April News (full article): http://hosted.vresp.com/657244/f4e7a01ed6/1641010525/fc4ea8f222
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Friday, April 24, 2015
April News: Vacancy rates and buying multi-unit buildings
April News (full article): http://hosted.vresp.com/657244/f4e7a01ed6/1641010525/fc4ea8f222
In business, creativity equals success. Those who can think outside the box may become superachievers. But, according to the latest business theorists, creativity is not the purview of a few; it can be learned.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Evernote and Blogging
Evernote is very functional. It's a phone app. It's a workspace app. You can write everyday from anywhere. You can work together, gather research, and you can find your documents, texts and images very fast. It's a platform to share your ideas and stay in sync availble whenever whereever on every device and computer you use.
Sounds pretty awesome right?
Evernote gets better.
I just came across a blog about an ebook called Evernote Hacks for Bloggers by Michael Hyatt http://mhyatt.us/1DNywm9. It discusses how to generate powerful content in less time!
Here is the skinny.
Whether you blog or not, Evernote is a wonderful time-saving app which is very flexible across different devices. It should be a primary tool in your daily business for collaboration, generating content and sharing.
I would love to hear other people's experiences with Evernote!
Sounds pretty awesome right?
Evernote gets better.
I just came across a blog about an ebook called Evernote Hacks for Bloggers by Michael Hyatt http://mhyatt.us/1DNywm9. It discusses how to generate powerful content in less time!
Here is the skinny.
Michael's Evernote Hacks for Bloggers shows you:
- How to use tags, instead of notebooks, for super efficient organization of your content.
- How to save time by organizing research and post ideas for quick, reliable retrieval.
- The best way I know to set up your saved searches to help with your content workflow.
- Collaboration tips that will enable you to incorporate your team into research, editing, and more.
- The one writing technique that you can learn in twenty minutes that will save you hours of HTML coding hassles.
- Why Evernote has replaced almost every other word processing app for my blogging needs.
- How to set up blogging templates to help you blog more consistently and efficiently. I’ve even included my own Evernote template that I use to guide my own work.
- A simple, automated method for using Evernote as a backup for your blog.
Whether you blog or not, Evernote is a wonderful time-saving app which is very flexible across different devices. It should be a primary tool in your daily business for collaboration, generating content and sharing.
I would love to hear other people's experiences with Evernote!
8 Food Truck Stops in DFW
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| April 16, 2015 | |||||
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Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Why Is Dallas Building So Many Hospitals?
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| Parkland’s new $1.3 billion, 2.1 million-square-foot hospital is said to be the largest healthcare construction project in the U.S. |
I pictured the bustle: Nurses pulled to the centralized nursing station as if it were a magnet, other patients gliding in and out of rooms, doctors eyeballing the charts in their hands. The worst part, though, was staring into those jarring, fluorescent lights in the ceiling. I imagined being jolted into further disorientation every few feet, my pupils dilating and shrinking.
Methodist is by no means the only system in North Texas employing these strategies in its new projects. But Wilson’s request was interesting: Close your eyes and picture what you’ve known; now open them and look at what it has become.
There are examples of this in nearly every corner of the region, where new hospitals are cropping up to replace aging facilities and to meet the demands of a population that won’t stop growing.
Ground zero is in Dallas’ Medical District, with Parkland Health & Hospital System’s monolithic new $1.3 billion building and UT Southwestern’s W-shaped William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital. The Hospital Corp. of America is betting on growth in the Alliance area, on the northern edge of Tarrant County, with a new facility. The luxury, physician-owned hospital system Forest Park Medical Center has staked its claim in Frisco, North Dallas, Southlake, and Fort Worth. And that’s only a sampling.
“Most folks are saying there may be as many as 1,000 people or more moving to Texas every day, and I think a lot of them are moving to the urban areas,” says John Hawkins, the Texas Hospital Association’s senior vice president of advocacy and public policy. “We’re trying to stay in front of those growth trends.”
The boom is also dictated by the aging baby boomer population. By 2050, the U.S. Census predicts 20.9 percent of Americans will be older than 65: “People who are older and more elderly tend to use more healthcare services because they generally have more chronic illnesses,” says Steve Love, president and CEO of The Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council.
As for overall growth, the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area added just under 400,000 people between April 2010 and July 2013, Census figures show. That 6 percent growth rate was eclipsed by only one MSA in the country with more than 2 million residents during that same time period: Houston-The Woodlands-Sugarland, which grew by 6.6 percent.
