Transforming Your Bathroom with Reglazing: A Cost-Effective Solution
Reading Time: 2 minutesIn the quest for a revitalized bathroom space without the hefty price tag of a full renovation, reglazing emerges as a promising solution. This transformative process offers a budget-friendly alternative, breathing new life into worn-out surfaces and fixtures. Let’s explore how reglazing can revolutionize your bathroom aesthetic while keeping costs in check. Understanding Reglazing…
A Guide to Property Management Compliance in Boston
Reading Time: 2 minutesEnsuring compliance with laws and regulations is not just a checkbox on our to-do list; it’s a cornerstone of successful property ownership. Avoiding costly fines, penalties, and legal entanglements is paramount. Join us as we explore the meticulous steps taken by Green Ocean Property Management to stay ahead of the regulatory curve. Step 1:…
Mastering the Art of Tenant Screening in Property Management
Reading Time: 2 minutesIn the intricate world of property management, one of the keystones to a successful rental experience lies in the meticulous process of tenant screening. Join us as we unravel the layers of this critical aspect and explore how property management companies master the art of securing top-notch tenants for your property. Why Tenant…
Ensuring Compliance With MA State Laws And Boston Regulations
Reading Time: 2 minutesNavigating the rules in Boston, Massachusetts, can be tricky for businesses. There’s a mix of state laws and local regulations covering various areas, and the City of Boston adds to the complexity with its own set of rules. It’s not just a legal requirement; ensuring compliance is a smart move. It helps businesses avoid fines,…
How to Manage Snow Removal And Weather-Related Maintenance in Boston
Reading Time: 2 minutesIf you own property in Boston, you’re likely familiar with the challenges of snow removal and other weather-related maintenance. Winter in Boston poses unique challenges with its heavy snowfall, bitter winds, and frigid temperatures. Navigating snowbanks lining narrow streets and icy sidewalks proves difficult even for seasoned residents. In this blog post, we’ll delve into…
How to Handle Tenant Disputes and Complaints
Reading Time: 2 minutes Minor squabbles happen, even between amicable tenants and diligent Boston landlords. A noise complaint here. A parking dispute there. Typically harmless hiccups in peaceful leasing relationships. Left unaddressed, however, these seemingly small issues can escalate—embroiled legal threats over a single late fee and scathing online reviews demolishing your reputation overnight, to name a few…
Property Maintenance: A Quick Guide by Green Ocean Property Management
Reading Time: 2 minutes As a property owner or manager, maintaining your real estate assets in peak condition is vital for preserving their value and keeping tenants happy. However, neglecting maintenance even briefly to cut costs can rapidly worsen issues. An inefficient heating system alone can cause more damage through burst pipes in winter than years of proactive…
4 Strategies for Successful Property Marketing in Greater Boston
Reading Time: 3 minutes Successful property marketing in Greater Boston requires more than just simply listing your property. With surging demand from buyers and renters, rapid price growth, and historically low housing inventory, it’s an ideal time to sell or lease properties in Boston and surrounding suburbs. But with fierce competition, you’ll need savvy marketing strategies and expert…
Stop Worrying About Lost Coin-op Keys
Reading Time: 9 minutesCoin boxes of coin-operated laundry machines are not easy to pick, so losing the keys to them can be a headache. As lost keys are a common problem, we at Green Ocean Property Management have an easy fix using a special drill. So the majority, if not all, of our investment properties have…
How to Open a Laundry Coin Box With Lost Key
Reading Time: 37 minutesOne of the most common issues with coin-operated laundry is opening a laundry coin box with a lost key. A laundromat’s coin box is thick enough to withstand amateur attempts to unlock it. But here is our solution to ensure you collect your coins and your tenants can use your laundromat even when you lose…
Two Types of Property Investors
Reading Time: 3 minutes If you want to make more money with your property, you need to know what kind of property investor you want to be. In today’s article, we talk about the two types of property investors so you can earn and save more money, buy more profitable properties, and attain financial freedom. Types of…
Using Asana With Our B.I.G. Landlords
Reading Time: 3 minutes With ten or more units to manage, it might be impossible for landlords to keep up. That is why our Boston Investor Group (B.I.G.) landlords are also using Asana, our project management software, where they have round-the-clock access to updates on every work we do at their property. In today’s article, I’m going…
Dealing With Security Deposit Deductions
Reading Time: 4 minutes We have handled more security deposit deductions than we can count. In today’s article, we explain how we sorted it out with one of our residents. Move-out Inspections and Security Deposit Deductions At the end of every single lease term, a tenant will move out. It is then our job to do a…
Our BIG Program, Explained
Reading Time: 2 minutes Here at Green Ocean Property Management, we specialize in helping and building up our landlords. But we take property management to the next level as we introduce the Boston Investor Group, also known as our B.I.G. program. What is B.I.G.? BIG stands for Boston Investor Group. It is a special recognition given to…
How Does Real Estate Depreciation Work?
