Perfect Property? Where Are The Perfect Tenants?

 

by  Rental Choice, June 30, 2014

Everyone has heard of them, a movie or horror stories, some have even experienced them as neighbors, but the worst of all is when you are the landlord of this frightening tenant. The one that never pays rent on time, always has complaints, and leaves a sloppy mess in your property. There is a solution to such a problem, searching for a good tenant. We are here to encourage you with the fact that good tenants really do exist. But, the hardest thing about getting a good tenant, is finding one.

Do Perfect Tenants Exist?

We are firm believers that good, even great tenants are searching just as hard as you, to find the perfect home with the perfect landlord. As a landlord, there are several steps you can take that will boost your chances of finding, better yet, being found by a responsible tenant. The best way to pursue a good tenant is to upgrade the curb appeal of your home. Most renters, even buyers, decide on their home by its outside appearance. Neat, responsible people desire to live in neat, good looking homes. This is why the curb appeal of your “For Rent” home should be up-to-date and acceptable. The reality of this change can overwhelm many landlords, but property management companies are here to help.

Property Management Companies Can Help

Many landlords have other homes to keep up with or live far away from their property. In these types of cases, a property manager is God’s gift to a landlord. A property management company deals directly with prospects and tenants, saving you time and worry over marketing your rentals, handling maintenance and repair issues, collecting rent, responding to tenant complaints and pursuing evictions. A property management company has the experience of dealing with rental properties and knows the ins and outs of managing a property. This allows landlords to trust that their property is well taken care of when it comes time to find a new tenant.

So… Is It Possible To Find The Tenant?

The moral of the story: when you are completely fed up with your current tenant and need some guidance on finding a new one, take these steps. Change the overall appearance of your home and make it somewhere an exceptional tenant wants to be. Allow your property management company to assist you in finding and screening the prospective tenants that come your way. Good luck on your future endeavors, we hope you find the perfect tenant for your property.

A home that’s fit for a cat Creating unique spaces for our 4-footed friends

– Inman News Staff Writer

See more at: http://www.inman.com/2011/09/16/a-home-thats-fit-a-cat/#sthash.bjzxc0sx.dpuf

Responding to Japan’s love of pets, several architects have established a new, niche trend within their industry: pet-friendly home design. With the world’s lowest birth rate — an estimated 7.3 births for every 1,000 people — Japan is home to many young couples who choose pets in lieu of children.

Additionally, many older couples in Japan revere dogs and cats. "For people who have pets, they’re like family," said Akira Koyama, the owner and representative director of Tokyo-based Key Operation Inc., an architecture firm. And there is a market for pet-focused design, said Koyama, who designed a residence dubbed "House Taishido," or "Cat House." Located in a densely populated urban district west of Tokyo, the three-story, 30-square-meter home features stepping-stone-like shelves that allow the home’s feline resident to navigate vertically into and out of the main living room via small openings. The small openings in the wall lead to other rooms on the first floor. 

 

The cat can also access the second floor of the unit by walking up the shelves and slipping through a slot that functions as a cat-only portal. Freeing up the unit’s staircase from cat traffic allows the space to double as a home library, with bookcases and space for reading.

According to Koyama, the house was not initially designed to be a "cat house," and those features took shape later in the design stages. "It wasn’t too expensive (to add the cat features), and was quite fun," he said, adding that the home’s design focused on creating a space with rooms of different heights and sizes connected by doorless transitions and windows. This initial design concept inadvertently made for excellent cat mobility. While the cat-friendly features implemented by Key Operations weren’t conceived during initial design, another Tokyo-based firm designs homes specifically with pets in mind. Fauna Plus DeSIGN and its director, Keiji Hirose, are known for designing a custom home for 16 cats. The heart of the home features a cat-climbing tree that serves as a spiral staircase leading up to a catwalk on the second floor of the unit, according to a website detailing that project. The catwalk forms a zigzag design and can also be accessed via steps that protrude from the wall, similar to House Taishido’s shelves. Several of the steps are next to small holes in the walls that lead to other rooms.

