OK, I normally don’t delve too deeply in this blog into areas of specific property management, but to things prompted me to decide to write this blog:
- If you live in the US, you have undoubtedly seen the government’s (federal, state and local) initiatives which are bent on trying to stop illegal immigration. Now, I don’t want to start a major discussion on politics, but the point is, there are many Spanish speaking immigrants (legal and illegal) who wish to gain access to our country. Personally, I think the government should be embracing these future Americans, like they did so many of our own ancestors. The question is how to do it appropriately. These immigrants often are willing to do the jobs that most Americans won’t do, many of them are hard workers with good ethics, and if we found a way to make them legal citizens efficiently, they would be tax paying, “social security funding” future Americans who could help support our economy.
- I also just finished reading some discussion board where several landlords talked about how difficult it was to rent to non-English speaking tenants.
Property management is not just about collecting rents and paying the bills. There are MANY times when you need to interact with the tenants to whom you are renting your dwelling. It is a fact that the Spanish speaking population throughout the United States is growing quickly. As a landlord and entrepreneur, you can look at this as “another problem”, or as an OPPORTUNITY!
I would suggest “opportunity” is more befitting of being a landlord/entrepreneur. As Landlords we need to try and give ourselves the largest opportunities to rent our properties to good tenants. Why not consider opening up your potential rental property’s marketability by providing housing that caters to one of the fastest growing populations in the US? Yes, that would be the Spanish speaking population.
Studies show that the present and future demographics throughout most of the United States are pointing to an every growing Latin American speaking population. Why not do yourself a favor, and if you don’t already speak Latin American Spanish, at least learn enough to communicate with this potential tenant population?
I recently started listening to an audio “self-study” audio course called “Learning Spanish Like Crazy!” Honestly, I can tell you from first hand experience that it is the best foreign language course that I have ever taken. I just a few short weeks, I have learned more, relevant, Latin American Spanish than in the 6 years of primary school Spanish that I took as a kid. I even took Pimsleur’s language courses in the past and although I thought they were good, LEARNING SPANISH LIKE CRAZY IS HANDS DOWN MORE EFFECTIVE, in my opinion.
Each audio lesson is about half an hour long. It is taught by a real Spanish speaking instructor. The lessons are designed to teach you “informal, everyday Spanish” the way that Latin Americans actually speak, NOT “textbook, nobody really speaks it this way” Spanish. It is truly the the fastest, easiest and most fun way that I have ever learned a foreign language.
Now, I’m not what you would consider “foreign language” gifted. In high school, I struggled to learn Spanish and never really got even a rudimentary grasp of speaking or understanding it!
However, after listening to “Learning Spanish Like Crazy!” I feel as if I could speak and understand more than I ever learned in all those years of school! (In fact, I can’t even remember what I learned back then!)
Learning to speak informal, everyday Spanish is VERY important since native Latin American speakers don’t speak like the textbooks that you learn from in traditional courses. Let’s face it, if you are going to learn a foreign language, you want it to be as practical and conversational as possible!
So check it out for yourself… What a great way to treat yourself to an early holiday gift, potentially get a tax deduction for it (landlord continuing education!) and learn something valuable that could help you build a more solid landlording business! I have affiliated with the makers of “Learning Spanish Like Crazy!”, because I really found them to provide a valuable educational service that I think is not only relevant to property management, but most importantly WORKS. The first audio course (for beginners) is called Learning Spanish Like Crazy Level One.
Best wishes on your landlording endeavours!
Warmest Regards,
Steven Boorstein, Landlord/Rental Property Owner