Houses & Then Some, Inc. is now starting its eighth year in business! Thanks to all our customers, clients, partners and employees! I want to share some of the many great things that happened at HTSI Property Management in 2011. HTSI has grown to 3 offices in Upstate South Carolina, managing a total of 180+ properties and growing every day. Early last year we began our “green” initiative! This was about trying to leave a smaller carbon footprint save money at the same time. There were several changes we implemented to accomplish this: 1. Better route planning for our agents to reduce the number of miles driven each week. This was accomplished by grouping showings of properties and communicating more by phone or email instead of just running all over town without a good strategic plan. 2. Introduction of cloud storage for the data that our agents use. With the addition of smart phones HTSI agents are now able to access all tenant/customer information and have access to the documents they need from wherever they happen to be. 3. Reducing the amount of snail mailings and copying of leases. Now they are emailed to all new tenants upon signature instead of mailing paper copies. We will continue to look for ways during 2012 to strengthen this initiative by going digital in every way we can. This could include: more streamlined customer and client statements, less paper and more email, and perhaps the introduction of tablets and digital contracts. In 2012 our revenue growth will come from helping our existing clients grow their investment portfolios and by adding services to create value. One of these new services is going to be our flagship initiative of 2012. We are calling it the REAL ESTATE ALLIANCE. By helping found and participating in the REAL ESTATE ALLIANCE, HTSI can offer its customers and clients a better way to rent, buy and sell their real estate. This is done through a strong referral system using vendors, partners and associates that will provide our customer base excellent service in completing their transactions. We will grow by leveraging our brand and good name with the large networks that we have and our community participation. We will continue to give the very best service that we can and live daily by the HTSI CREDO that we have established and which has helped us gain our reputation for excellent customer service. As we enter 2012 we have much to be thankful for. Let us remember those who are not as fortunate as us and reach out to them each day in some small way. God Bless. Robert Dayton - President

Are potential tenants finding your property? If someone today decides they are moving in thirty days and sits down to begin looking for a home, will they find your property? In today’s world potential tenants have a plethora of options and tools at their disposal to find a new rental homes. Using the correct tool to market your home will fill it quicker and will save you important time and money. The first one must look at the different options for marketing a rental home. Signs, print ads, and internet each present a unique opportunity while each having a distinct weakness. Signs work all day and find tenants who obviously like the area and location but leave out important information tenants need to know. Print ads are expensive and do not include pictures but reach a very large target markets. Internet marketing includes the most information but are limited to those how know how to use the internet and find your site. When deciding which marketing strategy to use one must factor in the location of the home, the price range and the visibility of the home. Each potential tenant uses different means to find your home’s listing and finding the best way creates phone calls, showings and ultimately filling the property. No one type of marketing is the silver bullet to filling every house in every price range has a type of marketing that will work best for each home. Smart property managers use this information to continually adapt and create marketing strategies that will fill homes quickly. If 123 Main Street filled in 3 days off a print ad then 132 Main Street most likely will see the same success. Testing and continually learning marketing that works is the main tool a property manager should be using to fill a home. If your rental homes are sitting empty, they are costing you money and may need a new marketing strategy.

As Christmas and the New Year approach, its time to slow down and reflect of our good fortune. We are grateful for all of our clients, customers and partners. As we work to make sure pipes dont freeze and heaters in all units are working we realize that it has been a good year for HTSI. Our vacancy rates remain low and we are always in need of more housing for our customers! We continue even in the cold of winter to place customers in housing that matches their needs. Our website in the last month has had 1100+ hits, with prospects looking for good quality houses. Please remember those less fortunate than us at this time. HTSI is currently gathering gloves and small canned food items for the homeless in our area. We can all help even if it just a little. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from HTSI offices in Greenville and Spartanburg, SC!

Great things are happening at Houses and Then Some Property Management! Several new clients have joined us in the last couple of weeks! This has brought in new inventory for rent both in the Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina markets! We are excited about the future of rental real estate in the South Carolina Upstate.

We now have 3 full time agents that are working with our company. As we add personnel we do so with the thought of giving better service to you our clients and customers. Our services include tenant/customer placement and full service property management. Please feel free to call one of us or our agents today about our services.

We had our 5 minutes of fame last week at our local CREIA meeting. Our theme was we need your properties to manage. We are 97% full and are always looking for more houses and apartments!

We had an interview that we wanted to share with you at the following link;

http://www.flipfinder.com/008-flip-finder-property-mangement-diy-or-hire-a-property/#more-101

If you have time, listen and let us know what you think!