Ways to Improve Your Google Experience

Posted by Thomas Spear on May 3, 2012 in Articles, Blog | 0 comments

Recently the LA Times ran an article that can help your use and searching in Google, immensely. Here is a summary:

1. To simply find the definition of any word, simple type “define” before the word in the search box and the definition will be the first at the top of the results given.
2. Type “weather” or “movies” and a Zip Code and the information as requested will be given in Google.
3. Looking for a fact or song lyric, simple use the asterisk when typing in missing search information. For example “San Diego is in * county” or “There is a house in New Orleans they call the * Sun”.
4. Use the minus to exclude terms that may be related, but not a part of your desired search. For example if your interest in birds than you might try “Ravens – Baltimore”.
5. If you know your search subject’s web site you can limit your search to that site using  “site:” in your search box. For example to look up baseball in the Los Angeles Times, the search box would appear like this “site:latimes.com baseball” This will go straight to the Los Angeles Times website and search for baseball related articles.
6. Google also assists in mathematic conversion for currency and temperatures. For example if you type “22.5 Celsius in Fahrenheit” you’ll get the converted temperature. Same is true for currency. For example, “$100 is euros” will give you the proper conversion.

Automated large-scale attacks taking down SMBs

Posted by Thomas Spear on Mar 28, 2012 in Articles, Blog | 0 comments

There’s always chatter about the sophistication of malware and the advanced hacking techniques attackers use to steal payment information or sensitive corporate data. While that may be true for targeted attacks against high-value targets such as government agencies, the defense industrial base or financial institutions, the majority of victims, according to the 2012 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) (.pdf), are smaller companies that fall prey to commodity attacks that expose shortcomings in basic information security best practices. The innovation is in the automation and process refinement behind attacks, and not necessarily in the sophistication of the malware involved, the report suggests.

Small businesses are worried about the bottom line. It’s a matter of expertise, time and resources that they’re not able to defend themselves.Christopher Porter, principal, Verizon RISK team

Christopher Porter, principal with Verizon’s RISK team, said organized cybercrime groups have automated attacks end to end. These groups will scan the Internet looking for exposed PoS or remote administration services, such as remote desktop management, and will use brute force attacks against the logins to gain access. Since many use easy-to-guess, or default passwords on these systems, gaining access can be trivial. Once inside, malware—usually a keylogger—is installed and begins collecting data. The malware is also preconfigured to send data outbound, either via FTP or email, to a Web server under the attacker’s control. The data is then sold on the black market, or, if credentials are stolen, deeper attacks are carried out against bank accounts or other systems within an enterprise.

“We joke that there must be some sort of old crime groups that have gotten their MBAs,” Porter said. “In the last several years of these types of industrialized attacks, we’re seeing innovation in the process and methodology used.  The whole process is end to end and it’s massive in scale.

Selecting a Property Management Company

Posted by Thomas Spear on Mar 19, 2012 in Articles, Blog | 0 comments

The selection of a quality management company is very critical to the success of the property overall. The question is how does one select a management company? First of all, like any company, a number of questions need to be asked. How long has the management company been in business? Do they handle the type and size of property you have in your portfolio? It makes little sense for a company that primarily manages small apartment buildings to be hired to run a 200,000 square foot office building. Does the company have similar product? Where, in relationship to your project, does the management company have other properties? If a property management company has mostly properties in San Bernardino and Riverside, they may not be the appropriate company to handle Santa Monica property. The size of company is also critical. If a company has 300 properties under management, how much attention does your property warrant in their organization? Conversely, if the company is too small and has only one principal perhaps the risk of not having a deep company is too great.

While all these factors are important, additionally the management company should be able to present how they will professionally market your property, thereby maximizing the income. They should also illustrate how they will minimize your expenses, thereby increasing the cash flow to the owner. Equally important, a professional management company should have a clear vision of the risks and minimizing those for your product type. Finally, the efficacy of a property management company is really a function of the quality of person employed by that management company. As a service business, the quality of the service is always defined by the employee. Ask to meet who will handle your property, directly, not just the sales force. Ask how people are hired and trained and, most importantly, ask for references. What are your experiences with property management companies?

Energy Retrofits

Posted by Thomas Spear on Feb 15, 2012 in Articles, Blog | 0 comments

In managing your properties it is very important to keep up on the myriad of energy savings programs available. They might be from any of your utility providers including;  DWP, So Cal Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, and any municipal utility provider. Most programs have a specific time frame, item (lights, water) and dollar amount related to them. It is easy to find your utilities’ web sites and all the information will be posted there. Many will provide you a regular update and notice to your respective emails. These programs not only benefit the environment, but also add to the efficiency and effectiveness of utility use and bottom line dollars to owner possibly through their professional residential or commercial managers.

Here is a sample LADWP Newsletter:

Managing Expectations – Real Estate Investments and How They Perform

Posted by Thomas Spear on Jan 16, 2012 in Articles, Blog | 0 comments

The New Year is the perfect opportunity to reflect; both backwards and forwards. As you look at your real estate investment(s) and how they performed during 2011 are you pleased? Granted, no one ever has sufficient cash flow, but many issues that might lead to disappointment are well within your control.

First of all, it is critical to understand why you invested in real estate in the first place. In addition to the pure joy of ownership and portfolio growth, were your goals and objectives reasonable?

Quantifying Expectations Through Budget

The expectations for a real estate investment are best quantified through a thorough budget. The budget takes into account all items of expenses including account historical expenses, known expenses and projected expenses. This then provides an educated projection as to what a property will cost. Of course, expenses need to include taxes, insurance and mortgage costs.

Income, A Less Than Predicable Equation

The other side of this equation is the income side. This tends to be a bit less predictable than the expense side. An owner needs to take each space or unit and make assumptions relative to each space. For example, if a suite is under a lease contract through 2014, than the income will be simple to project. If an apartment is leased on an annual or monthly basis, the overall vacancy and market rents must be taken into account. In any market the income assumptions are critical and need to be realistic, not wishful thinking. If you are getting $2,000 per month for an apartment rented in 2011, if there any market reason to expect this unit to increase or decrease when available? What are the market concessions for the unit, how much down time will there be, etc? Therefore, quantifying each individual suite and/or unit is critical to obtaining an accurate budget. Combining the expenses with the income should then provide an accurate cash flow projection, i.e. that which we all care about.

Assessing Assets Performance

Now as to the reflections; if you had a budget last year was your asset’s performance in line with this. If so, than the expectations were met and there should be some serenity in your life. If not, what items were missed and why? Those can then be used to adjust the budget for 2012 and provide a basis of reasonable future expectations, but also better understanding of your asset.