REI INK

Q&A With Cardone Enterprises’ Grant Cardone

35-year veteran of the real estate investment industry shares insights ranging from his personal journey to the post COVID-19 real estate world Grant Cardone is a 35-year veteran of the real estate game. He’s the CEO of Cardone Enterprises and has $1.7 billion under management. Cardone has always been seen as a forward-thinking business operator. He is often called on by Fortune 500 companies and real estate leaders for his practical business ideas and strategies. Cardone is a preferred borrower with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and life insurance companies. An entrepreneur, private equity manager and New York Times bestselling author, Cardone is known as the #1 Sales Expert in the world today. Forbes magazine called him one of the top CEO’s to follow on social media. Under Cardone Enterprises, Cardone currently owns and operates seven companies with $150,000,000 in annual sales. He also launched the Grant Cardone Foundation, whose mission is to impact the lives of children who grow up without fathers. According to Cardone, “the holy grail of every entrepreneur is taking risks in order to make more time and money.” Cardone was gracious enough to answer a few questions for REI-INK while he was on the road getting ready for a big event. His answers range from revelations about his own personal journey to his “macro” view of the real estate world post COVID-19. Q: How did your real estate investment journey begin—and what was it like? I’ll never forget my first real estate deal. I put down $3,500 on a $78,000 property in Bellaire, Texas, and I thought I was getting away with stealing. I knew nothing about finding tenants, listing the property, drawing up a lease—zero. All I knew was that I owned a piece of real estate and I had hit the big time. I finally got some tenants and a whole bunch of problems—roaches, plumbing, you name it. Then they moved out, and I was stuck with the payment. I ended up selling the place and turned my original $3,500 into $7,000. I made 100% with no idea of what I was doing. After that, I started doing my homework as I looked for other apartments. Q: Who were some of your mentors? I can’t talk about mentors without first mentioning my dad. He was the first person in my life to set an example for me when it came to showing up, putting in the time and doing the work. I also have to give my mom a lot of credit because she showed me what strength and determination were every day after my father died. Later in life when I was on the ropes in every way, someone looked me in the eye and asked me, “What are you doing?” That was a wake-up call for me. That guy put me on the track that led me to where I am today. Of course, I studied all the great sales trainers and professional speakers back in the day too. So, I owe my success to a lot of people. Q: Your company currently has close to $2 billion of assets under management. Are they single family, multifamily, land, retail? Cardone Capital is one of the largest private real estate funds in the country, and we got there through crowdfunding. In record time, I might add. We made it happen because we offer opportunities to both accredited and nonaccredited investors.  As far as our assets go, right now we’re concentrating almost exclusively on larger multifamily apartment complexes, especially in the southeast U.S. But that doesn’t mean we’ll limit ourselves to that sector. I’ve done retail, commercial, single family, you name it. I’ll invest in anything, anywhere if I think it will result in cash flow. That’s what it all comes down to, but right now multifamily is our sweet spot. Q: Do you favor one asset type over another? My third real estate deal was for a 48-unit property that I chose because I didn’t want to have to rely on just one renter for my income. Even if a few units are empty, I’m still collecting. Anyway, I put $350,000 on that deal and made $5 million. That was the game changer for me, where I was like, “OK, I’m investing in apartments from now on.” So right now, Cardone Capital is focused on multifamily properties across the South and Southwest because that’s where the money is. Plus, now more than ever, America is becoming a nation of renters. COVID-19 is going to accelerate that. So right now, I’m focused on apartment complexes of 300-500 units in good locations in the South and Southwest with everything tenants want nearby—good schools, convenient shopping, Starbucks, things like that. If you can offer all that, people will pay as much as $2,000 a month or even more, depending on the location and amenities. With that kind of cash flow, even if you don’t have full occupancy, there’s no way you’re losing money.  Q: What is your “macro” view of the real estate industry post-COVID? What everyone else is calling a crisis, I’m calling the biggest real estate opportunity of my lifetime. As soon as this COVID situation happened, I was like, get ready, people. I told everyone I knew to look at markets everywhere and not just for people with millions to invest. Every market in America has duplexes, four-plexes, 10 units, 20 units. Almost anyone can access those properties and once you do, you are set. Right now, large multi-family generates the most cash flow for me and my investors, but I’m always looking for new opportunities. Q: Tell us about the 10X Movement? 10X is a timeless principle for success to get what you truly want out of life. I boiled down the only difference between the times I was successful and the times I felt my ventures failed. It came down to just not thinking big enough. The 10X rule is almost like an insurance policy. You have to aim 10

