Monday, May 11, 2020

How to Have a Fantastic Property Management During Covid-19 Pandemic


The COVID-19 pandemic has put a halt to normal life, disturbing the way we used to live, and the way we conduct our businesses. These times are challenging particularly for landlords who are moving heaven and Earth to keep their properties and tenants safe from the virus. Many businesses have either temporarily shut down or have gone online to curb the spread of the virus. Important life events have been postponed and the entire world has come to a standstill.

The insufficiency in operations hasn't however stopped for landlords as their properties will need plenty of assistance from maintenance to repairs and regular housekeeping. Property management, on its own, has become a daunting task. At OwnersTown, we've come up with several Property Management tips that can help you manage your rental properties effectively as the COVID-19 rages on.


Tips To Be Better At Property Management During The COVID-19 Crisis

Communicate Virtually

It is necessary to practice social distancing to prevent infection and this makes tenant communication difficult. You will need to cut down on physical interactions with your tenants and switch to virtual interactions. Depend on phone calls and messaging platforms to converse with your tenants and if necessary, use video calls. If you need to address more than one tenant, think of a Smart Property Management Application that can help you to contact everyone simultaneously.


The popular blog, Psychology Today, states that video calling could be comforting to your tenants as they will get to see a familiar face and also that it’s more effective than voice calls, especially if you have older tenants. So, look into Zoom Duo, FaceTime, or even WhatsApp and connect with your tenants over video calls to address them of any updates or to simply check in on them.

Try Virtual Building Inspections


If you have an inspection coming up or if one of your tenants raises a maintenance ticket that will need an inspection, consider doing a virtual inspection. Firstly, ask your tenants to send photos via WhatsApp or email so that you can share it with your contractor. 


If you feel closer, real-time inspection is needed, use Zoom or Google Duo to organize a video call so that your tenants can show the affected or unaffected areas for you and your contractor to observe. With video calling, your contractor can also enquirer about things that may arise during the inspection. 

Show Mutual Understanding in Rent Collections

A majority of tenants – in most cities and towns - still pay rent by cash. This entails physical collection of rent which you must at all costs avoid. Suggest your tenants move to a digital form of payment to prevent both of you from getting sick. Be it internet banking or digital wallets, the options to pay rent are endless. Ask your tenant to transfer their monthly rent via net banking or popular digital wallets such as PayTM or Google Pay or PhonePe to your preferred bank account. 

If your tenant is employed, ask them about the current situation of their salary. A good number of companies have either terminated or furloughed non-essential employees and cut salaries for the rest. So, if your tenant has had a pay cut or been furloughed or terminated, it will be difficult for them to pay the rent as they normally would.

If a tenant is unable to pay the rent, discuss the situation with them and offer a discounted rent or think about a more flexible payment option. But, remember to not step in blindly as some tenants may make use of your good nature. Always insist on documentation that shows that they are receiving a pay cut or have been terminated. This way, you can help the ones who are really in need. Come up with a payment plan and agreement that your tenant can adhere to and enforce it until the pandemic has ended and their financial situation has improved.

Avoid Major Maintenance Works

Handling maintenance and service requests at your rentals will be near to impossible given the enforced policies of isolation and social distancing. Arranging for a service vendor comes with more caution as you have to ensure that the vendor is in good health, is wearing protective gear and, has all the required equipment and material so as to prevent visits to the hardware store while working in your rental property.

Get in touch with your contractors and ensure that their professionals are being tested daily and that they are in good health and have protective gear such as masks and gloves. With OwnersTown, you can find the right vendor from your mobile itself. Get a verified vendor with the best deal at any location.

You should also inform your tenants that there will be a delay in handling maintenance tasks as you need to handle only the essential tasks first. Paint jobs or renovations can be pushed to a date after the epidemic has ended while emergency tasks such as plumbing or electrical work can be done now.

Remember to practice empathy while communicating with your tenants on the postponement of the maintenance work. Your main goal is to keep your properties running smoothly. So, choose only the important tasks to work on and keep the rest in a backlog that you can get to when the lockdowns have been lifted and the pandemic has ended.

