Magazine Articles

Hello everybody. My topic this month will not be similar to the typical “Los Angeles Housing Department bashing” or “REAP bashing” articles you have undoubtedly read in various apartment trade publications during the past 24 months. Rather, my discussion will provide a matter-of-fact explanation of LAHD’s administration of the REAP program (it is here to…

Dear Mr. Faller: I am writing to express my appreciation and fondness for one of your associates, Mr. Michael Brennan. I recently began managing an apartment building that my mother owns. My father used to manage it, but after he passed away two years ago, the task fell to me. It has been an uphill…

Question:  Dear Nick – What is your opinion on tenants’ gifts and the holidays? I’ve talked to other investors that give their tenants a reduction in rent

Did your tenant skip out owing you rent?  Did they cause so much damage to your unit that it cost thousands to repair?    Were you so relieved to finally get rid of them that you

The following are the top 10 reasons people use for not succeeding in real estate investing. If I offend anyone with this list, it probably means I’m right on track!

As we learn in economics classes, just about the worse form of price control is price fixing land rents (rent control). Property rights at first and then financial damage to the community are enormous. In the U.S.A., rent controls are relatively rare. Virtually all the history of rent controls is in Europe. Hundreds – even…

Ask any manager today, “Who is your favorite resident?”  He or she will probably tell you the one who drops the rent in the night deposit, is never late and never comes to the office to complain.  These residents are great – move them in and they leave you alone! Some of us will agree…

Marketing consists of many factors that heavily depend on the person who is interested in your property. Throughout my experience as an intern (and answering hundreds of calls a week), I have easily been able to identify the

Just when you thought your job as a landlord was difficult enough and even with due diligence in collecting proper proof of income from applicants, you could be getting scammed.  It’s a sad world today, with bad people thinking

From the first decision to invest in real estate to actually buying your first rental property, there is a lot of work to be done.  This task may be daunting for the first-time investor.  Owning property is a tough business and the field is peppered with