Logo
Homes my clients rented
Friday, September 21, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
South Florida rental rates increase
The costs of renting an apartment in Broward and Palm Beach counties are inching upward.
The average monthly rent in Broward is $1,097, an increase of 3.3 percent from a year ago, according to second-quarter data from research firm Reis Inc. Palm Beach County’s average rent is $1,077, up 2.7 percent.
Rental markets have been strong in recent years as foreclosures and price declines make many people wary of owning a home. Others are struggling to qualify for mortgages.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
A Boca Raton-based developer is the latest firm to announce plans for apartment communities in South Florida.
The Altman Cos. says it will build rentals in Boynton Beach, Coconut Creek and Pembroke Pines. A fourth complex will be in Kendall in Miami-Dade County, adding 1,110 units to the market.
In the past year, developers have started construction on or announced 42 rental projects in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, according to Deerfield Beach housing analyst Jack McCabe.
Demand for rentals in South Florida has increased following the housing collapse. Lenders remain leery of financing condominiums because of rampant overbuilding during the boom, but developers say getting loans to build apartments is much easier.
Altman Chairman Joel Altman said in a statement that rents are stable and occupancies are high in many areas across the country. Construction on the South Florida units is expected to begin later this year.
“Our strategy is to have three to four new multi-family communities
lined up per year with a focus entirely on rentals,” he said.
The Coconut Creek, Pembroke Pines and Kendall complexes will feature three floors, private entryways, clubhouses and resort-style amenities.
Altman says it is acquiring the Boynton community from builder K. Hovnanian and will plan a second phase based on the original architectural plans, which include two, six-story buildings with a clubhouse and pool.
Altman didn’t disclose expected rental rates for any of the units.
Earlier this month, a Phoenix developer announced plans to build nearly 400 luxury apartments in Coconut Creek. The first units at Broadstone Cypress Hammocks at 5201 W. Hillsboro Boulevard will be ready early next year, and construction is expected to be complete by spring 2014.
Other projects are planned for Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Fort Lauderdale, among other cities.
The region isn’t yet in danger of being overrun with rentals because so little apartment construction has happened since 2007, McCabe said.
Expected population increases in Florida from retiring baby boomers should support the increased demand for rentals, though another 40-plus apartment complexes in the next year would be a problem, McCabe said.
In 2006, as the housing market started to collapse, the ratio of homeowners to renters nationwide and in South Florida was about 70-30, but it’s now 64-36, he said. Many former homeowners either can’t buy or choose not to bother with owning.
“A lot of people have decided the American Dream may not be such a dream anymore,” McCabe said. “There are a lot of liabilities and responsibilities (to owning) that they didn’t understand before, and they do now.”
___
©2012 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
The Altman Cos. says it will build rentals in Boynton Beach, Coconut Creek and Pembroke Pines. A fourth complex will be in Kendall in Miami-Dade County, adding 1,110 units to the market.
In the past year, developers have started construction on or announced 42 rental projects in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, according to Deerfield Beach housing analyst Jack McCabe.
 |
| Jack McCabe (left) interviewed in January by MSNBC Dylan Rattigan |
Demand for rentals in South Florida has increased following the housing collapse. Lenders remain leery of financing condominiums because of rampant overbuilding during the boom, but developers say getting loans to build apartments is much easier.
Altman Chairman Joel Altman said in a statement that rents are stable and occupancies are high in many areas across the country. Construction on the South Florida units is expected to begin later this year.
 |
| Joel Altman Chief Executive Officer of The Altman Companies |
The Coconut Creek, Pembroke Pines and Kendall complexes will feature three floors, private entryways, clubhouses and resort-style amenities.
Altman says it is acquiring the Boynton community from builder K. Hovnanian and will plan a second phase based on the original architectural plans, which include two, six-story buildings with a clubhouse and pool.
Altman didn’t disclose expected rental rates for any of the units.
Earlier this month, a Phoenix developer announced plans to build nearly 400 luxury apartments in Coconut Creek. The first units at Broadstone Cypress Hammocks at 5201 W. Hillsboro Boulevard will be ready early next year, and construction is expected to be complete by spring 2014.
