How Not to Get Taken by Propery Managers
Hello Everyone:
To start off, I'm just getting started in real estate, with the initial goal of investing in duplexes.
So far, there appears to be a multitude of internet gurus off of Youtube, who claim that owing multi-family real estate can be a passive investment, through a property management company. To put it another way, these gurus make the utilization of a property management company seem like, "a set-it-and-forget-it" proposition.
I'm on the other hand a bit more cautious and through my own due diligence, I've read some terrible reviews within my locality, involving more than one bad property management company. The problem, is that these reviews don't ever mention the how or why.
So instead of blindly following any advice off of Youtube, I've decided to seek advice from those who deal with this on a daily basis. With that in mind, my questions are as followed:
-What are the characteristic of a reputable property management company?
-How do you weed out the bad ones?
-How much of your involvement is truly passive and what should be a realistic expectation?
-What are the sleazy tactics that are done behind the scenes to fleece you out of your money?