Reading Time: 2 minutes Most people think that depreciation is a negative effect of owning a property but actually there is a good side of it that real estate investors should know. Find out what it is here. In today’s video, we are covering depreciation and how it works in real estate. What is Depreciation? Generally, depreciation…
Why We Do Flat Fee Pricing
Reading Time: 2 minutes Property managers do more than just collect rent and pay bills. We also help you accomplish your profit goals. In this article, our CEO Jarrett Lau explains why our flat fee pricing is a win-win deal for you, especially in the long run. Why Flat Fee Pricing Probably the most common question that…
How We Save Money on Water
Reading Time: 2 minutes Water is precious, and conserving it is good for the environment. But saving money on water bills benefits your wallet as well. Today, we are excited to share with you yet another way that we at Green Ocean Property Management can help you save more money with your investment property. Our Water Bill…
Dealing with Dripping Water
Reading Time: 2 minutes Dealing with dripping water requires professional assistance and the right tool. In today’s article, we explain how a small thing such as a guard dog valve can put your mind at ease from money– and water –pouring down the drain. Sources of Dripping Water The three main sources of dripping water are a…
The RAFT Program and How We Help You With It
Reading Time: 4 minutes This pandemic has not been easy for most of us. Luckily, there are rental housing assistance programs in place to tide over affected residents. In today’s article, we talk about the RAFT program and how we assist our residents in their application process. What is RAFT? RAFT stands for Residential Assistance for Families…
How We Use CompanyCam
Reading Time: 2 minutes A huge part of what we do is act quickly on any issues with your property. So today, we are excited to share another technology that we use to ensure that landlords and building trustees have full oversight and transparency when it comes to your property. We are talking about CompanyCam and how we…
Introducing Asana and the On-ramping Process
Reading Time: 9 minutes Asana is one of the project management tools we use to help us serve you well. In today’s article, we take you on a virtual tour of the Asana interface – starting with the on-ramping process – showing just how much we go above and beyond to invest in state-of-the-art tools that allow us…
How to Get Started with Buildium
Reading Time: 12 minutes Proper documentation of billings and leases is important to every landlord. We provide that in real-time using Buildium, a property management software that makes our operations easier. So in today’s video, we are showing you Buildium: what it looks like and how to get started with it. What is Buildium Buildium is a…
How to Navigate zInspector
Reading Time: 3 minutes We use zInspector to track inspections and repairs. Although it is user-friendly, there will always be clients who are new to it. So we made this tutorial for clients to know how to navigate zInspector. What is zInspector zInspector is a mobile app that we use to track our findings during property…
HomeWise Docs Explained: HOA & Condo Documents
Reading Time: 9 minutes Gone are the days when paperwork for sale or refinance of properties is done manually and takes a while to process. Today’s article shows you how HomeWiseDocs simplifies complex and time-consuming tasks for property managers to serve you quickly and efficiently. What Is HomeWiseDocs HomeWiseDocs is a third-party company with a website…
Mistakes to Avoid during Lease Renewal
Reading Time: 3 minutes Property managers play a huge role in lease renewals. If not done right, landlords and tenants will suffer in the long run. Look out for these mistakes to avoid during lease renewal. #1: Not releasing the renewal notice in time When you own an investment property and you have a tenant in…
How To Avoid Locking Yourself Out
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe situation that landlords as well as probably tenants hate the most is being locked out of a property. It is definitely not fun getting locked out of your property. Good thing we can help you avoid locking yourself out with these tips to make sure it never happens ever again. #1 We put…
