Business Journal

Posts Tagged ‘Management’

Next time you get your paycheck you should seriously consider taking your Payroll Administrator out to lunch. Payroll Administration is an extraordinarily complex job.

Here is a sampling of the tasks a Payroll Administrator must perform to do her job. In any given pay period, your Payroll Administrator must process and issue employee paychecks plus calculate statements of earnings and deductions. She has to keep accurate track of employee time, production, and payroll data from time sheets and other records. She also has to provide information to employees and managers on payroll matters, tax issues, benefit plans, and collective agreement provisions.

If that weren’t enough your Payroll Administrator must keep up with new legislations. This is especially true in light of the current economic situation. For instance, the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, effects how much employees need to contribute to their the COBRA medical premiums should they be laid off involuntarily and how much credit the employer can claim to offset the balance. If all this sounds like a lot of gobbledygook to you think of how your poor Payroll Administrator must feel! (if you are interested in this particular issue you can check it out on IRS.gov)

A viable alternative to this administrative morass is through payroll outsourcing by hiring a Professional Employer Organization, PEO.  A PEO is an administering company that becomes the employer of record for the client company. The employees in this instance are leased back to the client firm. This approach not only offers administrative relief for a company executive, it can also minimize liability stemming from Human Resources issues such as Payroll Administration.

Another option is the Administrative Services Organization (ASO) solution. An ASO is capable of doing all the Human Resources activities that a PEO can do but it does not require the administrative company be the employer of record for the employees. The added bonus is that the client company can pick and choose ala carte Human Resources tasks to outsource such as Payroll or Benefits Administration.

Now that you’re clued in on the intricacies of a Payroll Administrator’s job don’t you think she deserves to be taken out for lunch!

Real Estate Investment sounds like a cool thing to do during the weekend but the problem arises when you start having to many properties to handle. The solution to your real estate investment problem would be to hire a property manager who can then run your property for you and deal with any problems that may arise. The key is to get a reliable person who can then do any repairs or maintenance work for you.

This article will highlight three additional reasons why you might want to hire a property management company to look after your real estate investment property for you.

Firstly, you might be a busy professional or business person during the weekdays and you do not want to run around looking for a plumber or roof repairer sometime during the week. Time is valuable also if you have several properties that you own and it does not make sense to baby sit your properties.

Thus you would do well to remember that your monthly income is dependent on the number of deals that you can find to add to your real estate investment portfolio. Get your focus right and you will make more money from your real estate investments.

Secondly, proximity is a key issue. One real estate investment author states that he does not own property unless it is within one mile from his own residence. If you want to look after your own properties it is fine but you must be able to go down and take a look if there is any issue arising from your properties.

Note that returns from both offshore rentals and capital appreciation currently in places like Dubai might prove more lucrative so if you are looking into offshore real estate investment, hiring a property management company is a must. Similarly, if you are looking at investing in property outside the state that you reside in, it will be necessary for you to hire a property management company to look after your property.

Thirdly, if you are new to the type of property class, you might want to consider employing the services of a property management company. For example if you have been involved in residential real estate for a long time and you decide to expand to commercial real estate, you might not be familiar with the documentation, the procedures and the possible problems that may arise from such real estate. Hiring a property management company therefore may help you solve some of your transition problems and like mentioned earlier free you to explore other real estate investments.

In conclusion, real estate investment property when done on a small scale in your locality may be okay for a while but when your investments start getting numerous and unwieldy, you might want to tap on the services of a property management company to help you manage your properties thus freeing you to look for more property deals.

The real estate or property management agent is a person who works as a mediator between the land owner and the tenant. His work involves much more than a mere brokering job, where one introduces the buyer and seller and pockets a commission after the job is over. It involves more responsibility, and as a result is a lucrative job. The job of the property management professional only begins when a deal is inked between the landlord and the tenant. The agent is responsible for carrying out requests from the tenant regarding repair work and maintenance of the house and prompt collection of monthly rent. In the bargain, the agent is entitled to get a certain percentage of the monthly rent.

How To Conduct Effective Real Estate Or Property Management

In essence, the role of a real estate manager is to act as a buffer, or bridge, between the buyer and the seller. There will be several busy professionals and business persons who may own a property, but may not have sufficient time to find a suitable tenant for their building and rent it out. Or in some other cases the land owner may be residing in a far away place because of which he or she might not manage to come to the location of the property regularly. The real estate or property management agent helps such land owners.

There are basically four stages in the service provided by the agents: marketing the house, striking a deal, providing maintenance and repair services, and managing the legal and government-related issues. The first part, that is, marketing and advertising, involves finding a suitable seller and a buyer. Finding a property owner and convincing the person to rent it out should be the first step. It is comparatively easy to find a wannabe tenant in most of the cities. The best way is to use the network of personal contacts for finding out both the land owner and the tenant. If it does not work, one can think about more sophisticated forms of advertisement and marketing.

Once the real estate or property management agent finds a buyer and a seller, the next stage is to help them reach an amicable agreement. Usually, it is impossible to reach an agreement that will make both parties equally happy. A sense of practicality and commonsense are great assets to smoothly pass through this stage.

No tenant will be happy with the house he or she is going to occupy. They always suggest some renovations and requirement of additional features. The agent should have sufficient contacts and resources to carry out these functions. Also the agent should ensure prompt payment of rent.

The final aspect of this is tackling the legal issue. One should keep all the records about each business deal. Also, one should be aware of different sets of rules regarding residences and property in different US states.

Above all, a newcomer in this field should be patient and hardworking. It may take several years to become established in this field. One should always remember that reputation is the biggest asset of a real estate or property management agent and should never indulge in an activity that will spoil one’s reputation.