A brand’s ability to create “positive, emotional experiences that drive customer loyalty” has a direct correlation to repeat business, according to a recent report from NewVoiceMedia. And bad service resulted in the loss of an estimated $75 billion for U.S. companies last year. “Customers want and expect more than ever before – because that’s what we have we taught them,” says customer service expert and business coach Shep Hyken.R
Tenant screening is more than a credit or background check. But many landlords are failing to gather critical documentation that could help avoid approving tenants who later default on their rent, need to be evicted, or have other problems that cut into a landlord’s profitability, according to a new survey by the American Apartment Owners Association of more than 1,100 of its members.Thirty-seven percent of landlords fail to collect paycheck st
Home prices are near record highs in many markets, and a booming economy and low unemployment are offering promises that the housing market will continue to roar. Sixty-four percent of American adults say they believe home prices will continue to rise in their market this year, which is the highest percentage since prior to the Great Recession, according to a recent Gallup survey.Experian, a consumer credit reporting agency, recently identified t
Safeguard your home network, particularly if you ever use it for your work. A new report from the security firm Cisco Talos warns that the Russian malware VPNFilter malware threat is growing worse and the list of potentially affected wireless routers is also growing. The list of vulnerable models now has grown to include Asus, D-Link, Huawei, Ubiquiti, Upvel, and ZTE. Routers from TP-Link, Netgear, Mikrotik, Qnap, and Linksys are also known to
The tally of homes blanketed with volcanic lava in Hawaii continues to grow. Janet Snyder, a spokesperson for Hawaii County, told the Associated Press that hundreds more homes had been lost. The latest destruction was in the Kapoho Beach Lots and Vacationland subdivisions located on the Big Island.The count is now more than double the 117 homes that had previously been confirmed destroyed since Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano began erupting May 3, USA
Many markets are being saturated with new apartment buildings, and developers in some of the most popular markets are now finding they need to offer incentives to tenants in order to fill growing vacancies.After years of rental hikes, tenants are now finding themselves in the driver’s seat as more landlords look to aggressively court them. Some developers reportedly are offering new residents a month or two of free rent or free parking, accordi
Gains for lower-priced homes are seeing significantly higher increases than more expensive homes, according to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Index Report.CoreLogic researchers analyzed four individual home price tiers. The tiers were broken down into a “low price” tier that reflected homes priced at 75 percent or less of the median; “low to middle price” homes were between 75 and 100 percent of the median; “middle to moderate price”
Issues related to obtaining financing continued to be the main factor that delayed closings in April. The majority of contracts—78 percent—were settled on time in April. But 17 percent were delayed and 5 percent were terminated, according to the REALTORS® Confidence Index, based on a survey of more than 4,500 REALTORS® who were asked about their transactions in April.The top issues that caused a delay to settlement were: Issues related to
Vacant buildings—especially ones that stretch through blocks of neighborhoods—have reached “epidemic levels” in some cities, according to a new report by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy titled “The Empty House Next Door.” Formerly industrial cities in the Rust Belt are seeing the highest levels of what researchers call “hypervacancy.” Hypervacancy consists of blocks and neighborhoods of vacant buildings and lots that comprise
First-time home buyers are flocking to the real estate market in larger numbers, comprising 46 percent of mortgages backed by Freddie Mac—excluding refinancings—that were issued in the first quarter of this year. That marks the largest quarterly share that Freddie Mac has recorded, dating back to 2012.“This is a millennial-driven rise,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, told Bloomberg. “You’ve got a strong economy that’s
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