Are the hospitals keeping up? In 2011, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that Texas had 2.4 hospital beds for every 1,000 residents, just below the national average of 2.6. It’s important to note that some of the hospital growth, including the upswing in Dallas’ Medical District, is meant to replace older facilities. So while they are bringing new beds into commission, others are being taken out.
For instance, Parkland’s new facility will replace its existing, 730-bed campus, which opened in 1954. And UTSW’s $800 million Clements Hospital is the death knell for St. Paul University Hospital, which has stood at Inwood Road and Harry Hines Boulevard since December 1963. The 300-bed facility is constantly at or near capacity. It will be demolished not long after the 12-story, 460-bed teaching hospital opens this month.
“It was not easily adapted to what is needed to provide the best care today,” says Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, the university’s president. “When we looked at the cost of investing further to bring it up, we realized it was a completely unreasonable investment.”
The 2010 enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act effectively killed the top-down approach of hospital design. Peppered throughout the reform law is the phrase “quality measures,” which refers to evidence-based patient satisfaction metrics that ultimately affect reimbursements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Hospital systems that are building from the ground up or expanding current facilities have this in mind when they enter into the design process.
The 2010 enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act effectively killed the top-down approach of hospital design. Peppered throughout the reform law is the phrase “quality measures,” which refers to evidence-based patient satisfaction metrics that ultimately affect reimbursements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Hospital systems that are building from the ground up or expanding current facilities have this in mind when they enter into the design process.
So when Podolsky speaks of providing “the best care today,” he’s talking about including stakeholders from every aspect of the facility—patients and doctors and nurses and administrators—and incorporating their points of view.
“There has to be a lot more collaboration because it affects readmission rates, it affects satisfaction rates,” says John Castorina, senior vice president of the architecture firm RTKL, which designed UTSW’s Clements Hospital. He says his team incorporated advice from a dozen subcommittees: “From what I’ve experienced, there’s more and more information-sharing. It’s getting more collaborative because of what the Affordable Care Act dictates.”
Another reform: transitioning to Electronic Medical Records. Both Parkland and Clements aim to be as paperless as possible.
The 2.1 million-square-foot New Parkland purports to be the largest healthcare construction project in America. It’s billed as an “all-digital” facility. Outside each inpatient room is a digital screen that allows the physician to access the patient’s (HIPAA-compliant) EMRs.
“They have the key clinical data they need to serve that patient before they walk in,” says Joseph Longo, the vice president of information technology at New Parkland Hospital.
The televisions in the hospital rooms are now tools for patient engagement. Patients can access educational material about their condition. They choose their meals using the TV interface—if the doctor has ordered a low-sodium diet, the menu will correlate with their nutrition demands.
Technology changes rapidly. So, years ago, it didn’t make sense for Parkland to decide on specific products when planning began. Longo says administrators determined a set of goals they wanted to achieve—make it more patient-friendly, increase connectivity, facilitate workflow transformations that make providing care easier. About four years ago, he says, the hospital began seeking out the technologies that would best position it as a setting for efficient healthcare delivery now and in the future.
“We want to be able to expand upon these platforms on day 360 or year five,” Longo says. “We wanted to anticipate this to be a useful building for the next 50 years. That’s very tough to do from a technology perspective.”
UTSW is also thinking ahead, too, with 35,000 square feet solely dedicated for research and learning. The new hospital also includes a 10,000-square-foot education and conference center, larger than any educational resource area at St. Paul.
The state’s growth has lawmakers eyeing incentives to boost health education and residency programs to ensure there are enough doctors to treat residents. Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott’s $175 million jolt to healthcare funding sets aside additional money for medical school residency slots in the state.
There also are the things that came out of the more collaborative strategy. These range from simple improvements, like the comforting lighting at Methodist’s trauma tower, to larger-scale features, like the 1.3 million-square-foot Clements Hospital’s “W” design. It allows the medical staff to split each floor into four separate units, which, as Castorina puts it, “brings what otherwise is a very large building to a human scale.”
Keeping up with new healthcare regulations, advances in medicine and technology, and growing demand is no easy feat, says Love with the Hopsital Council. “We are continually addressing the needs of the population in North Texas,” he says. “We’re making a good-faith effort to have the supply and the demand meet at the appropriate level.”
Source: DHealthcare Daily by Matt Goodman
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Tick, Tick, Tick...Check your Lease!