Close Down Common Area Amenities And Sanitize

Swimming pools, gyms, pantries, cafes, and other common areas need to be shut down to prevent the spread of the virus throughout your properties. Sanitize other common spaces that are a necessity, such as lobbies, stairwells, and elevators. Have a maintenance staff disinfect your properties daily and ensure that they are in good health and are wearing the right gear. Keep a copy of the WHO guidelines on how to use and dispose of the masks and gloves and ensure that they are done properly.

Conclusion

The pandemic has created both the worst and the best time for you as a landlord. Your actions and decisions during this time will determine your personality as either a helpful and smart landlord or an absentee landlord. It’s essential to keep all of your rental properties and your tenants in safe hands. Remember that even if one infected person enters your property, the whole building will have to be shut down and the tenants quarantined until it’s determined by medical professionals to be safe again.

By letting your tenants understand that you are there for them, you will create a better relationship with them and emerge from this situation stronger than before.

Stay Home Stay Safe!

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Effective Ways to Maintain Your Property While Social Distancing With Owners Town

Quarantine, lockdown, stay-at-home, and social distancing have become synonymous with our everyday lives because of the notorious Covid-19 that is spreading into the world like wildfire. Social distancing has become a major desperate measure during this desperate time. More and more awareness is being raised on how staying-at-home can curb down Coronavirus.
It is without a doubt that the economy has taken a huge toll amidst the lockdown. The government has stated that turning to technology is the best way to conduct business operations from home so that social distancing can be maintained effectively. While pondering on the different markets being affected in this pandemic, real estate is one such arena that has taken a massive blow.
Landlords and tenants alike are trying to make amends as much as possible since the main goal is to overcome the virus together. With this regard, property owners and renters can make the best of social distancing with Owners Town. Through our state-of-the-art online services, we make sure that tenants and landlords are comfortable and hassle-free in this lockdown.
So below is a detailed nitty-gritty on how Owners Town can help property owners and renters in this unfortunate epidemic.

This is how property owners can be a pro at social distancing with Owners Town

1.Online Communication
To maintain social distancing, online communication is the best way in this present situation. With our property management solution app, you can communicate with your tenant effectively once you have the tenants on board.
With our in-app messaging feature, you can respond to the renters anytime with the OwnersTown dashboard. You can be free from the hassle of a phone call or text messages where you can manage more than one tenant with ease. The renters can also easily express their issues and concern amidst the lockdown with the in-app messaging feature. After all, it is all about being there for each other yet apart in this pandemic.
Features of tenant communication app
  • Notifications: With the property specific notifications, easy communications can be done where the owner and the renter can share information and news without any delays. Our platform provides in-app notification and system and user-generated messages so the communication is streamlined.
  • Email: With regards to any tenant updates or email/phone verification, both tenants and owners will receive notifications simultaneously.
2. Catching up on document work
Pre-lockdown, you, as a property owner might have had more on your plate or you must have been wearing a lot of hats to not catch up on your property document work. But these stay-at-home days are perfect to pull up your socks and get on the piled up work. With the Owners Town application, you can sort all your documents in one place. You can have easy access to all your paperwork and take a quick preview where you will not have to open up each and every document. And without outgoing anywhere you can easily share your tenant-specific document in a click.
Features of our document management portal include:
  • Drag and Drop: With our application, uploading documents has never been easier where it can be done in just 2 simple steps. All you have to do is drag and drop documents and name them
  • Quick and easy sharing: With our portal, sharing can be done in a jiffy. You can download the document from anyplace since you have the amenity of property-wise access. Through the Owners Town portal, sharing of the document becomes convenient.
  • Security: Property documents are important where their security is a major concern. With the help of our secure cloud repository, property owners can not only upload but also manage and share documents online in a safe and secure way. You will have full access to your documents where it is protected through encryption and the documents will not be shared without the owner’s permission.
3. Helping you prepare for the future
A lot of notions are being conveyed by the real-estate experts about the market and how the economy will be affected post-lockdown. Many people have opined that India might see a similar trend like China where the residential sector might take priority since office and retail projects might take some time to emerge from the stand-still. Having said all this, it is always better to prepare rather than regretting in the future. Property owners can be better at social distancing with Owners Town because through our advanced reporting feature, you can use the best of analytics to gain insight into the present situation and have an idea of the probability of the future.
The features of our custom advanced reports include:
  • Rent reports: With the rent report feature, monthly comparisons can be made about your property or tenant where you can know which of your property has performed well and which has not. With this insight, you can prepare yourself post-lockdown.
  • Keeping a tab on expenses: With the help of the maintenance report, you can know your maintenance expenses on any desired period so that you can manage your monetary expenses accordingly. Since everyone is trying to put as much halt as possible on their expenses, this specific feature can avail a lot of property owners effectively.
  • Detailed analysis: In order to gain a vehement insight on tenant overturn or expenses, you can create an advanced report by providing adequate information. All it takes is just two steps, i.e. selecting a basic detail for the report and then running a report. You can have the analytics at hand and prepare yourself for the future vehemently.
This is indeed a difficult time for everyone but by using the time productively, property owners can be a smart owner while maintaining effective social distancing with Owners Town.

