 8? This can be supremely important, since Section 8 housing and tenants are great income opportunities. Make sure they have adequate experience with such properties.
If you do your research, you can readily find a reputable firm to handle your rental investments for you. This will free you up to enjoy the fruits of your investment without as much of the hassle.

Meditation, relaxation and rejuvenation are the new catch-phrases of today’s lifestyle and catering to this increasing majority of discerning tourists, countless spas and spa resorts have mushroomed all over the tourist circuits.A bonus for the keen golfer is the emergence of the Spa and Golf Resort. These resorts combine the best golf facilities with a range of high-end spa luxuries and facilities. These spas offer massages, water or aqua therapy, fitness and nutrition programs to pamper your senses and help you adopt a well-balanced lifestyle.Located on picture perfect settings with panoramic views of the sea, mountains or lakes these spa and golf resorts offer extraordinary golf and superlative service which makes them sought after holiday destinations. Almost all the hot golf vacation spots such as the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Hawaii, California, Myrtle Beach or Las Vegas amongst others have fully equipped Spas and offer special spa and golf vacation packages.Most Golf and Spa Resorts come with complete 18-hole courses, full service Spas, and a host of other recreational activities. Theses resorts offer a complete vacation package and are a boon to the families of avid golfers. Most also host tournaments so you can watch some of the world’s best golfers at play.The Spas are a retreat into the world of luxury where you can feel your tensions dissolve as you benefit from the countless treatments designed for women, men, teens and even kids.After a challenging and invigorating game of golf it is a pleasurable experience to succumb to the soothing scents of aroma oils and let yourself be pampered by the wide-range of therapies on offer, all administered by highly skilled and trained staff. After a session at the spa you should emerge rejuvenated enough to take on the challenges of the most daunting golf course in the world.

Certainly we all have heard about the mind-body connection. Basically, when talking about this dynamic relationship, we are talking about the mind’s effect on the body and the body’s effect on the mind. It is reciprocal. Some connections are easily understood such as the effect that stress has on the digestive system. Unbridled stress can lead to digestive conditions such as nausea, ulcers, even gastric esophageal reflux.Migraines can be another area where the mind-body connection is easily observed. In these examples, for many people, untreated stress can easily be understood as a cause of physical discomfort medically treatable conditions. To be able to live in a state of balanced wellness, we need to be aware of the inner workings of both our bodies, our mind, and spirit, and how connected they all really are. This is something I call, the “Mind-Body-Faith Phenomenon,” and will expound on that concept in future articles as we will see how hope, the precursor to faith, affects the mind-body connection.On the other side of the mind-body coin, where the physical manifestations may occur first, followed by mental health issues, we see the reverse. Physical conditions such as thyroid dysfunction, cardiac and respiratory conditions, brain tumors, and some neurological and autoimmune conditions, such as MS and fibromyalgia, may just be the catalysts to send a person into a state of acute clinical depression, or chronic depression, anxiety, insomnia, other medically based conditions or disability.To prevent this from happening, we need to try to understand first what helps and what hinders our own, personal mind-body-spirit processes to reach and maintain a state of homeostasis or well-being. We need to carefully monitor our own stress level, to recognize when stress reduction is necessary, and when we are able to live life to the fullest.When there is a disruption in the mind sector of the mind-body connection, it is not hard to see how easy it is to recognize symptoms of depression, nervousness, anxiety, physical pain, discomfort, and insomnia. Stress emotions can be so powerful, in fact, that they can disrupt every part of a person’s life leaving them in physical pain, unable to work, parent, engage in successful relationships, or even to sleep at night.Until we begin to recognize signs and symptoms of mind-body stress present in our thinking, behavior and physical being, we are unable to correct them. The best scenario possible is to encounter stress symptoms early as they occur, and make needed adjustments to alleviate unnecessary stress. By so doing, we may be able to significantly decrease the chance of mind-body dysfunction and subsequently, depression, disease, and ongoing disability.Adele M. Gill | Copyright 2016