Is Your Lease a Ticking Time Bomb?
Every landlord wants a lease agreement that’s tough. But did you know that if your lease is too tough, it could cause legal problems?
In legal terms, a standard lease agreement is called an “adhesion” contract. That simply means that there is one party who drafted the agreement, and possesses all or most of the power in the negotiation. A lease agreement is a “take it or leave it” proposition.
There’s nothing particularly wrong with that, unless the lease provisions are too oppressive.
Then, an adhesion contract may be viewed as “unconscionable.” Tenants are forced to abide by disagreeable terms in order to get what they need — a place to live. Courts will restore the balance the power in an unconscionable contract by refusing to enforce some or all of the provisions.
An Iowa landlord learned that lesson when his tenants joined forces, initiating a legal battle over provisions in the lease that a court ultimately determined were unconscionable. The landlord argued (unsuccessfully) that he didn’t enforce any of the illegal provisions, therefore there was no harm in including them in the lease. But the judge found that these provisions could be intimidating to a tenant. Next, the court will decide whether demanding that tenants sign such an unfair lease violates the state’s consumer protection laws — the same laws that govern door-to-door sales and telemarketers. Consumer protection statutes generally allow for significant penalties.
Leases must be carefully crafted so they cover all of the bases, without going to the extreme. Does your lease put you at risk?
When evaluating your lease agreement, there are two aspects to consider. The first is to identify any specific provisions that could be illegal. These may include seemingly innocent provisions that are only illegal in your particular locale. For example, some states allow attorneys fees against a tenant, and other states strictly prohibit that provision. Attempting to shift your legal responsibilities onto the tenant is another potentially illegal term. The Iowa landlord required tenants to agree to pay for repairs and upkeep that were not the tenant’s fault.
Other common problem lease provisions include excessive late fees, application or administrative fees that may be prohibited locally, or any attempt to override the law, like extending the period allowed to return a security deposit. Controversial terms hidden deep in the “fine print” can also be viewed as unfair. Your attorney can help you identify these potential problem spots.
The other aspect of the lease agreement that you should evaluate is the overall impact. Rather than looking at one particular paragraph, a judge ruling on a lease dispute will consider all things together. Not only do the separate paragraphs of the lease have to mesh, but the lease, coupled with the leasing policies, must be fair. Let’s say you charge a nonrefundable pet fee for cleaning the carpet. At the same time, you reserve the right to deduct from the security deposit a carpet cleaning fee. If you attempt to enforce that provision and take both the fee and the deduction, these lease terms may be viewed as unconscionable. That’s even more likely to happen if you take the deduction even when the tenant cleans the carpet.
To avoid lease problems, the best defense is to know your responsibilities under the law. From there, choose a reputable lease form to work with, and avoid modifications that add fees, change the tenant’s responsibilities or shift liability. When you have your draft lease completed, run it past an attorney, just to be on the safe side. Also, try to resolve disputes with tenants before things get heated — it’s almost always cheaper that way!
American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for all your property management needs. Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.
Courtesty of: www.american-apartment-owners-association.org
Every landlord wants a lease agreement that’s tough. But did you know that if your lease is too tough, it could cause legal problems?In legal terms, a standard lease agreement is called an “adhesion” contract. That simply means that there is one party who drafted the agreement, and possesses all or most of the power in the negotiation. A lease agreement is a “take it or leave it” proposition.
There’s nothing particularly wrong with that, unless the lease provisions are too oppressive.
Then, an adhesion contract may be viewed as “unconscionable.” Tenants are forced to abide by disagreeable terms in order to get what they need — a place to live. Courts will restore the balance the power in an unconscionable contract by refusing to enforce some or all of the provisions.
An Iowa landlord learned that lesson when his tenants joined forces, initiating a legal battle over provisions in the lease that a court ultimately determined were unconscionable. The landlord argued (unsuccessfully) that he didn’t enforce any of the illegal provisions, therefore there was no harm in including them in the lease. But the judge found that these provisions could be intimidating to a tenant. Next, the court will decide whether demanding that tenants sign such an unfair lease violates the state’s consumer protection laws — the same laws that govern door-to-door sales and telemarketers. Consumer protection statutes generally allow for significant penalties.
Leases must be carefully crafted so they cover all of the bases, without going to the extreme. Does your lease put you at risk?