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

All You Need to Know About Shriram Luxor Bangalore


Shriram Properties & its Journey:

Shriram Properties is one of the leading Real Estate development companies in South India, Shriram Properties predominantly focuses on the mid-sized and quite economical housing categories. Shriram Properties is one of the five largest residential real estate companies in South India, especially in Bangalore and Chennai concerning the number of aggregate units. They provide premium and luxury housing, commercial and office space category as well as plotted development category. You can also contact them through a property Management Company, they make the whole process simple and easy for you!



They are a Real Estate Business group with four decades of operating history and a prominent brand in the retail financial services sector and numerous other industries. Shriram Group always provides us with benefits and will continue to benefit, buyers who prefer houses, people who invest in Financial terms, landowners, development Associates, contractors, and other Collaborators have in the Brand Shriram and its operational history.

Shriram Properties has started it’s operations in Bangalore in the year 2000 and, they have expanded its ventures to other cities like Chennai, Coimbatore, and Visakhapatnam in South India. Also, they are in Kolkata as in East India, where they are developing multiple projects. Bangalore and Chennai continue to remain as their main markets. Both the cities have two large residential housing community in India with an approximate 31.24% launches and 34.22% sold inventory in India’s top seven cities (Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, and Kolkata). If you want to buy/invest in Shriram properties in any of these locations, you can simply call the best property management company in town for help!

They have nearly completed 25 projects, amounting to 12.86 million square feet of merchandisable Area, out of which our 20 projects in the cities of Bengaluru and Chennai accounted for 87.69% of our Merchandisable Area.

All about Shriram Luxor, Bangalore:

Shriram Luxor is a new residential Apartment project launched in Hennur Road, Bangalore by Shriram Properties. The residential archipelago features the best in luxury living feeling of Shriram Properties. Shriram Luxor offers spacious Apartments with opulent features. The landscapes all around Shriram Luxor make it more appealing and rich at the same time. Shriram Builders has brought this project to Hennur assuring the best quality living to the community of Hennur Road, Chikkagubbi, North Bangalore with aesthetic architecture and quality lifestyle in Shriram Luxor. Shriram Luxor’s Location has an excellent commute & it is located at the core of Hennur Road. You can also contact Property Management Consultants through Property Management Portal/App, through which you can access them easily.

Shriram Luxor is located very near a $100 billion investment zone in North Bengaluru.  The North Bengaluru which is going to be the upcoming secondary Business sector of Bengaluru. The Thanisandra- Hennur Road stretch is referred by Knight Frank as the 7th highest future apprehensive location in India. With Approx 3000 acres of KIADB, Baglur is actually developed for IT, hardware and aerospace sectors. Some of the Companies like Shell, Cellcom, Wipro, Thyssenkrupp, Amada, Tyco Electronics, StarragHeckert are currently operating here. The aerospace park in North Bangalore is planned to spawn around 2.5 lakh employment opportunities in KIADB. A magnanimous 12,000 acre IT investment Region and some of the top MNCs like TCS, Wipro are proposed in the area. It is just minutes away from the proposed Metro Phase 2 in Nagwara-KIAL Line. There are a lot of Best Property Management Consultants in India who help you with choosing the right property for you. Buying a flat is indeed a big deal, they give some expert advice.