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A Passion for the Portfolio

Auction.com gets excited about transparency, mobility and transactions. When Auction.com’s Steve Price, senior vice president of foreclosure auction services, and Ravi Singh, chief product and technology officer, get together in the same room—digital or otherwise—the energy feels surprisingly similar to that of a live auction. They spend their days dedicated to what they describe as “The Journey” Auction.com has been on since it launched in 2007. Price and Singh said that during the last few years, the Auction.com team has been working with the data from their exclusive listings in order to create a virtual experience that has the same interaction and energy that occurs at real estate auctions. “A lot of what we have been able to do on the tech side over the last couple of years is inspired in large part by what Steve and his field teams have already been building with investors around the country,” Singh said. “It’s been our mission to create a comprehensive auction experience that provides real estate investors visibility, reliable data and high volumes of opportunities and, really, the empowerment that comes from transacting on a truly dynamic, evolving platform.” By the time Singh is finished, Price agrees with such enthusiasm that the interview starts to sound and feel like a live auction. Clearly, these guys love what they do. “Here’s the thing people tend to overlook about Auction.com: Buying real estate at auction is complex,” Price said. “Sure, it’s exciting, but it requires a lot of thought. Auction.com initially got a lot of comparisons to more traditional online auction sites like eBay, and because of this people expect the real estate auction process to be similar.” Price and his team have made it their priority to work directly with real estate investors to make what he describes as “a complicated and exhilarating transactional process” streamlined, transparent and repeatable as often as an investor may wish. Auction.com has hundreds of employees nationwide who are active in their local markets and are experienced in evaluating what will and will not work when it comes toreal estate strategy. Price said this is extremely important because buying a property at auction has been streamlined with Auction.com, but that does not make the process a “no-brainer.” Investors still must do the research, leverage the best data available to them and evaluate the profit potential behind the deal. Working with the Field Team Price recalled one investor in Michigan who had never bought a property at auction—online or in person—before visiting the Auction.com platform. The concept was doubly intimidating because the investor wanted to use Auction.com’s new remote-bidding feature to purchase a property in California. This particular buyer wasn’t sure how to get started. The Auction Services team helped educate and guide the buyer so he could make a property purchase that fit his investment goals. “There were thousands and thousands of properties to sort through, and he had never done this before,” said Price. “He ultimately completed a transaction in the Inland Empire, and about four months later he started looking for a secondproperty to purchase. That first step, closing that first deal, is the first piece of the puzzle we examine when we are looking to evolve the way our platform works for our buyers.” The next piece of the puzzle involves Singh taking insights from that investor’s experience to evolve the digital platform for all users. “Real estate investors start out as average individuals who may not necessarily run a hedge fund or have experience in real estate as a top agent or full-time investor. It’s our goal to leverage what we’ve learned about our users over the years to bring more and more of the auction online. We want to leverage the simplicity of the process, as you experience it on Auction.com, to raise the volume of investments any investor can make in the real estate space,” Price said. Singh agreed. “At the end of the day, we are an e-commerce platform selling a high-value asset class,” he said. “You can buy high-value stocks on investing platforms for just a few hundred dollars. You can buy baubles and trinkets on eBay or Etsy for just a few dollars. But to buy real estate, you need not only to have access to a platform that makes that complicated process simple, but also to be willing and able to do the serious due diligence that goes along with that investment.” Combining Key Data Elements with Cutting-Edge Technology Singh and Price agreed one of the most important things they do is “capture the mindset of the intentional real estate buyer.” This means identifying the key elements of a transaction that create an “easy glide path,” as Price described it, from the beginning to the end of a transaction. “Our users are on a journey. When the journey goes smoothly, investors have all the key data elements they need to conduct their due diligence. They have the ability to easily conduct the transaction and they are able to repeatedly make successful financial decisions and acquire the right properties for their portfolios,” said Singh. Price agreed. “At the end of the day, our product involves not only the ability to acquire a physical property via an online auction but the ability to do so repeatedly and at high velocity. This is not an insignificant investment, and that is why we invest so much into creating footprints in local markets so we can understand our buyers’ perspectives, and then ultimately translate their experiences into the user experience on our digital platform.” Auction.com takes a stair-step approach to investor education. Using this approach results in a gradient of content that investors can tap into based upon their experience and comfort levels. For example, real estate investors can learn all about buying foreclosures and bank-owned properties via educational articles and videos in the Auction.com Help Center. Investors can also utilize the property details pages and personal online dashboard to help them conduct their due diligence. The Auction.com app is