When evaluating your lease agreement, there are two aspects to consider. The first is to identify any specific provisions that could be illegal. These may include seemingly innocent provisions that are only illegal in your particular locale. For example, some states allow attorneys fees against a tenant, and other states strictly prohibit that provision. Attempting to shift your legal responsibilities onto the tenant is another potentially illegal term. The Iowa landlord required tenants to agree to pay for repairs and upkeep that were not the tenant’s fault.
Other common problem lease provisions include excessive late fees, application or administrative fees that may be prohibited locally, or any attempt to override the law, like extending the period allowed to return a security deposit. Controversial terms hidden deep in the “fine print” can also be viewed as unfair. Your attorney can help you identify these potential problem spots.
The other aspect of the lease agreement that you should evaluate is the overall impact. Rather than looking at one particular paragraph, a judge ruling on a lease dispute will consider all things together. Not only do the separate paragraphs of the lease have to mesh, but the lease, coupled with the leasing policies, must be fair. Let’s say you charge a nonrefundable pet fee for cleaning the carpet. At the same time, you reserve the right to deduct from the security deposit a carpet cleaning fee. If you attempt to enforce that provision and take both the fee and the deduction, these lease terms may be viewed as unconscionable. That’s even more likely to happen if you take the deduction even when the tenant cleans the carpet.
To avoid lease problems, the best defense is to know your responsibilities under the law. From there, choose a reputable lease form to work with, and avoid modifications that add fees, change the tenant’s responsibilities or shift liability. When you have your draft lease completed, run it past an attorney, just to be on the safe side. Also, try to resolve disputes with tenants before things get heated — it’s almost always cheaper that way!
American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for all your property management needs. Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.
Courtesty of: www.american-apartment-owners-association.org
Friday, May 16, 2014
A Strong Texas Market
Texas' middle market is the strongest in the country - May 2, 2014
Texas business conditions continue to improve and retail sales are rising, which is good news for the state’s middle market.
Monthly data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas confirms labor market indicators, such as employment and numbers of hours worked, are improving. Perceptions of economic conditions also reflected more optimism in April, and retail sales continued to increase for the 10th consecutive month.
The National Center for the Middle Market, a collaboration of the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and GE Capital, conducted a survey on the country’s middle market, which is made up of approximately 200,000 businesses with $10 million to $1 billion in revenue. Findings showed that these companies had more than $10 trillion total in annual revenue and created 1.2 million new jobs in 2012–2013.
“The U.S. economy for the middle market has grown rapidly,” NCMM academic director Anil Makhija said. “When you talk about national growth, it is in fact the middle market that’s being the driver behind that.”
Texas accounted for much of that success, named by the NCMM as the nation’s top growth market for mid-sized businesses. The state has approximately 10,000 middle market firms, which employ 4 million and generate $500 billion in annual revenues, NCMM said. Those numbers are higher than the same values nationally.
“Even though (middle market companies) make up less than 1 percent of all Texas firms, they apply 29 percent of the workforce,” Makhija said. “The middle market in Texas, in the last 12 months had revenue growth of 6.5 percent, and that’s impressive.”
And that prosperity is only expected to continue. The survey reported Texas middle market executives have strong confidence in the local economy.
“Ninety-one percent of middle market companies in Texas report confidence in their local economy, compared with 81 percent nationally,” the survey reported.
However, these companies are still facing the same problems as their bigger competitors. In NCMM’s survey, 75 percent of mid-size business executives say they are having a hard time attracting and retaining top talent. Still, job creation growth is still slated at 3.2 nationally percent and 5.3 percent in Texas.
“There is growth, and more so in Texas, but Texas and the U.S. are still facing some challenges,” Makhija said. “Nationally, we still have a pretty high unemployment rate. As a country, we are somewhat behind in producing science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates, and that’s what’s needed.”
Texas business conditions continue to improve and retail sales are rising, which is good news for the state’s middle market.
Monthly data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas confirms labor market indicators, such as employment and numbers of hours worked, are improving. Perceptions of economic conditions also reflected more optimism in April, and retail sales continued to increase for the 10th consecutive month.
The National Center for the Middle Market, a collaboration of the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and GE Capital, conducted a survey on the country’s middle market, which is made up of approximately 200,000 businesses with $10 million to $1 billion in revenue. Findings showed that these companies had more than $10 trillion total in annual revenue and created 1.2 million new jobs in 2012–2013.
