What Do You Do with All Those Tenants? Connie Di Nino

Connie Di Nino has learned a lot about property management in the past ten years. Beginning with a single investment, the longtime GDREIA member (and current GDREIA Treasurer) went on to manage nine residential units before moving on to large apartment complexes.

In properties large and small, keeping track of details is very important, Di Nino said. With small residential properties, paper files are helpful and accounting programs like Quickbooks can track rents and expenses, she said.

There are special tools for managing all the facets of apartment buildings, she said. The service Di Nino uses, an online service called Buildium, helps track rents, bills, budgets and all details of communication with each tenant. Having a site manager at the apartments is a must, too, she said.

Also important are set procedures and policies – covering everything from leases and tenant selection to interior and exterior maintenance, Di Nino said.

There should also be firm policies on late fees and evictions – and even on tenant requests to unlock apartment doors when they’ve locked their keys inside, Di Nino said. Her policy on lockouts: Thirty-five dollars to unlock the door – with no exceptions. 

Di Nino has a number for emergency repairs – but also encourages tenants to tackle one common problem themselves before calling. Each new tenant receives a housewarming gift – a toilet plunger – in the hope tenants will use it before calling for help with a stopped toilet.

Having set rules and procedures helps the properties run smoothly, Di Nino said – but just the same, she counsels property managers to have a good relationship with a lawyer – just in case.