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Partner with Your PM Before Acquiring Property

Property managers may have local knowledge that can help you with your acquisition decisions. Many investors, especially new ones, are woefully unprepared for the road ahead of them once they purchase a property. And that’s almost always due to bad information. Where is this bad information coming from? Why are these investors taking bad advice over and over again? This bad information, more often than not, comes from out-of-area single-family residential (SFR) “experts.” The 1% “Rule” Have you ever heard of the 1% rule? If you haven’t, here’s a quick explanation. The 1% rule is a “rule of thumb” for SFR real estate investors to determine whether or not a property is a good buy. It is often used in place of cap rates as a quick and dirty determination for expected income on a property. For instance, if you purchase a property for $90,000 and its market rent is $900 a month, then it fits the 1% rule. You’ve found an excellent deal! Not so fast. Any real estate investor who’s been in the SFR space for any serious period of time can attest that these deals often are not as good as they sound. Many green investors have high expectations, thinking they just purchased some golden goose, holy grail of a property that will be the first of many to come. Or, they’ve heard about a great “supplier” that is selling homes at 1% all over the market. They are ecstatic they can finally turn their “part-time dream” into a real business. Unfortunately, many of their dreams (and their wallets!) are shattered when they learn the true costs of what they have just purchased. Local Knowledge Matters When an investor buys a home based on the expectations of the seller, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to find the problem. And, even when investors use their own representation, lack of local expert knowledge can end in disappointment. This is, in a nutshell, why a consultant with local expertise matters. Without getting too much into the weeds of local market data, let’s take a look at three different (hypothetical, but typical) properties. One is listed at $60,000 and needs new systems, possibly a roof, perhaps some paint, so the total investment should be around $80,000. Market data shows the market rent should be around $800 once it has been fully turned “rent ready.” Property 2 is listed for sale as a “rent-ready” property and is listed for only $75,000. Pictures show some dated walls and stained carpet, but it looks livable. The market looks like it is bearing $950 in this area, so it looks very promising. Property 3 also looks “rent ready” and has tons of pictures showing a great interior rehab. It is listed for only $65,000, and market rents are around $750. We’ll assume these are all cash purchases, so we don’t have to worry about mortgage rates and so forth. So, all three properties look great and meet the 1% rule, right? Property 2 tops the list with 1.26%, followed by property 3 at 1.15% and, finally, property 1 with a solid but outclassed 1%. These three properties are based on typical properties in three separate areas of the Birmingham, Alabama market. There are amazing local realtors who know these markets well and can help even green investors make money. It would be likely that all three of these hypothetical properties would make money, but which one is a better buy and why? Here are some things to consider. If property 2 does rent for $950, that doesn’t mean $11,400 per year, or even $10,260 (derived by subtracting 10% management fees). Why? Property 2 was in “rent-ready” condition only in that it was livable. The $950 rent rate is based on averages. This property is below the average in terms of desirability. The stark reality is a C-class home has a higher maintenance cost, higher vacancy rate and a generally lower appreciation over the long haul. Many municipalities even have fees associated with being a landlord that your realtor might not be aware of. In the case of property 2, the grim reality is that this property will likely only return around $3,500 in the first year. Even when you calculate out a 3-year proforma, the profit is only $15,633. The variables taken into consideration by a property manager will include valuable data that many others do not track. Based on the same variables modified to fit property 1, the first year returns $4,377, and after three years the total builds to $16,519. The difference is only an increase in $886 in rent, but the additional factor that may be hiding is resale appreciation. These three hypothetical properties are based on three very real markets. Property 1 has seen not only a 4% increase in rental value each year for the last six years but also a 13% increase in home value. Property 2 has seen a steady 2% increase in rental rate, and only 6% increase in sales value. Property 3 is the most deceptive as neither the rental value nor sales value have any significant increases in years. This market also has one of the highest delinquency rates and maintenance costs of any market in the area. The key factors that set any realtor apart is data and the ability to analyze it. The data a local expert can provide makes the difference between consulting and just another sales pitch. Property managers and realtors can make excellent teams of consultants. Always use your network to find experts in fields that you lack. One of the best networks for anyone looking to find excellent in-depth local knowledge is the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM). You can check them out for a local property manager in any area of the U.S. Knowledge can be as valuable as any deal you may stumble upon—and sometimes much, much more.  

