Month: July 2017

The oldest Baby Boomers are turning seventy-one in 2017. As this huge segment of the population grows older, many are finding it difficult to navigate and care for larger homes and are downsizing to apartments and condominiums. Consider appealing to this growing market share by adding some of these features to your property:

1. Walk in baths and showers.

A bath that requires a resident to step over it is a potential hazard to older renters as they grow more physically limited. Walk in showers are an easy solution that is considerably safer. A walk in bathtub—which has a sealed door, allowing a user to step in before filling it with water—can provide the same benefits of a bath/shower while facilitating the less limber residents.

2. Replace round doorknobs with lever-style knobs.

Doorknobs and locking mechanisms that work smoothly are important to any resident, but to older residents, they may be essential. A conventional door knob can be difficult for some older tenants to use—especially if they suffer from arthritis or similar conditions. Replacing round knobs with lever-style knobs throughout a unit makes the living space much easier to navigate.

3. Provide good lighting.

Good lighting throughout a property is essential for residents with worsening eyesight and slowing reflexes. Inadequate lighting simply makes a space unsafe. Upgrading to higher-luminosity LEDs will save your residents on their utility and give them plenty of light to see by. Installing night-lights throughout a residence is a special touch that may win a potential tenant over.
 

4. Install a fire-prevention system in the kitchen.

Let’s be honest—it’s not just older residents who leave a stove on from time to time! This is a feature that will keep your tenant and the whole property safe. A simple paint timer mechanism for the stove and oven can extend a tenant’s self-sufficiency and give everyone peace of mind.

5. Keep floors safe.

A slippery floor can be difficult for an older person to navigate. Good carpet is easier to walk on—and, if it ever does happen, easier to fall on—than hardwood laminate or linoleum. In places where carpet can’t go, like bathrooms and kitchens, handle bars and non-slip floor liners are an inexpensive and simple way to further adapt a room to the needs of elderly residents.
 

In a given year, 50 percent of tenants will move out of their current rental unit, which can lead to extra work and extra costs for property managers. An older facility is especially vulnerable to turnover as renters seek newer living spaces.
While building a new property may be out of the question, an upfront investment in your property during a turnaround period can improve its living quality, generating higher satisfaction and motivating the next residents to stick around longer. If you want to keep your retention and renewals high and increase your market rate, make an extra investment during the turnaround period to rehab and design your space for the contemporary renter.
Even living spaces that have been gently lived in will suffer wear and tear over the years. To keep your property competitive, rehab is necessary after the departure of each resident. Nail holes, pin holes, and wall damage from furniture being moved in, out, and around is evidence to potential clients that a space has been well used. Minor wall damage may be one of the most superficial repairs to make, but that means it’s also one of the first things apartment hunters will see—especially if you are showing an unfurnished apartment. A patched wall and a fresh paint job for new tenants will give them the sense that they are living in their own space, not a used one.
But other repairs are also important. Old appliances, besides being huge energy wasters for your tenants, are a sure sign of a property’s age. On the other hand, newer appliances can make a space feel, if not state of the art, at least up to date. Make sure all of the everyday elements of the apartment work smoothly. Do sliding doors slide? Do doorknobs turn? Do drawers go in and out smoothly? Does the ceiling fan still move air? None of these things make an apartment unlivable, and it may be tempting to go the cheap and easy route by skipping the small stuff. But small annoyances will build up, frustrating tenants and motivating them to move on when their leases are up.
Attention to design also makes a huge difference in the look and feel of a property. Property managers often reach for the cheapest and easiest elements when they are rushing to put a property back on the market. Little consideration goes into whether a fixture matches a countertop, or whether the laminate wood flooring in the living room matches the flooring in the bedroom. A mismatched detail here and there may seem like the way of the business, but the overall aesthetic that such inattention creates devalues your apartment. On the other hand, when the elements of a space synchronize, an old building can look and feel fresh and new. A careful and professional hand designing a space, rather than simply running through a checklist of minimum repairs, creates and aesthetic that tenants will pay more for and stick with longer.
At satintouch, we are equipped to take your property through the whole process of rehab and design. Our method is customer centered: we work to develop a partnership with our clients and deliver a great product that is tailored to our clients’ visions for their properties. We love to help our clients create spaces that people want to live in—no matter how old the shell is.