 

One of the home’s most unique features is an enclosed, see-through cat tunnel at floor level in the den, which stretches around the room. The homeowners’ audio equipment, records and entertainment center are atop the tunnel. From the tunnel, cats can access a cats-only "playroom" space at the corner of one window in the master bedroom. Other cat-friendly features of that home include: a cat-accessible loft that features skylights and windows; a multistage cube of shelves with cat beds; and a floor-to-ceiling scratching post column, wrapped in hemp rope. According to Fauna Plus DeSIGN estimates, the cost to design a two-story, detached wooden home built to cat specifications ranges from 3.2 million yen (about $42,000 in U.S. dollars) for a 20-square-meter space (about 215 square feet) — on up to 13 percent of the total construction costs for a space measuring more than 50 square meters (about 538 square feet), the company reports. If 16 cats weren’t enough, the residence also houses five dogs, which are separated from the cats via a glass door. To house the dogs and allow them outside access, Fauna designed a rooftop garden. The firm is experienced with dog-focused projects, too, as its two most recent projects involved the design of an indoor waterproof kennel for the home of two dachshunds and the remodel of an apartment that houses a basset hound. Features of a dog-friendly home typically include proper ventilation to eliminate hair shed; odor absorbent materials; and a dog shower or toilet. "For dogs it’s … more difficult (than designing a home for cats)," Koyama said, adding that special attention must be given to materials used for the floors and stairs. The cost to design a two-story wooden home to dog specifications can range from 3 million yen (about $39,000 in U.S. dollars) for a 20-square-meter space (about 215 square feet) up to 12 percent of total construction costs for a space exceeding 50 square meters (about 538 square feet). Fauna isn’t the only company to corner the dog-friendly niche, as major Japanese homebuilder Asahi Kasei Homes provides homes with dog-specific features, such as showers that can accommodate a dog weighing up to 100 kilograms (about 220 pounds). Other dog-friendly home features include: dog-level peepholes in garden walls, pet-door installations in each room, outdoor courtyards in dense urban housing areas, and scratch-resistant flooring. Cat- and dog-friendly home design, while gaining momentum in Japan, is not isolated to that island nation. "I’ve never had anyone ask me specifically about a house design (related to pets)," said Jane Miller, who markets herself as "Charleston’s Pet Friendly Realtor" at Carolina One Real Estate. However, some clients with pets do desire amenities like fenced-in yards and resilient flooring. After a sale, pet-loving homeowners may choose to add such pet features as a dog-only shower or a kennel run, Miller said. "I do think there’s a market," she said, for homes designed with pets in mind, "(at the) very high-end level. But the average person wouldn’t pay extras for design features," she said. - See more at: http://www.inman.com/2011/09/16/a-home-thats-fit-a-cat/#sthash.x1yWukPt.dpuf

 Horizon Properties Inc. is Guam’s leading real estate services provider and property managementcompany. We work diligently to fulfill the requirements of buyers and renters, while working towards a smooth, hassle-free transaction for sellers. Our innovative and “customer first” approach towardsproperty management results in outstanding property care and profitability.

A House That's For the Dogs

Pooch palaces that make four-legged friends right at home

By Paul Hagey, Friday, January 6, 2012.

Inman News®

"Basset hound house," a project by Japanese design firm Fauna Plus Design. ImageFauna Plus Design

Ever thought of designing a living room for your Gucci-pampered puppy? How about a second-level perch or shin-level views for the plus-one member of the family?

"What I don't understand is why all homes are not built with the 'whole' family in mind," said David Beart, who runs the online magazine Professor's House and is planning to build a $1 million pet-friendly house from the ground up in Calgary, Canada.

Still in the preplanning stages, David Beart's pet-friendly home in Canada will feature pet-accessible entrances and doorways and low-volatile-organic-compound-containing paints, among other interior and exterior features, he said.

Kobe, Japan-based Fauna Plus Design (http://www.fauna.jp/) makes dogs an explicit part of their home design. The firm's dog-friendly design approach is about aesthetics as much as it is practicalities, said an assistant to Keiji Hirose, lead architect at Fauna Plus Design. "One day (Keiji Hirose) realized that it's a challenge for many pet owners to keep their homes beautiful, so he started to design houses based on animal behavior," said the assistant.

 

The award-winning "Papillon dogs home," in Kakogawa, Japan, by Fauna Plus Design. Image/Fauna Plus Design

 Horizon Properties Inc. is Guam’s leading real estate services provider and property managementcompany. We work diligently to fulfill the requirements of buyers and renters, while working towards a smooth, hassle-free transaction for sellers. Our innovative and “customer first” approach towardsproperty management results in outstanding property care and profitability.