Other projects are planned for Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Fort Lauderdale, among other cities.
The region isn’t yet in danger of being overrun with rentals because so little apartment construction has happened since 2007, McCabe said.
Expected population increases in Florida from retiring baby boomers should support the increased demand for rentals, though another 40-plus apartment complexes in the next year would be a problem, McCabe said.
In 2006, as the housing market started to collapse, the ratio of homeowners to renters nationwide and in South Florida was about 70-30, but it’s now 64-36, he said. Many former homeowners either can’t buy or choose not to bother with owning.
“A lot of people have decided the American Dream may not be such a dream anymore,” McCabe said. “There are a lot of liabilities and responsibilities (to owning) that they didn’t understand before, and they do now.”
___
©2012 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
EXTRA -ordinary Property Management
By Kevin D. Thompson
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
WELLINGTON — Good business opportunities often come when you least expect them.
Ask Lee Hughes.
For years, Hughes had been working the Winter Equestrian Festival as a show jumper and horse show manager. He spent time listening to wealthy businessmen in Wellington for the festival complaining about how they couldn't find the right company to manage their properties after they left town.
So Hughes, born in England and raised in Canada, said he would do it.
"I told them I'd be happy to work for them," Hughes said. He recalled thinking: "It can't be that awful of a job."
Five years later, Hughes and his business partner, Adam Blauweiss, a real estate agent, are still running Wellington-based Grand Prix Estate Management, a property management firm.
Starting with six clients in 2007 - all friends of Hughes' - the company now works year-round and has more than 40 clients, 80 percent of whom are seasonal Wellington residents.
Hughes said he has a few A-list movie star clients (he declined to name them) as well as some who are billionaires.
"The new-money clients are often very rude," Hughes said. "Sometimes in the customer service business, people are ungrateful for all your efforts."
Grand Prix Estate Management does whatever a homeowner needs, including pressure-cleaning driveways, installing hurricane shutters, overseeing landscaping projects, arranging airport transportation, providing pest-control services and cleaning pools.
Hughes, 33 and Blauweiss, 32, will even handle dry cleaning, food shopping and picking up prescriptions at CVS.
"I don't want us to come off like we're gofer boys, but we will do anything our clients ask us to do," Blauweiss said.
He recalled when one client, who was a little tipsy, once asked him to buy a pack of beer because the client was too drunk to drive and do it himself.
"We'll charge you $35 to $45 an hour to go do that as opposed to you crashing your car and having to spend $10,000 on damages," Blauweiss said.
Terri Nusz owns a $3.9 million, 4,500-square-foot home in Wellington with her husband, Thomas, CEO of Oasis Petroleum in Houston.
Terri Nusz, who lives in Wellington six months out of the year, hired Hughes last May to look after the Nuszes' property, which features 12 barns and sits on 5 acres.
Grand Prix Management has worked with landscapers to keep the property in pristine condition as well as supervising construction projects.
"They're basically our eyes and ears when we don't live here," Nusz said. "You want to feel that you can leave your home and that it'll be perfectly taken care of the way you would take care of it."
Grand Prix Management is a bare-bones business. It has only one employee - a full-time handyman who oversees renovations and handles deliveries. But Hughes said the company works with licensed plumbers and electricians who perform many of the jobs.
Sales fluctuate, depending on the year. Last year, the company earned $150,000, Hughes said. The most it ever made was $250,000 in 2010, he said.
While Hughes, who's married to Blauweiss' sister, handles the customer service part of the business, Blauweiss takes care of the billing and invoicing.
"This is not just a business," Hughes said. "We want people to feel comfortable with us and we don't just want to be a run-of-the-mill property management firm. We're almost like a concierge service."
WELLINGTON — Good business opportunities often come when you least expect them.
Ask Lee Hughes.
For years, Hughes had been working the Winter Equestrian Festival as a show jumper and horse show manager. He spent time listening to wealthy businessmen in Wellington for the festival complaining about how they couldn't find the right company to manage their properties after they left town.
So Hughes, born in England and raised in Canada, said he would do it.