How to Do an Attic Conversion
Reading Time: 3 minutes Converting any living space comes with a few considerations and technicalities. We break down what to keep in mind so you know how to do an attic conversion: from determining square footage to securing permits. Many of these multifamily houses have these large attics with really high ceilings, and they say, “Well, if…
Understanding Real Estate Cost Segregation
Reading Time: 2 minutes If you want to save while making more money in real estate, you have to be knowledgeable in cost segregation. Learn it here. In today’s article, we are talking about real estate cost segregation: what it is and how it will benefit you. Defining Cost Segregation Cost segregation is a generally utilized…
What is a 1040 Schedule E
Reading Time: 6 minutes Real estate comes with a lot of technicalities, especially tax forms. In today’s article, we go into detail about the 1040 Schedule E and how Green Ocean Property Management can guide you through tax forms such as this. Defining the 1040 Schedule E Form Now, a 1040 Schedule E is a…
Safer Tenants with Outlet Testers
Reading Time: 2 minutes One of the most affordable and useful tools to guarantee safer tenants is an outlet tester. All you have to do is plug it in and press the button. Now, how does it work and can it really save you time and money? An outlet tester, as its name suggests, is a small…
Achieving a Smooth Lease Management Transition
Reading Time: 3 minutes There are different ways a property management company handles transition in lease management. Here at Green Ocean Property Management, we make it as smooth and as efficient as possible. In this article, we share with you how we ensure a smooth transition of the management of properties and tenants during the duration of…
Top 3 Proactive Maintenance Tips for Every Home
Reading Time: 4 minutes In today’s article, we share the top three proactive maintenance tips that have been proven and tested to save us money on repairs. We at Green Ocean Property Management do these for every single multi-family unit we manage. Generally, it is our job as property managers to be proactive about these things. We…
How We Do Water Mitigation
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nobody likes waterfloods. Unfortunately, if that happens, you don’t know which is more annoying: cleaning up and drying out everything that got wet or dealing with the insurance company to justify the work that needs to get done. Here, we talk all about those and how we do water mitigation at Green Ocean Property…
3 Ways to Make More Money with a Property Manager
Reading Time: 2 minutes You might be wondering about whether or not you need a property manager. And we get it: it’s a lot to think about, and more importantly, it will incur additional expenses. Of course, management and everything in this world has a cost but what do you get in return for it? To ease…
How to Sight a Good Property Manager
Reading Time: 3 minutesWhat does a property manager do? You won’t have to worry about anything in your investment property if you’ve got someone doing it right. Here is a quick explainer on property management and how to sight a good property manager. What Do Property Managers Do? Property managers can handle a wide range of…
Our Multi-faceted Services, Explained
Reading Time: 2 minutes For those of you that don’t know, Green Ocean Property Management’s services are multi-faceted. In addition to being property managers, we are also real estate agents and construction managers. What does that mean for you as a landlord looking for a property manager who perhaps is also looking for a property they have to…
Difference between Real Estate Agent and Property Manager
Reading Time: 6 minutesIn this article, we are going to discuss the difference between a real estate agent and a property manager. Too many times we have heard a landlord say, “I got someone that helps me out with my property.” So we ask them, “What do they do for you exactly?” They reply to us and say,…
When do you need a property inspection?
