Just A Landlord

You say “Okay, this is a scam!’  …  but it is not.  Rather it is another way of looking at purchasing, perceptions and true cost

A month ago Jeff, a buddy of mine who also uses an iPhone, tells me to try out a new app called Red Laser.  This $2 app allows you to use the iPhone/ iPod Touch camera as a barcode scanner.  The application then looks for the best price for that product locally as well as on the Internet.

I have since used it to price out both business supplies as well as stuff we personally use.  Some of the better prices I found were more than 30% less than what I was going to buy. The first few day’s savings exceed the $200 that the phone cost.  Over the rest of the month the savings well exceeded a year’s worth of cell phone service.

And the savings that you can achieve with the iPhone and other similar technology  isn’t limited to purchasing.  Using your phone’s camera to document tenant damage and be able to support your deposit claim. Take another photo to show a contractor or employee what you want fixed and save the hassle of miscommunications. I even use the camera to take quick notes  such as taking a picture of a for sale sign to get the broker’s number or while shopping to text a photo to my wife to make sure that I am getting the thing she wanted.

All of this makes you more efficient. If utilized to its potential tools such as an iPhone saves you, rather than costs you.  I would make the same argument about hiring employees, but that is another story for another day.

Attorney Tristan Pettit is presenting the Landlord Boot Camp again this February.  Prior Boot Camps were very well received, with positive feed back from all that attended

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An interesting, soon to be published Wisconsin case on denial of a rental applicant.  This probably has little impact except for Section 8 applicants, but it could also be a basis for Fair housing questions too.

The Housing Authority denied an application because the prospective tenant had been found guilty in a default judgment on municipal citations for disorderly conduct, and assault and battery

Read the case here

The Wisconsin State Bar Association has released a white paper on scanning/ document imaging.  While the piece is obviously aimed at lawyers, their suggestions and ideas apply equally as well to our industry.

Here is a link to the 20-page white paper, “Hardcore Scanning for Law Offices of Any Size,”

Every year around this time people focus a bit more on planning, all part of that New Year’s Resolution thing.  While planning should ongoing and not be restricted to the last month of the year, I too kick off the beginning of every year with a “big” project with the intent of fundamentally changing some aspect of our business.

This is the first of a handful of ideas that you could use to make 2010 more productive than 2009.

Document Imaging / Scanning instead of paper files

One of the biggest changes in the operation of our business occurred at the end of 2007 when we went from paper filing systems to full document scanning and digital storage.

The scanning project is so cool that I couldn’t help but share it with the readers of the ApartmentAssoc email list.  It is a project that a mom and pop operation working from their kitchen table to large multi person offices.  And it’s relatively cheap. You can get into it for under $200 and quickly save more than that in time and aggravation.

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