Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2020 · 3 posts · 1 vote
Good evening Bigger Pockets Community!
This is a very exciting and stressful time as I'm about to purchase my first investment property in Tampa FL (waiting on the inspection report to close on the deal!).
I'm originally from the South of France but I've lived in Los Angeles, CA for about 5 years now. I need to find a Property Manager that I can fully trust as I live out of state and this is my very first property (a lot of learning to come!). I'm also not very familiar with the area in terms of weather, what are the reasonable prices in the area etc... I would need someone that can advise me on how to keep my property in good care and find amazing tenants. I've just learned today that due to the very humid and hot weather I would need to have a thermite company to check on the house every 3 months as regular maintenance. I had absolutely no idea...
I trust the Bigger Pocket Community for their honest opinion and expertise in the industry. If you are the killer Property Manager that I'm looking for or if you know one please let me know :)
I greatly appreciate your time and your help! Thank you all!
Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2020 · 236 posts · 247 votes
4y
@Fiona Dupin How did you determine this property was a good buy if you need a PM to tell you what rents are for the area? Are there tenants already in place? How familiar are you with the specific area within Tampa that you are purchasing? I ask all of this because it's a good idea to have your "core 4" in place BEFORE you start making offers. Hopefully you're using an investor-friendly REA and if they are, they should be able to give you no less than 3-5 recommendations for solid PM's. Also, be aware that your REA may lead you to believe this is a good investment and "it'll do great", but if you're out of state, have no experience, or likelihood of repeat business with them in the future....they may not have your best interest as an investor in mind. Since you already have an accepted offer I would hustle to talk to multiple PM's and get as much info about the property, the area, market rents, etc as you can to make sure this is a good buy. Consider that an interview for hire as well as an urgent due diligence period before you follow throughon this purchase. Maybe I'm misreading the situation altogether, but the fact that you're searching for a PM after you did an inspection on a property that is literally on the other side of the country leads me to believe you may be getting ahead of yourself. Best of luck.
Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2020 · 236 posts · 247 votes
4y
@Fiona Dupin How did you determine this property was a good buy if you need a PM to tell you what rents are for the area? Are there tenants already in place? How familiar are you with the specific area within Tampa that you are purchasing? I ask all of this because it's a good idea to have your "core 4" in place BEFORE you start making offers. Hopefully you're using an investor-friendly REA and if they are, they should be able to give you no less than 3-5 recommendations for solid PM's. Also, be aware that your REA may lead you to believe this is a good investment and "it'll do great", but if you're out of state, have no experience, or likelihood of repeat business with them in the future....they may not have your best interest as an investor in mind. Since you already have an accepted offer I would hustle to talk to multiple PM's and get as much info about the property, the area, market rents, etc as you can to make sure this is a good buy. Consider that an interview for hire as well as an urgent due diligence period before you follow throughon this purchase. Maybe I'm misreading the situation altogether, but the fact that you're searching for a PM after you did an inspection on a property that is literally on the other side of the country leads me to believe you may be getting ahead of yourself. Best of luck.
Tampa, FL · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 13 votes
4y
@Fiona Dupin congrats on getting into the STR market. You picked a great location to get started. @Sunny Alexander and I operate a STR PM company and would love to chat and help you navigate the process.
I would be happy to help you out or point you in the right direction.
I’m an investor-friendly agent in the St. Pete/Tampa market at Copeland Morgan. We are a brokerage and a LTR property management company with over 1300 rentals under management in the Tampa Bay Area.
If you are looking to STR, I own and operate a hyper local property management company for STRs called, Blackwell STR. I’ve managed for over 3yrs and a 6x Airbnb Superhost.
Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2020 · 3 posts · 1 vote
4y
@Anthony King and thank you for your feedback. You're right, I haven't give any context to the situation, I did not want to bored people with the story but I'm happy you asked so maybe you can give me some advises!
I've been looking into the Tampa market for a little while as I believe it has great potential and he still not over price with great future appreciation. This come from my humble opinion plus a lot of research on the internet which made me very confident in the potential of that market even though I have never lived there and therefore need to surround myself with people that I can trust as you mentioned.
This house was accepting cash offer only when I first got interested in it. I got in touch with the REA when I first called to get information about the property. I've been in touch with her since then and she's been helping me getting information and visiting the properties that I was interested since then. Until she got back to me telling me that the seller from the first house I was interested in was now accepting conventional loan but he already had 2 offers and was making a decision the same day in the evening. I literally had 3 hours to run my numbers, look at the market trend in that specific neighborhood and see if this would work. There is a tenant in place already that pays way bellow current market rent. We could only visit the house after the offer was accepted and we only had 7 days to after offer was accepted to close the deal. The house on the pictures looked amazing, freshly renovated, nothing to do but wait until the tenant lease end (in july) to increase the rent to market value and get this sweet cashflow. Of course, the inspection has to be good in order for me to go ahead with the deal. My REA told me she was also the the Property Manager of the Brokerage company so she could manage my property afterwards which was great. But her price are not the best and does not work with my numbers. Which is why I'm now shopping for PM's that would be more reasonable financially speaking.