Shriram Luxor Apartments is spread up to 3.5 Acres of Greenery in a 4.6 Acre land. It is an IGBC Gold pre-certified to increase energy efficiency and sustainability. Shriram Luxor has less than 450 units but it ensures its exclusivity and sustainability of the project. You can also utilize their Club Terrace Party Deck to organize your private parties. It has a grand clubhouse spread over more than 22,000 sq.ft in 26,000 sq.ft area of land. At Shriram Luxor, Each tower has its own courtyard garden. There will at least be 2 balconies in most of the apartments. Some of the important decisions like buying an apartment should be checked at least a hundred times before coming to a conclusion, the Property Management Companies will take care of them, all you need to do is, trust them and handover this stress to them!

Shriram Luxor Apartments has 8 Blocks, 13 Floors, and a Ground Floor. They provide  2BHK, 2.5BHK, 3BHK flats. The substructure of the apartments is Isolated and the superstructure has complete RCC & Slab system. The external, Internal, Lifts and staircase has RCC Walls. The flooring of Foyer, Living, Dining & Bedrooms are done with superior quality vitrified tiles. The flooring of the master bedrooms has laminated wooden flooring. The kitchen flooring is done with super quality matte finished vitrified tiles. The toilet and balcony flooring is done with superior quality anti-skid ceramic. In Shriram Luxor Apartments, the 2BHK flat is 1195 sq.ft, the 2.5BHK flat is 1400 sq.ft & 1440 sq.ft, the 3BHK flats in 1550 sq.ft & 1590 sq.ft. You can also access a property Management Company as per your wish through Property Management Portal/App at your comfort.

The doors and shutters of the apartments are done with Teak wood frame with Factory made BST Shutter, ornamental beading, Polishing, and wood composite doors with Video Door Phone in the entrance. The windows and french doors are installed with UPVC bug mesh. The staircase and balcony are given MS Railings and utility is given MS powder coated railings.

The internal painting is done with Plastic Emulsion for walls and OBD for ceilings. The external and fabrication are painted with texture paint and synthetic enamel respectively. The kitchen and utility are given SS Double bowl with Single drainboard and SS Single bowl without drainboard respectively. The fittings and fixtures are done with Standard C.P Fittings. The bath mixer is done with a Single level diverter. The sink has Long body/Angularcock for Aquaguard. The shower area has a glass partition. The facilities in Shriram Luxor include 100% DG Backup for common areas like lifts, Corridors, pumps, gates, and STP as per standard norms, Organic waste converter as per standard norms. Solar water heater, Rain Water harvesting as per standard norms, water softening plants if required, lifts and intercom in all the flats, fire fighting systems as per standard norms, and CCTV in the common areas and lobbies in the ground floor. If you deal with a property management company in order to buy flats, they will make sure to check on everything that needs to be done!

Shriram Luxor presents us some of the interesting amenities like, 

●       Children’s play area,

●       Landscape garden area,

●       Clubhouse

●       Well-equipped gymnasium

●       Library, provision for creche

●       Wifi connectivity

●       CCTV at the main entrance

●       Provision for convenience store

●       Tennis court, table tennis & pool table,

●       Recreation center with chess, carrom & cards room

●       Indoor badminton court

●       Multipurpose hall

●       Split health club with steam, sauna & meditation space

●       Aerobics & billiards

●       Swimming pool

●       Basketball post

Civic Amenities are still under development in Shriram Luxor Apartments!

SUMMARY:

These are some of the things that you need to know about Shriram Luxor! When you plan to buy/invest your money in flats, right away contact ownerstown! They are one of the best property Management Companies in Bangalore.