Practical Apartment Management [Paperback]

Edward N. Kelley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1572030941 | ISBN-13: 978-1572030947 | Publication Date: November 2003 | Edition: 5

This new fifth edition of a classic is a must read for every apartment manager—from the site manager of a single building to the executive manager of multiple properties. This how-to, hands-on guide helps you master the basics and gives you fresh ideas and practical techniques that you can use immediately to increase efficiency and profitability.

Topics include:
* An overview of the business of apartment management
* Hiring and managing property staff
* Policies to guide property operations
* Leasing policies, the rental application process, and the lease document
* Policies for residents
* Strategies for maximizing rent collections
* Documenting property assets and maintaining the property
* Understanding why people rent and marketing accordingly
* Converting prospects to residents
* Setting and raising rents

Practical Apartment Management also provides comprehensive coverage of advertising, upgrading and renovation, property insurance, budgeting, and accounting and record keeping.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Ed Kelley offers sage advice on the basics, which are often overlooked, and alerts his readers to the risks that must be managed and the opportunities that should be realized in today's challenging market. He provides a virtual toolkit to stardom! --Kathleen M. Harmon, CPM

Practical Apartment Management is the gold standard for property management. A must-read for anyone wanting to get into, succeed, and prosper in the business. --Mary Jayne Howard, CPM --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Edward N. Kelley, CPM Emeritus, has been a forerunner in the apartment management industry for many years. He has had executive management responsibilities for billions of dollars of investment real estate, including more than 150,000 apartments and many millions of square feet of hotels, office space, and other commercial space. These properties are spread over 137 cities in 38 states. Ed Kelley was a pioneer in the management of the country's very first condominium developments. He has undertaken numerous rehab and restoration projects, including some with national monument status. His property management firm gained a wide reputation in the banking circles for its successes as a turn-around specialist. For more than 20 years, Ed Kelley was the primary real estate consultant to a major university. To this day, industry leaders seek his counsel on where the industry is headed, what the housing of tomorrow will be like, and how it will be marketed, priced, and operated. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Inst of Real Estate Management; 5 edition (November 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572030941
• ISBN-13: 978-1572030947
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,003,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book for professional managers, not investors, May 11, 2006

By 

jasonlovesjazz (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Practical Apartment Management (Paperback)

This book is a dense 350 pages, full of useful information - if you fit the target audience.

The first line on the back cover says this book "is for everyone who manages apartments, from the manager of a single building to the supervisor of scores of apartment buildings." I incorrectly assumed that would include, say, a single 10-20 unit building. This book covers every aspect of running the management office of a large scale (100+ unit) apartment complex, or multiple complexes. While it was interesting to see some of the tricks and systems and statistics that the big boys use, the focus of the information in the book wasn't terribly useful for someone like me.

If you're a small-time, buy and hold, real estate investor, managing your own properties, there are definitely better books for you than this one.

If you're heading down the path of professional property management (that is, managing property for other people) and have your license (which is required to manage property for other people), this will be a valuable book for you. It was written for IREM by someone who's been a CPM for 40 years! For that audience, this might be a 5 star book, but I couldn't say...

As for me, at least when I have more property than I can comfortably manage for myself, and need to hire professional property management, I'll know EXACTLY what to look for.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Help! Renting Apartments / Setting Rents, September 21, 2009

By 

Sharon S. (Illinois) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Practical Apartment Management (Hardcover)

This book is an instructional marvel in pointing the ways to better market vacant units and understanding the steps in setting achievable rent levels.
The book's 400 pages provide solutions and techniques not found in any other apartment management text. Ed Kelley foretells the direction of apartment rentals; offers a program to improve competitiveness; and a step by step guide to increasing residents' average length of stay, that being the key to increasing the bottom line. I can't think of a property management situation that is not covered in this new edition.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEST GOT BETTER, September 10, 2009

By 

W. Maurer (midwest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Practical Apartment Management (Hardcover)

For years our firm has used the "Kelley book" for training and reference. This new 6th Edition is completely different, nicely organized and packed full of new and timely ideas. Even our most seasoned managers have commented on how many different approaches and techniques they haved garnered from the new edition. This is a must read for today's apartment managers.