The other point is that I was not able to go check the house in person and that bothers me a lot, but I guess I'm having the fear of missing out on that deal here which is why I decided to keep going through the inspection etc... When I virtually tour the house, I quickly figured that the tenants are terrible (they gotta go as soon as the lease is up) and did not take care of the house at all so the house looks nothing like advertised. I also noticed what seemed to be water damage on the wall (inside) which make me think about possible mold or termites. Inspector came in today. Says it was indeed moisture damage coming from outside, not costly to fix from what they say. Still waiting for the full report (within 24 to 48 hours) and I only have until Friday to back out.
Part of me think that backing out and loosing the money spent on inspection might be best as I'm not sure if I can trust my REA. She said she works with a lot of investor that are out of states, that she would be my eyes not to worry that the inspectors have great reputation and will mention everything they see. Which my not be much since tenant is a mess, hard to see damages behind furnitures and pill of clothes.
Another part of me still think that it can still be a good deal. I can probably try to negotiate a credit for the repairs that need to be done but I doubt seller will care much as there are other offers and market is really hot right now nothing stays for long. Which my REA keeps telling me over and over. I don't know if she is trying to put pressure on me to buy but definitely feel that FOMO in me!
I'm open to honest opinion here, I might be a little too excited about starting my investment journey and Tampa market is very attractive and I scared to arrive to late in the game... I told me REA that I would keep doing business with her as this is a market I want to focus on but who knows maybe she just want to get a sweet commission too...
Realtor · Lakeland, FL · Member since 2020 · 73 posts · 72 votes
4y
@Fiona Dupin I agree with much of what Anthony mentioned.
A couple things that remain unclear.
Is your REA also the REA for the seller?
Is your REA the person currently managing the property? If not, have you considered sticking with the existing PM?
When you ran your numbers, did they make sense with the rent as it is (under market value) or are you taking a hit now and expect to improve your numbers once the lease is up? Were you able to ascertain what market rent should be? If you need a second set of eyes on your analysis, I’d be happy to help.
In terms of your experience thus far, just know much of your experience is not out of the ordinary. It is not uncommon for sellers with tenants in place to want an executed contract in place to show the property. This limits buyers to those who are truly interested so there is less inconvenience to the tenants who would need to otherwise deal with countless tours.
I think the more concerning thing is you do not have a level of trust with your REA. That is crucial when buying out of state
No, My REA is not the seller REA and is not the current Manager either. Apparently the current PM isn't great has the tenant is complaining about a lot of things such as the toilet is always running and she manually need to turn it on and off and nobody ever came to fix it when she called. I'm not sure if she's been persistent in calling them or not. Also, if the current PM placed those tenant in the house then I certainly don't want them. The damages they've done on the house in 2 years only is terrible, between the 3 kids and the dog I guess that was to be expected more or less.
I would love to get on a call with you! Thank you so much for offering I really appreciate it! :)
Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
4y
In our experience, the #1 mistake landlords make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.
It's often a case of not doing enough research, as they don't know what they don't know!
Landlords mistakenly ASSUME all PMCs offer the exact SAME SERVICES and PERFORM those services EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, so price is the only differentiator.
So, the first question they usually ask a PMC is about fees - instead of asking about services and HOW those services are executed.
This also leads them to ASSUME simpler is better when it comes to management contracts.
The reality is the opposite - if it's not in writing then the PMC doesn't have to provide the service or can charge extra for it!
We have a 12 page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord. Beyond the Monthly Management, Placement & Maintenance fees, all other fees in our contract are IF EVENT -> THEN fees.
We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:
We recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.
EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!
P.S. If you just hire the cheapest or first PMC you speak with and it turns into a bad experience, please don’t assume ALL PMC’s are bad and start trashing PMC’s in general. Take ownership of your mistake and learn to do the proper due diligence recommended above😊
Get familiar with this site BEFORE you speak to a single property manager. They can take you for a rude ride of your life.
It's worth paying for the full service even for a year. This way you have access to quick estimates.
Be careful especially because you have no idea what the market in Tampa really is without either living there before or having PERMANENT ears on the ground.
Years ago, I took advise right here on Biggerpockets and it cost me $$ to fix.
PS: The prices in Tampa aren't so different from say prices in Redlands, CA where renters will always seek accommodations. Just a thought.