Reading Time: 4 minutesProperty inspections can be nerve-wracking for people who have recently acquired property or are trying to sell or rent it out. There are multiple reasons why a property is up for inspection. In this article, we will explore these reasons and the types of property inspections involved. The type of inspection will depend on the…
5 Key Responsibilities of a Property Manager
Reading Time: 7 minutes One of the most important roles of a property manager is being responsible for all tenants within the property. A property management company is known as a third party explicitly hired to handle daily operations of real estate investment. Services offered by a property management company/manager are genuinely essential. It can also help…
Do you need a property manager or attorney for court?
Reading Time: 2 minutes Court cases are not new in property management. It could be because of an eviction, an appeal from previous tenants because of discrepancies, or just a simple misunderstanding. There is a lot of reasons why property managers can be part of a court case. But at the end of the day, the welfare of…
Section 8 Rental Applications
Reading Time: 2 minutesIn today’s session, we will be talking about Section 8 tenants. The Section 8 program and how it works The Housing Choice Voucher Program, formerly known as Section 8, is the US government’s housing choice assistance program. It authorizes the payment of rental housing assistance to private landlords for low and very low-income…
Benefits of Having One Designated Property Manager
Reading Time: 2 minutes A property management company that handles different properties needs one designated property manager because he/she has a lot of responsibilities. Those are: handling of maintenance and coordination with vendors handling of leases handling of rental applications marketing of property …and many more. With these tasks at hand, some property management…
How to Do Landscaping in a Multi-family Property
Reading Time: 2 minutes If you have a condo, you probably don’t have to take care of it. It is taken care of by your condo association. However, if you have a multi-family home and have any type of front or backyard as well as bushes or trees, you need to make sure that you have a good…
Heat and AC Zones Guide: Why Having Multiple Zones Benefit the Tenants
Reading Time: 2 minutesIn a rental property with multiple rooms, a zoned home is a must as different family members have different comfort levels. Here’s Green Ocean’s Heat and AC Zone Guide to familiarize yourself with the benefits of having multiple zones. What is a zone? A zone is a different section of the actual building that…
5 Factors to Assess When Investing in a Rental Property
Reading Time: 10 minutesBecoming a landlord and achieving financial stability is a goal many are dreaming about. A great property investment may open up the opportunity for you to reach your financial goals. If you are considering investing in a rental property, you have to make your own research first and not just buy an investment rental property…
How to Remove Satellite Mount Marks
Reading Time: 2 minutes From time to time, we deal with different problems as property managers. One example of which is mount marks from illegally installed satellites. In this article, you will get some ideas on how to remove satellite mount marks. In all of our leases, we state that they’re not allowed to install satellites. …
Why Should You Put Your Property into an LLC?
Reading Time: 3 minutesYou’re ready to invest in a property, but you are concerned about the liabilities that come with renting it out. Should put your property into an LLC? Here are some Having as much protection as possible is incredibly important, but it comes at a cost. So many individual landlords might start with one property,…
Refinance: What is it and How Does it Work?