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Don’t Reinvent the Property Management Wheel

Make sure you’re aware of all the resources available for property management. In an industry with an estimated 70% of investment property owners managing their own properties, and 36% of Americans living in rental properties, property management is here to stay. This industry, however, is not for the faint of heart. Although many resources are available for the DIY property manager, any investor considering the self-managed strategy needs to assess the benefits of hiring a property manager versus self-managing. Here are a few things to consider. Financial Savings A common misconception is that you’ll save money if you do it yourself. The most time consuming and costly part of property management is maintenance. Third-party property managers have relationships with maintenance vendors who will provide lower pricing and reliable services. They will have software and programs to build efficiencies in processes, which will save you hours per week. What is your time worth? Relationships Matter A survey of investment property owners revealed the following service attributes ranked among the Top 4 in a list of eight: Effective communication Accurate accounting Honesty and integrity Availability of the property manager Interestingly, price ranked last. Owners want to do business with companies they can communicate well with, who can competently manage the accounting aspects, who they can trust and who have local boots on the ground. Selecting the right property management company is less about being the lowest price, and more about building a long-term relationship. Diversified Portfolios What makes a stable property management company? Age? Experience? A diversified portfolio typically points to a strong property management company. When it comes to your financial investments, you invest in many different stocks and opportunities, not just one. This applies to property management as well. Strong property management businesses will provide services not only for long-term residential management but also for commercial and short-term rental management, and community/association management. A diversified portfolio allows property management companies to weather just about any storm. During the COVID-19 pandemic, long-term residential management saw very little change in rent collected. Through the months of April, May and June, 95% of rent was collected compared to 98% during non-pandemic months. Community and association management held steady during the pandemic because many investors weren’t making any changes to their management companies. In some markets, there was a dramatic decline in short-term rental management due to state mandates to close. But as we emerge and start to reopen, travelers are changing their travel behavior. Instead of flying and traveling internationally, they are traveling locally, to more rural destinations, for longer periods of time. They are driving instead of flying. And, with schools and offices offering remote working options, bookings for a short-term rental for 30+ days in not uncommon. Through the pandemic, most businesses with diversified portfolios were able to weather the storm fairly unscathed. Trends in Property Management  More and more often, we are seeing property management companies convert their business to a brand name to help them grow and take their business to the next level. We hear regularly that they’ve gone as far as they can on their own and would like to tap into the brand’s additional resources. Here are the top 10 reasons property management companies convert to a brand: 1)  Tried-and-true tested systems and processes for everything from accounting to marketing. Most property managers say they don’t have time to develop and document their processes, so having them available allows property managers to scale their business. 2)  Access to systems and processes to build a diversified portfolio through all four pillars of property management. These include short term, long term, commercial, and community and association management. 3)  Access to additional revenue streams. 4)  Technology. A brand’s buying power can provide technology and systems not available to a single business owner. 5)  Support. When working with a brand, property managers find that they are in business for themselves, but not by themselves. They enjoy having a network and support team to collaborate with and learn from. 6)  Marketing. There is no better way to increase the value of your business than by partnering with a brand name. National brands will provide a “soup-to-nuts” approach to marketing and building your brand name in your local market as well as nationally. 7)  Exit strategy. Many property manager veterans have worked for years, but they haven’t figured out how to exit their business and benefit from their hard work. When you align yourself with an established brand, you will build long-term equity you can convert to cash when you retire or are ready to start the next adventure in your life. 8)  Competitive advantage. Aligning yourself with a brand name gets you to the front of the classroom when you present to new potential clients. 9)  Ability to stay current with trends. Brands will have their pulse on the industry and will develop new programs and processes to adjust and adapt to these new trends. Whether you’re creating new housekeeping certifications to comply with new post-COVID 19 regulations or adapting to the new travel trends, a national brand will help you pivot as needed. 10)  More manageability. Most property managers quickly become overwhelmed with the little details it takes to make their business work. As a result, they neglect adding new doors and growing their business. They are so busy working in their business that they aren’t able to work on their business. Don’t make that mistake. As you can see, whether you’re a seasoned property manager or new to the industry, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There are great resources available through associations like NARPM, CAI, VRMA and social media groups. Know what your customer is looking for and build your marketing message around it. Finally, you will need to determine whether joining an existing property management brand will help you take your business to the next level.   