"I told them I'd be happy to work for them," Hughes said. He recalled thinking: "It can't be that awful of a job."
Five years later, Hughes and his business partner, Adam Blauweiss, a real estate agent, are still running Wellington-based Grand Prix Estate Management, a property management firm.
Starting with six clients in 2007 - all friends of Hughes' - the company now works year-round and has more than 40 clients, 80 percent of whom are seasonal Wellington residents.
Hughes said he has a few A-list movie star clients (he declined to name them) as well as some who are billionaires.
"The new-money clients are often very rude," Hughes said. "Sometimes in the customer service business, people are ungrateful for all your efforts."
Grand Prix Estate Management does whatever a homeowner needs, including pressure-cleaning driveways, installing hurricane shutters, overseeing landscaping projects, arranging airport transportation, providing pest-control services and cleaning pools.
Hughes, 33 and Blauweiss, 32, will even handle dry cleaning, food shopping and picking up prescriptions at CVS.
"I don't want us to come off like we're gofer boys, but we will do anything our clients ask us to do," Blauweiss said.
He recalled when one client, who was a little tipsy, once asked him to buy a pack of beer because the client was too drunk to drive and do it himself.
"We'll charge you $35 to $45 an hour to go do that as opposed to you crashing your car and having to spend $10,000 on damages," Blauweiss said.
Terri Nusz owns a $3.9 million, 4,500-square-foot home in Wellington with her husband, Thomas, CEO of Oasis Petroleum in Houston.
Terri Nusz, who lives in Wellington six months out of the year, hired Hughes last May to look after the Nuszes' property, which features 12 barns and sits on 5 acres.
Grand Prix Management has worked with landscapers to keep the property in pristine condition as well as supervising construction projects.
"They're basically our eyes and ears when we don't live here," Nusz said. "You want to feel that you can leave your home and that it'll be perfectly taken care of the way you would take care of it."
Grand Prix Management is a bare-bones business. It has only one employee - a full-time handyman who oversees renovations and handles deliveries. But Hughes said the company works with licensed plumbers and electricians who perform many of the jobs.
Sales fluctuate, depending on the year. Last year, the company earned $150,000, Hughes said. The most it ever made was $250,000 in 2010, he said.
While Hughes, who's married to Blauweiss' sister, handles the customer service part of the business, Blauweiss takes care of the billing and invoicing.
"This is not just a business," Hughes said. "We want people to feel comfortable with us and we don't just want to be a run-of-the-mill property management firm. We're almost like a concierge service."
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Be the Salt and Light of your property.
Salt gives flavor and preserves; light warms and improves visibility in a situation or location. Property managers that embrace this opportunity daily, can improve the quality of life for their residents, while inspiring their team to deliver their best!
Matthew 5:13-16
13“You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, how will it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people.
14“You are light for the world. A city cannot be hidden when it is located on a hill. 15No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket. Instead, everyone who lights a lamp puts it on a lamp stand. Then its light shines on everyone in the house. 16In the same way let your light shine in front of people. Then they will see the good that you do and praise your Father in heaven.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Have Courage to Lead Like A Servant And Faith To Serve Like A Leader
 |
| click here for the narrated story |
Deborah a leader in Israel could be found beneath a palm tree, as written in the book of Judges, holding court and settling disputes of neighbors. She was trusted and known for her wisdom and sense of justice. The Israelites sought her insight and direction as a wise woman in-tuned and in-Love with God. Judges chapter 4 explains the power and influence Deborah was blessed with, and describes her as a prophet with the ability to inspire another leader (Barak) with courage and faith. The relationship between Property Managers and Maintenance Supervisors can often draw the same parallel as in Deborah and Barak’s story. Trusting who we serve and believing in who leads us, constantly challenges the ego and the faith we have in serving one another.
When Deborah delivered God’s message, she expected Barak to rush out to do God’s will. But Barak was so enslaved by fear it kept him from fully trusting God to give him victory over his ruthless enemies. And so he( Barak) gave Deborah an ultimatum: “If you will go with me, then I will go: but if you will not go with me, then I will not go” Judges 4:8 Ever hear this from anyone on your team???
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)