Reading Time: < 1 minute What is refinance A refinance is when you’re going to work with either your bank or a mortgage loan originator. When you originally get a loan, they’re going to be able to borrow money. And what they’ll do is give you $100,000 and then they might charge you an interest rate. That…
Roof Maintenance Tips You Need to Know
Reading Time: 2 minutes Roofs are more prone to damage than you think. Rain can cause leaks and wind can bring about fallen trees which can pose significant impairments. As such, it is important to look after your roof by doing regular inspections by a roofing professional to do minor fixes and repairs if necessary. In this article,…
How to Avoid Ice Build Up on Roof Gutters
Reading Time: 2 minutes Maintaining a property is not a one-day job where you will just wipe the windows or mop the floors to avoid dirt accumulation. Landlords, property managers, and tenants should work hand in hand to make sure that the property has a good curb appeal and is maintained well. In property maintenance, cleaning of…
Should we allow tenants to leave personal belongings in the basement
Reading Time: 2 minutes We manage hundreds of multifamily properties across greater Boston and what that means is lots of basements that must be cleaned, organized, and secured. In relation to that, we often get this question: “Should we allow our tenants to leave personal belongings in the basements of the houses that we manage?” The answer is NO.…
Where to Place Fire and Carbon Detectors
Reading Time: 10 minutes Safety is the utmost concern when it comes to both your property and our residents. One of the biggest things that we have to make sure is that we take care of it. And we comply with the smoking carbon detector requirements in the city. What we’re going to do is we will…
Benefits of Installing a Coin Laundry
Reading Time: 3 minutes One of the most common questions that we get asked as a landlord is, “I don’t have laundry in my building or I have normal laundry that isn’t coin-op, should I switch or install coin-op laundry?” In every single building that we manage, we always switch to coin-op laundry and we’ll tell you why.…
Who Should Pay the Public Utilities?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Paying of public utilities such as water and electricity can cause confusion to some landlords. In this article, we’re going to be covering whether you can have tenants pay the public utilities. Can they pay for public utilities? The answer is NO. Typically, what will end up happening is that each…
How to Certify Fire Escapes in Boston
Reading Time: 5 minutes Last year, the Department of Fire Services recorded at least 29,461 fires in the state of Massachusetts. 16% higher compared to 2019 causing 44 civilian deaths, 245 civilian injuries, 594 fire service injuries, 854 arsons, and $266 million damage in properties. The top three causes of fires are smoking, electricity malfunction, and unattended cooking of…
Is Rent Collection Possible When Tenants Don’t Have a Bank Account?
Reading Time: 4 minutes We want to be very conscious that some tenants are unable to open up bank accounts and they may request to pay in cash. That sounds very tempting because it gives landlords more flexibility of saving what they earn. Yet, that’s not the right way to do things. Can property managers accept cash? …
Is Emergency Light Testing Required?
Reading Time: < 1 minute With every single commercial building, whether it’s in a condo association, bigger commercial buildings, or even on multi-family homes, there is emergency lighting. Did you know that emergency lighting has batteries? Sometimes, they are also hardwired but there are batteries within the lights and they have to be tested all the time. When…
How to Handle Rental Properties with Oil Heat
Reading Time: 2 minutes Most people in Massachusetts prefer to use oil heating system to keep their places warm. If you have an oil tank in a property that you plan to rent out to tenants, you need to be clear about who is responsible for the maintenance and refilling of the oil tanks. We know, it sounds…
5 Most Affordable Ways to Increase Curb Appeal
Reading Time: 2 minutes In today’s article, we’re going to be talking about the best and easiest and most affordable ways to increase the curb appeal of your property. Prospective renters or even your current renters come to the property and they feel like they’re at home and they want to pay more money and more rent…
Process of Getting Curb Cut and Driveway Explained
Reading Time: 10 minutes Key Terms to Know: Curb Cuts and Driveway Approaches To help make sense of the ins and outs of curb cuts and driveway installations, let’s break down some of the essential terminology you’ll come across during the process: Business Driveway Curb Cut & Apron This refers to the specially designed opening in the…
5 Basic Steps to Prepare your Property for Winter and Fall
Reading Time: 2 minutes Boston gets very cold this time of the year, so generally, we are on the lookout for preventive maintenance to prepare your property for the onset of the fall and winter seasons. Here’s our checklist that has been proven to ensure our properties are ready for the cold months. #1 Test all heating…
We Fix Chimneys too!