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7 Tips For Improving Your Lead-to-Lease Conversion

Hint: It’s all about the tech stack. In the five years leading up to the pandemic, property management firms began to realize the need for the right tech stack to keep their businesses competitive and, ultimately, successful. But in the last few months, in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, moving processes online has become mandatory. To their surprise, property managers find the transition has not disrupted their businesses. Rather, it has brought positive changes. That includes a better online lead-to-lease experience. Traditionally, leasing real estate has been a face-to-face business. It has been tough for some property managers to see the benefits of moving their lead-to-lease experience online. From office walk-ins to showing properties to lease signing, this, after all, is a people business. It’s also been a business of phone calls and manual processes. But a lot of the day-to-day tasks that keep you busy—tenant screenings, inperson applications and lease signings and unit showings—can be automated with digital tools. So, what is a tech stack? And why is it so crucial to the lead-to-lease cycle? Tech stack is the combination of digital tools you implement that enables your business for increased units, improves revenue and reduces expenses, ultimately enhancing your net operating income. The right combination of tools will enhance conversion rates by streamlining laborious manual processes. Convenient mobile-friendly tools make it easier for prospective tenants to find your website, engage with your business and apply for one of your properties. It’s essential to integrate the tech stack with full ERP or property management systems to get the most out of your lead-to-lease process. Here are seven tips for getting set up. Get the Most Out of Tenant Lead Generation If you were asked what the most common ways to generate leads are, you would probably say signage at your properties, online listings and showings. Listings are still effective for generating leads, and putting them online has become easier with online listing widgets. By using a listing widget, property managers can create branded listings that can then be syndicated to many sites easily. Showings, however, are a little more difficult to manage as we continue social distancing practices. Even before the pandemic struck, some property management companies were already moving toward digital solutions for showing properties. Now, the demand for self-showings and virtual tours is everywhere. In March, Rently, a company that provides self-tours, saw a 30% increase in requests for their service, according to MSNBC. In that same month, Zillow reported a 191% increase in virtual 3D tours. Property managers interested in self-showings can use a solution such as Rently, Showing Hero or Tenant Turner. Social media is another great way to generate leads, particularly if you know your audience. For example, baby boomer and Gen X audiences make up a large percentage of Facebook users. Younger tenants are more likely to use Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. Don’t just post your listings. Sharing local and real estate news, tips, information relevant to your audience, and even fun memes will attract followers who want to engage with you. Those followers could turn into leads. A platform like Hootsuite can help you set up your posts, schedule them and then collect data to help you make future marketing decisions. Improve the Tenant Application Experience An online application drastically reduces the time it takes to collect and vet informationfrom prospective applicants. Most property managers aren’t allowing walk-ins right now, so emailing out applications that must be printed, filled out, scanned andemailed back is a time-consuming process. A mobile-enabled online portal provides one place for applicants to upload documents and submit all the information needed to apply. They can apply right after they see a property or even in the middle of the night. All of it is then stored digitally for easy access. The right online application portal should allow for self-service. Once applications are submitted, users can check their progress online, rather than call or email for updates. If users do have a question, the portal should allow two-way communication. Property managers can screen tenants automatically and approve or deny applications online. An online application also can help property managers cross-sell properties. If a prospective tenant applies for a property that’s not available at the time of application, or you don’t presently have something that fits the prospect’s needs, you don’t have to lose that lead. An application system with a waitlist feature keeps track of those prospects and alerts them when a property matches their needs. Streamline the Tenant Screening Process Artificial intelligence and machine learning are becoming more popular. Everything from your smart home device to your favorite e-commerce site uses AI to improve user experience. AI and machine learning can be applied to tenant screening too. An AI-enabled full screening package will include the usual credit and criminal background checks as well as evictions and delinquencies. The system will also assess your prospective tenant’s information not only for credit history and debt-to-income ratio but also for the financial behavior of the tenant. It will evaluate how a tenant pays their bills and predict payment behavior in the future as well. It compares that information to adatabase of other applications and assigns the applicant a score, much like a credit score. The score is transferable, which means you can track a tenant’s score over time, pre-screen tenants and upsell them on your properties. The whole process saves you time and increases your ability to accept more applicants without adding more risk, so you can fill vacant units faster. It also saves you money—savings you can pass on to your owners. Make Signing the Lease Painless and Contact-Free With the right tool, everything related to creating and signing the lease can live online. Instead of having tenants come to your office to sign (an unpopular choice while practicing social distancing) or scan, email or (gasp) fax signed leases and other important documents, the whole process can be digitized. An online lease-signing tool will generate a lease automatically

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Maintenance Tips for Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic

A willingness to adapt processes, communicate clearly and seek opportunities are keys to remaining successful in the age of COVID-19. Investing in rental property is a great way to diversify your portfolio and build wealth. But, real estate investing is not for the faint of heart. This is especially true right now as we navigate the COVID pandemic. What has the pandemic changed about rental property management? One major area of property management that has seen significant change is maintenance. This is probably the most common issue that keeps owners up at night and the No. 1 reason why residents opt not to renew their lease.  Handling Maintenance The pandemic only adds to the importance of handling any maintenance request—whether routine, urgent or an emergency—quickly, efficiently and safely. Have you outlined a process and communicated it to your team, tenants and vendors? Here is some key information you should be adding to your work orders: Asking vendors and residents (or anyone in their home) to adviseif they are symptomatic or have come in contact with anyone who has been exposed to the virus. If so, the work needs to be rescheduled or reassigned. Recommending that residents and vendors wear face coverings whenever possible during their appointment. Communication is key and is critical. Essential Repair Requests Under “normal” circumstances, repair requests are submitted, evaluated and scheduled to be completed. In our current environment, not all repair requests are created equal. Today, when a repair request is submitted, what steps are you taking to determine whether the request can be delayed for a period or if it is time sensitive? Determining this goes beyond simply deciding what is a maintenance emergency. Having a checklist of questions you can ask the resident about the repair is critical to determining the level of urgency. Your team should be equipped with this list when communicating with residents to ensure all repair requests are being handled in the same manner. Sharing the list with residents is beneficial as well. Communication and clarity are key at any time, but they become even more critical during times of uncertainty. Communicating with residents about how your maintenance process has changed can help alleviate their frustration, minimize additional work for you and your team, and reduce stress for all involved. Asking residents to provide photos or a video of the issue can also help you diagnose the repair. Adding this step may help reduce the number of times someone needs to access the home, which can result in more trip charge costs and inconvenience to the resident. Tracking Delayed Maintenance Delays in maintenance create yet another process you must manage. Remember, delayed maintenance does not mean it isn’t necessary. Rather it’s an issue that can wait for a period of time without causing additional damage to the property or harm to the resident. You can strengthen whatever method you use to create, dispatch and track work orders if you add a process that signifies the priority level (emergency, urgent, essential, delayed) of the repair request. This gives you the ability to monitor repair requests and their status through completion. Make sure the method you use to track submitted repairs includes procedures for delayed repairs so they don’t get overlooked. That will only frustrate the resident and cause the repair to become more substantial and costly. Property Inspections Inspections are an essential part of rental property management, whether they are move-in, move-out, interim (or mid-lease), lease renewal, quality control (after major maintenance repairs or turns). These inspections are necessary for a variety of reasons. Property inspection operations have typically been handled in person with both the resident and a representative of the homeowner present. Updating your inspections to follow a no-contact process is a great way to ensure you are still protecting the property and the resident while adjusting to the current environment. No-contact inspections are fairly easy to achieve with properties that are vacant. For example, as you complete a move-in inspection, provide a copy to the resident and allow for a short window of time (perhaps 48 hours) after the lease start date to allow them to report any issues not noted on the inspection. Please note, this does not mean you are in agreement that the issue was there and missed, but it does give the resident an opportunity to be a part of the move-in process, which helps them protect their security deposit later. Similarly, when a tenant moves out, be sure to provide move-out instructions/guidance on ways they can help ensure the return of their security deposit. These instructions can include the expectations of property condition upon move out; instructions for the return of keys, amenity access items, garage remotes, etc.; and a way to report the property condition back to you upon vacating the home. This does not eliminate a move-out inspection being completed on behalf of the homeowner, but again, it allows the tenant an opportunity to help ensure refund of their security deposit. To avoid delays with occupied inspections or skipping occupied inspections altogether, create a process where the resident completes the inspection. This process can include steps as simple as requesting various photos of the home to providing an inspection form for the resident to complete and return. As with anything else, communication and consistency are critical. Letting residents know that you are changing your process to help ensure their safety will put their mind at ease and help ensure cooperation. Provide the resident with the details of your request and a reasonable amount of time for the return of the information. There is no doubt the COVID pandemic has been very stressful for homeowners, residents and property managers alike. However, in any crisis situation, there is also opportunity. The pandemic has been an incredible learning experience, teaching us that we need to be nimble and willing to change as needed. Believe it or not, there is plenty of opportunity surrounding property management right now if you are paying attention. There

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