“The U.S. economy for the middle market has grown rapidly,” NCMM academic director Anil Makhija said. “When you talk about national growth, it is in fact the middle market that’s being the driver behind that.”
Texas accounted for much of that success, named by the NCMM as the nation’s top growth market for mid-sized businesses. The state has approximately 10,000 middle market firms, which employ 4 million and generate $500 billion in annual revenues, NCMM said. Those numbers are higher than the same values nationally.
“Even though (middle market companies) make up less than 1 percent of all Texas firms, they apply 29 percent of the workforce,” Makhija said. “The middle market in Texas, in the last 12 months had revenue growth of 6.5 percent, and that’s impressive.”
And that prosperity is only expected to continue. The survey reported Texas middle market executives have strong confidence in the local economy.
“Ninety-one percent of middle market companies in Texas report confidence in their local economy, compared with 81 percent nationally,” the survey reported.
However, these companies are still facing the same problems as their bigger competitors. In NCMM’s survey, 75 percent of mid-size business executives say they are having a hard time attracting and retaining top talent. Still, job creation growth is still slated at 3.2 nationally percent and 5.3 percent in Texas.
“There is growth, and more so in Texas, but Texas and the U.S. are still facing some challenges,” Makhija said. “Nationally, we still have a pretty high unemployment rate. As a country, we are somewhat behind in producing science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates, and that’s what’s needed.”
Korri Kezar - Dallas Business Journal.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
How to Make More Money from Your Rental Property
An apartment complex in San Francisco is trying out a new strategy to
make some additional cash: parking space rentals for non-residents.
While this isn’t a new idea, it encourages other landlords to
consider hidden income possibilities — this could be a great money maker
for other city apartment owners with unused spaces in their parking
lot.
Hunting for parking in a city like San Francisco can be very
difficult and frustrating. People vacationing to the area are often
surprised to find just how expensive it is to park. The savvy property
managers with Marina Cove Apartments saw this as opportunity to market
their idle spaces.
Monthly parking in San Francisco and similar areas can reach nearly
$400. Marina Cove is setting the rate at $250, taking advantage of a
highly desirable location near the Bay.
The complex offers luxury Marina District apartments for rent,
serving the needs of San Francisco residents who desire to live in one
of the city’s most prestigious neighborhoods.
William Harlow, marketing manager at Trinity Management Services,
says the policy will benefit residents. “We understand how important it
is for our tenants’ guests to be able to have a place to park when they
are visiting. No one wants to tell their Mom or Grandma or friend that
they have to park a mile away and hike up to the apartment complex to be
able to visit them. With the outrageous cost of scarce parking in the
city, $250 a month for a guaranteed spot is a deal.” That’s bound to
enhance tenant retention.
Marina Cove also benefits from diversification, offering furnished
apartments, short term leases, and corporate suite leases or rentals.
The company focuses attention on its friendly and professional staff.
American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on
products and services for all your property management needs. Find out
more at www.joinaaoa.org.
Source: American Apartment Owners Association
make some additional cash: parking space rentals for non-residents.
While this isn’t a new idea, it encourages other landlords to
consider hidden income possibilities — this could be a great money maker
for other city apartment owners with unused spaces in their parking
lot.
Hunting for parking in a city like San Francisco can be very
difficult and frustrating. People vacationing to the area are often
surprised to find just how expensive it is to park. The savvy property
managers with Marina Cove Apartments saw this as opportunity to market
their idle spaces.
Monthly parking in San Francisco and similar areas can reach nearly
$400. Marina Cove is setting the rate at $250, taking advantage of a
highly desirable location near the Bay.
The complex offers luxury Marina District apartments for rent,
serving the needs of San Francisco residents who desire to live in one
of the city’s most prestigious neighborhoods.
William Harlow, marketing manager at Trinity Management Services,
says the policy will benefit residents. “We understand how important it
is for our tenants’ guests to be able to have a place to park when they
are visiting. No one wants to tell their Mom or Grandma or friend that
they have to park a mile away and hike up to the apartment complex to be
able to visit them. With the outrageous cost of scarce parking in the
city, $250 a month for a guaranteed spot is a deal.” That’s bound to
enhance tenant retention.
Marina Cove also benefits from diversification, offering furnished
apartments, short term leases, and corporate suite leases or rentals.
The company focuses attention on its friendly and professional staff.
American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on
products and services for all your property management needs. Find out
more at www.joinaaoa.org.
Source: American Apartment Owners Association
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