Reading Time: < 1 minute In the video above, you can see that Jarrett Lau is up on the roof. Last Saturday morning, we had a little issue with the chimney that deteriorated out. Masonry is really important to check it all the time so you can avoid these types of issues, especially if it looks worse than…
What Makes a Room a Bedroom
Reading Time: 2 minutes A room doesn’t always equate to a bedroom. Why? Certain aspects make a room a bedroom. Read on to find out. #1 A 7 ft. length or width You need a certain length or width of at least 7 feet. That’s not a very big size bedroom, but it is…
Why Two Means of Egresses is the Safest Way to Go
Reading Time: 3 minutes Our founder, Jarrett Lau, walks through dozens of properties every month for his prospective clients to make sure each property is safe, secure, and most importantly legal in the city. We’ve seen a property that had both a basement and an attic built on it. The first thing we noticed was the means of…
The Truth About Hot Water Tank Warranties
Reading Time: 3 minutes When you purchase a hot water tank they’re going to give you options of 6, 10, 12 years, typically at 6 or 10, and the price incremental isn’t that big, $100 or maybe $250 most, but it is something to consider. A lot of our landlords go, “Wow, if I can get an additional…
The Pros and Cons of Multi-Year Lease
Reading Time: 7 minutes A lease is an agreement between, the landlord or the property manager, and the tenant. One of the most important aspects of it is the duration. Typically in Massachusetts, we have a 12-month lease, but we want to make sure that our leases will always end anywhere between June, July, August, or September. Sometimes,…
Increase Curb Appeal through Common Area Cleaning and Maintenance
Reading Time: 2 minutes In today’s article, we’re going to be covering common area cleaning, maintenance and upkeep. Of course, it’s a cost and we understand that since our founder, Jarrett Lau, is an investor and a landlord. Our job is to be able to maximize the actual income that you have coming into your property. More importantly…
What is The Best Way To Maintain Washer and Dryer
Reading Time: 2 minutes As property managers, we try to help our landlords and tenants in extending the life cycle of any type of appliance in their homes. Although it is used in most homes by many, some landlords switch to coin-op laundryin their apartments instead of individual washers and dryers. There are a lot of benefits that come…
3 Landlord Expenses You Might Not Have Considered
Reading Time: 14 minutes Our job as a property manager is to make as much money as possible with your property. and that means maximizing your income and minimizing your expenses, but our founder, Jarrett Lau, runs a company as well and has to make sure that his people are taken care of and we do things such…
How to Add a Dishwasher
Reading Time: < 1 minute Easy way of adding a dishwasher What we will do is work on the necessary electrical and plumbing behind the countertop. Once done, we will slide in a dishwasher then we will make sure that it looks good and looks like the rest of the cabinets. This is…
How to Maintain and Improve Your Cash Flow
Reading Time: 2 minutes Your investment property is probably one of the most expensive assets that you have. You may have bought it or kept it because you want to make money out of it. But managing an investment property requires a lot of planning and budgeting. At the end of the day, you need to know your…
How to Reglaze Backsplash Tiles and Tubs to SAVE Money
Reading Time: 2 minutes People are taking showers, washing their dirty bodies every day, resulting in tubs and tiles stains. It gets discolored, grimy, and dirty. This isn’t very interesting to most prospective renters or anybody who is living in the unit, so probably every 4 or 5 years, depending upon the usage, we’re going to go in…
Why I Created Green Ocean Property Management
Reading Time: 3 minutes Every single time Jarrett Lau, our founder, speaks to a new owner, he always goes through the whole spiel of why he created this business. In this article, we’re going to be explaining that very same thing because we want you to understand where we started. Our founder’s background As a…
How to Keep Things Organized when Owning a Multifamily Property
Reading Time: 2 minutes Multifamily properties, unlike single-family properties, need to be organized at all times because of the volume of tenants that this type of property has. Here are some efforts that Green Ocean Property Management does to make multifamily properties be organized. How does Green Ocean organize multifamily properties? We provide space for bicycle…
Top 5 Steps to Stop and Prevent Basement Leaks
Reading Time: 17 minutes With our buildings in Boston being hundreds of years old, it’s super common to get water in the basements, but as a general contractor and someone who manages hundreds of properties over decades, we’ve seen it all. So let us go through these steps to be able to prevent and stop basement leaks…
Leases VS. Tenant-at-Will: When Do You Use Both?
