Property Management Ups & Downs

Beal Properties Focusing on Upgrading Facilities USA: Beal Properties, LLC, a property management company in Chicago that specializes in rental apartments and condominiums, announces that they are focusing on upgrading some of their rental apartment buildings. The company owns and manages many properties throughout the Chicago area. Some of the neighborhoods include the North Shore, Evanston, Glencoe, Winnetka and Highland Park. Many of their buildings are located just off Lake Michigan and are older, vintage buildings. Though the buildings are older, Beal Properties updates the apartments inside with modern conveniences. They have been managing properties in the Chicago area for more than 80 years. Many of the rental apartment buildings owned by Beal Properties are located near train and bus lines and are just minutes away from downtown Chicago, the shops on Michigan Avenue and the nightlife and cultural attractions along the North Shore.
"We know that Chicago renters are a savvy group of people. They know what they are looking for in a home and we strive to give them exactly what they want. Our tenants love living just off Lake Michigan in our vintage buildings. With Beal Property Management, our tenants receive classic Chicago charm with the modern conveniences they expect. Living in one of our properties means that our tenants are never far from all the fantastic cultural activities and fun Chicago has to offer," said the owner of Beal Properties, LLC.
Lead by its janitorial supervisor, the janitorial team has been working to clean up, upgrade and beautify all of Beal's properties. Some of the things being done include hallway cleaning, courtyard cleaning, landscaping, individual apartment renovations, window cleaning, electrical upgrades, porch replacement and painting. Tenants should start to see the impact almost immediately after work has begun in the common areas. Some of the buildings affected are 550-560 West Aldine, 550 West Arlington and 719-727 West Barry, all in Chicago.
"We want to create the best possible living space for our tenants and by doing a little repairing and cleaning, we'll be able to do just that. Beal Properties' tenants will see improved common areas such as hallways, courtyards and porches. We are also adding landscaping to make the building exteriors look more inviting for our tenants. Some apartments will be completely renovated on the inside and we'll be updating appliances and painting the interiors. We know our tenants have a choice in where they want to live and the changes we are making will make our rental apartments even better places to live," said the owner. About Beal Properties, LLC: Beal Properties, LLC is a property managing company with rental apartments throughout the Chicago area. They have been managing properties for over 80 years.

MyHome suspended UK: Lloyds Bank has pulled the plug on MyHome International, the nationwide franchise operator providing residential services such as cleaning and gardening to thousands of families. The bank demanded immediate repayment yesterday of an £8m loan. The company said it was unable to pay and suspended dealings in its shares on the AIM market.
MyHome has more than 900 franchisees. Their immediate future is uncertain. The company owes its present plight to over-ambitious expansion. But it has also been hit by what it calls "cash-rich, time-poor" householders who are having to rein in their spending because of the credit crunch. Alarm bells began ringing in June when the company, now with a new executive team, flagged up a deteriorating financial position and warned that pressure on household budgets would affect results for the rest of the year. The following month it said that it was in breach of its banking covenants and was in discussions with Lloyds Bank which said it remained "committed" to a restructuring of its £8m facility. But that proved to be a pipe dream and the bank has decided it is no longer willing to support the company which has also been in talks with unnamed financiers.
Franchisees who have paid thousands of pounds to join the MyHome network could lose heavily.
Management has almost certainly been distracted by the tasks of absorbing last November's £16m acquisition of the "man-in-a-van" car repair business ChipsAway. The board was then forced into a much-needed restructuring with the loss of jobs and offices resulting in one-off costs of £3.3m. The company was also starting to find it harder to attract franchisees who were struggling themselves to raise the necessary finance. During the first half of the year, MyHome attracted just 77 new recruits, well below targets.
The group slimmed down to focus on residential and oven, carpet, fabric, and window cleaning, lawn cutting, and plumbing and electrical work. MyHome was originally set up by Unilever which identified residential cleaning as a market for its cleaning and detergent products, but it was sold in 2001 and turned into a franchise operation. The company was floated on AIM in December 2007 at 40p, focusing on what it termed "professional and managerial households likely to pay for a high-quality service provided by efficient and trustworthy providers". The company targeted what it called "managerially minded entrepreneurs" as franchisees, starting with one vehicle and a couple of staff handling around 25 customers. This would later be developed into a more ambitious undertaking with the franchisee servicing up to 250 customers. At its suspension price of 5p, MyHome is valued at just £3.18m. The shares have been as high as 98p.