You know the adage: “Rule your schedule; don’t let your schedule rule you.” Property managers need to know how to manage their time well if they are going to manage their properties well. Changing the end date on your leases may be a helpful way of making the most of your time and giving the best to your tenants.
The atmosphere of the management is an important factor to many apartment-seekers. A potential tenant’s judgment of how pleasant it will be to deal with your team could tip the scales for or against your unit. When moveouts are piling up at the end of a month and you barely have time to take inquiries with all of the paperwork and turnarounds to do, you’re in danger of telegraphing to inquirers that you will be difficult to deal with and will not have time for their concerns.
That’s not to mention that temptation to cut corners when you have to rush. Having too much work and too little time means lower quality and ultimately poorer reviews. Even when you have a trusted turnaround provider like satintouch to do the heavy lifting, it may be impossible to schedule several units at the same time, and there’s a good chance your property will be sitting idle when it could be generating revenue.
A simple way to mitigate these risks of over-busy ends of month is to stagger the end dates on your leases. Rather than having every lease terminate at the end of a month, set some to end mid-month—some the first Monday, some the second Monday, and so on. Mid-month moveouts will spread your work out, keep you sane, and help you make a positive presentation to potential tenants. Avoiding competition with other property managers who are scheduling labor at the end of the month will also mean quicker turnarounds and potentially a faster return to revenue generation.

When you have a high volume of tenants, you can expect high turnovers. With a property of 225 apartment homes and a fifty percent turnover rate, that’s about 112 move outs a year, 9.3 moves a month. For apartment managers, that means a long checklist of things to make an apartment ready for new tenants, not to mention the extra work and expense of hiring employees to do the job.
Thankfully, at satintouch we provide all the services your apartment needs to be ready for its next residents, beginning with a thorough inspection of edges, surfaces, and furnishings that need to be protected from paint or given special cleaning treatment. Our approach is not a “one size fits all” spray can of paint and chemical cleaners. We tailor everything we do to your space and your needs. Our goal is to create a partnership with you, deliver great results, and ensure your satisfaction.
After removing any items—large or small—left by the previous residents, we will restore or reinvent your room to your vision. Whether you need a simple paint job or custom work, we provide careful and detailed painting that will leave your room looking as good as new. In addition to basic carpet cleaning, we offer deodorizing and pet odor treatment, stain removal, and blacklight services. We provide deep cleaning for every room and surface, and we can repair nearly any appliance that needs attention and any damage or simple wear and tear that previous tenants have left behind.
At satintouch, we are equipped to handle any size apartment with any number of rooms, and we won’t call a job finished until you’ve inspected it yourself. We guarantee your satisfaction. In fact, if you are not 100 percent satisfied, call us back by 11 am the next day and we’ll return to correct any problems. If you still aren’t satisfied, your service will be free.

Thank you to all of our generous customers! Because of your patronage, satintouch’s 343 Initiative has raised over $11,000 dollars for Minnesota veterans, students, and children since its launch at the end of 2016! Our work’s not over yet, though. With your help, satintouch will continue to raise support for the needs of our community.
The 343 Initiative is our way of giving back to our community here at satintouch. When you contract with us, three percent of our fee will go to your choice of one of three initiatives that are doing good in Minnesota.
3 Three Percent
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3 Three Causes
Our clients do not incur any additional cost when they participate, but they walk away with the assurance that 3 percent of their contract with satintouch will be helping those in need. The choice of causes are Pets for Vets, Blanket Minnesota, and the 343 Scholarship.
Pets for Vets recognizes the difficult transition that US servicemen and women make as they return from protecting our freedom and defending our borders. Our veterans have put their lives on the line to defend our country, and we want to show them our gratitude by providing them with a companion animal of their choice for life, including all the necessary vaccinations and food for one year. The 343 Initiative has raised $4,120.35 to support our veterans!
Blanket Minnesota brings some holiday joy to children who are in the hospital during the Christmas season. This cause provides children with handmade blankets and a stuffed animal to keep them company and remind them that they are loved and cared for. Blanket Minnesota has raised $3,756.52 to give gifts to Minnesota children.
The 343 scholarship recognizes the value of a good education to success in the 21st century and the barrier of expense that prevents so many industrious and community-minded students from receiving an education that matches their talents and desires. The 343 scholarship will help pay for tuition, books, and other expenses for a student who exemplifies the spirit of 343’s dedication to community. Because education is important across the globe, some funds will go toward building orphanages in Sierra Leone. The 343 scholarship has raised $3,574.36 for students foreign and domestic.
With your continued support, satintouch and the 343 Initiative will continue its support of these important causes. When you contract with satintouch, you’re not only making a valuable investment in the rehab and redesign of your rental space but also in our local and global community. Thank you for your support!