Reading Time: 7 minutes If you own a property and worked with a property manager before, you may have heard of these terms already: tenant-at-will and leases. Lease being the common has been used to outline the list of agreements between the tenant and the landlord. Why Written Agreements Matter No matter which arrangement you go with,…
Why Property Inspections and Walkthroughs are Important
Reading Time: 2 minutes The majority of our clients live either out of the state or out of the country. If they don’t live locally, they have other things to do with their time other than walking through their property. Some of them haven’t been in their properties in years, and that is where we help them. We…
Green Ocean’s Off-Ramp Process and Fees
Reading Time: 2 minutes We often receive questions from our clients and tenants about our off-ramp fees. In this article, we will discuss that thoroughly. Green Ocean’s Off-Ramp Process and Fees Our off-ramp fee is a one-time fee. The majority of our landlords stay with us for the duration that they own their property, but there…
Do Property Managers Need License in Massachusetts?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Do property managers really need license to manage properties in the state of Massachusetts? Read on to find out. They DO NOT need license Technically the answer is NO because there are no federal or state regulations that require a license. It is unlike real estate, in which we have to get either…
How to INCREASE RENTS During Lease Renewal
Reading Time: 2 minutes With the ongoing inflation, tax payments, and demand for repairs, an increase in rents is truly inevitable. As experienced property managers, we always get this question a lot: “How do you determine the increase during lease renewal? Do you also send out a notice to your tenants when it’s time to renew their lease?”…
Joint Lease vs. Individual Lease
Reading Time: 10 minutes There are two methods of lease structures for multiple tenants: signing each tenant individually (or “by-the-bedroom”), or jointly (also called “one lease”). Depending on your preference, your rental property location, and your residents, one lease structure may be better than the other. Let’s take a moment to examine joint lease vs. individual lease…
Are Tenants Allowed to Have A Grill?
Reading Time: 2 minutes Around the spring and summer months, we get this question a lot: “Are Tenants Allowed to Have A Grill?” This is a very tricky question. So in this article, we’re going to be sharing with you how we handle it at Green Ocean Property Management. In all our leases, we don’t allow grills.…
How Nonresident Aliens Pay Their Taxes
Reading Time: 2 minutes According to Internal Revenue System, Nonresident aliens are individuals who are not a U.S. citizen or U.S. national and wasn’t able to pass the green card test or the substantial presence test. Nonresident aliens are international students who are currently studying in the United States, international students who need to obtain practical training that is…
What makes us STAND OUT from the rest!
Reading Time: 2 minutes We are going to be covering the differences between us, Green Ocean Property Management, who has experienced managing hundreds of properties for over a few decades, compared to smaller property manager and companies that might do it on a part time basis or self-managed landlords. This article is not going to be…
How Does Space Heaters and Portable AC Units Work
Reading Time: 2 minutes Another way that we, as a property management company think ahead and avoid problems for our clients is having space heaters and portable airconditioners (ACs) for our clients. We will share more details about it here. Space Heater and Portable Airconditioner: A Must-Have Back-Up Strategy One of the implied warranty of habitability is…
Why we get the appliance model and serial numbers
Reading Time: 2 minutes In today’s article, we’re going to be covering another unique way that we do to save our landlords’ time and money and the things we do to be more efficient and effective in managing your property. Money-saving Tasks that We Do #1 We get the appliance model and serial numbers Whenever…
Why Pre Walkthrough is Necessary before Move-Ins
Reading Time: 2 minutes September 1 is Moving Day in Boston, Massachusetts. As this yearly tradition continues in the whole city, we, as a property management company, continue to be proactive by giving our clients’ renters a stress-free feeling before they move-in. One way to do it is by providing a pre-walkthrough. Why is pre-walkthrough necessary? …
How Important is 6D Forms in Real Estate?
Reading Time: 2 minutes One of the obligations that we have in managing condo associations is to make sure that the documentation process is done smoothly. Any type of paperwork that’s necessary for the transaction of either purchased or refinanced, we have to handle its 6D forms. What is 6D? 6D is a form and it’s from…
How to Ensure Tenants’ Safety
Reading Time: 3 minutes The safety of your residents should be the utmost priority of any landlord or property manager. And with the apparent rise in burglary and criminal trespass cases in Massachusetts, it is imperative to keep the basics in check to prevent any unfortunate incident. We give you the three Ls to remember to ensure tenants’…
Effective Way to Maximize Profits with Parking
Reading Time: 2 minutes According to research conducted by GoCityWide, 95% of a car’s lifetime is spent being parked making a lot of landlords invest in parking spaces for their properties. Although not everyone has parking spaces, many landlords have big open spaces in their property that can be turned into one with our help. In today’s article, we…
The Difference between Local and Central Fire Alarm Systems
Reading Time: 12 minutes Our tenants’ protection should always be our #1 priority. With the rising cases of fire in Massachusetts, fire alarms have been a big help. Although there are still casualties, less than 250 injuries and less than 50 casualties occurred last year. Our brave firefighters and of course, the fire alarm systems made a big…
How Does Our Business Referral Program Works?
Reading Time: 3 minutes We know that there are a lot of fears when real estate agents refer their clients to anybody. Well, let us explain to you why that would never happen with Green Ocean Property Management and the benefits of working with us to help your clients out with more transactions. What we will do…
Can a Landlord Make Tenant Pay for Damages?
Reading Time: 2 minutes As a proactive property manager and company we’re always thinking of ways to save our landlords money and most importantly, hold our tenants responsible for the actions that they take. In the video, Jarrett Lau, CEO and Founder of GOPM is sitting in a bathroom and discussing the three things behind him that they…
Top 5 Reasons Why Landlords GET SUED
Reading Time: 3 minutes We want to help you avoid getting brought into court and having to pay any type of fines that is why we are sharing with you the 5 top most common reasons why landlords get sued. Read on to know these reasons so you can avoid them. Reason #1: Not handling security deposits correctly …
How to Handle Security Deposit Deductions?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Many people ask us how we handle security deposit deductions and damages caused by tenants. For us, this process starts very early even the tenant moving into the property in the first place. Pre-move in Process We send them an apartment condition statement form for them to fill out 14 days…
Boston City’s Property Inspection – Explained
Reading Time: 17 minutes Every single rental property in Boston needs to be registered, even if you do it short-term rental. The process can either be done in person through paper and check or online. At Green Ocean, we decided to do it online because of the number of properties that we have. It’s nice if you have…
Top 10 Situations a Landlord Hires a Property Manager
Reading Time: 17 minutes In this article, we will answer one of the most commonly asked questions: When should a landlord hire a property manager? From our experience of working with over 500 landlords, these are the top 10 situations when a landlord decides to hire a property manager. Reason #1: Late payments The number #1 situation when…
3 Brilliant Ways To Prevent Package Theft
Reading Time: 2 minutes Package theft is rampant nowadays, but that doesn’t mean you can’t prevent it from happening to you and your tenants. In this article, we will be covering three affordable ways to protect you and your tenants from having packages being stolen at your property. Tip #1 – Good lighting There shouldn’t…
Condo Landlord Insurance Facts
Reading Time: 3 minutes Every investor should have a Dwelling Fire Policy, also known as the landlord’s policy. In this article, we are going to talk about the different types of insurance for condos and the different types of transfer for every type of building as well – The Condo Landlord Insurance Facts You Should Know. Those policies…
Qualities of a Property Manager you Need
Reading Time: 2 minutes Your property could be one of the most expensive things you own. Stop for a moment and think about another valuable object that you have, whether it has price or sentimental value. Perhaps, it’s a person like one of your children or an item such as a piece of jewelry that’s been passed down…
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