Your biggest pains and challenges as a landlord

General Landlording & Rental Properties

Your biggest pains and challenges as a landlord

Joe Mahavuthivanij

Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8 posts · 0 votes

I'm a San Francisco-based software guy who rents in the city, but owns/manages some rentals an hour north. Till now I've kept things decently organized with a combination of Google Docs, coffee, and services like Lovely, Cozy, ApartmentList, etc (I have no affiliate with any of these services), but haven't quite found the perfect "Goldilocks" fit. I started building and testing a concept, but that was foolishly before talking to other landlords, so I'm designing something new with input from the community.

*I'm not selling, promoting, or pitching anything.*

However, I'm very interested in is hearing about your biggest or unique pains/challenges, what you'd improve, and discussing how it could be fixed. Basically, it'll help me figure out what to build. Some features that I like from other services include: online applications and screening, monthly rent payments, and ad posting.

With the community feedback, I hope to build something that makes being a landlord awesome.

_

Some of my biggest issues are meeting tenants to get applications back. Nowadays, I mostly do open houses so I don't have to cross the bridge and sit in traffic to do one-off showings and get applications online. Also, tracking tenants who rent rooms out on Airbnb is an occasional issue. What are your challenges?

25 views

Most Popular Reply

Rental Property Investor · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes

11y

I'll jump in @Joe Mahavuthivanij

Contractor management is a major pain across the board. Making them quickly replaceable would be great.

See this reply in the discussion

19 Replies

Jump to latestLatest

Sort by

Elizabeth Colegrove
Hanford, CA · Member since 2013 · 5k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
Disclaimer I don't use the financial aspect of buildium and maybe that would be great eventually but now I don't.
I would love a system that was alot like buildium that it runs background/credit/does application, has the tenants send paystuffs and than the final and everything to it. I would love if this system was completely covered by the tenants "application fee" like $20-$40. I don't like that buildium is $400 for me but $14 for my tenant. I would love if it was free for me and $35 for my tenant. So if more of the application costs was able to be absorbed by them.
0 Reply
Joe Mahavuthivanij
OP
Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8 posts · 0 votes
11y
@Elizabeth Colegrove Great feedback! Buildium is a great product that seems to do basically everything. Do you mind my asking how many units you manage? Are you essentially looking for something lighter weight for your purposes?
Whatever I build we definitely be free for landlords and supported through some other business model than a subscription.
0 Reply
Elizabeth Colegrove
Hanford, CA · Member since 2013 · 5k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
@Joe Mahavuthivanij
I have 5 units now, manage 11 but am rapidly growly. I hope to have 8 totally by june 10 by april 2016. I would love the cost of my software to be covered by the tenants application fee that they pay directly the company. I would also love it if they stored all my documents in the system, so "everything" was submitted by the tenant to the software. Think tenant file folder. Don't need the accounting side, just would love more of the management side since I self manage from all over the country and love to travel.
Oh and cozy problem is no background check!
0 Reply
Joe Mahavuthivanij
OP
Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8 posts · 0 votes
11y
@Elizabeth Colegrove Great feedback and noted. I particularly like the tenant file. If I'm allowed to, maybe I'll post some wireframes to get some input on how to implement such a feature!
0 Reply
Elizabeth Colegrove
Hanford, CA · Member since 2013 · 5k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
Feel free to pm me. I am looking for a new program. I have a good idea of what I want. Im just not a "programmer". There is a huge audience that is looking for a more "install" than book system.
0 Reply
Al Williamson
Rental Property Investor · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
I'll jump in @Joe Mahavuthivanij
Contractor management is a major pain across the board. Making them quickly replaceable would be great.
1 Reply
Joe Mahavuthivanij
OP
Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8 posts · 0 votes
11y
@Elizabeth Colegrove Sent a request and looking forward to sharing updates! Feel free to share what your ideal product does and I'll put the ideas to paper. It's likely they'll make it into an alpha version of the product. :)
@Al Williamson What are you using today for contractor management? Do you hire/fire many of them? If so, where do you find replacements? How do you generally communicate with contractors?
0 Reply
Al Williamson
Rental Property Investor · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
@Joe Mahavuthivanij I rarely use contractors outside of my pool, but when I do, I go to Angie's list for references. However, sometimes I'm not satisfied with performance or speed.
I would be great to see which contractors have immediate availability. I want to be able to fire non performing workers and bring on a new crew within hours. I don't want contractors to hold me hostage.
1 Reply
Les Jean-Pierre
Investor · New York City, NY · Member since 2014 · 370 posts · 85 votes
11y
Biggest issue is repairs. I don't live near my property and have had a problem with contractors not calling me back.
0 Reply
Steve Vaughan
Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
11y
Nit-picker tenants that are also helpless. The kind that call/text you for every little ant they see, for instance. Outside even! Or the kind that tell you the sink is 'broke' to only find the drain throat clogged with their own hair. Maybe have them take some kind of short personality assessment or what would you do in this situation type of thing? I now go through a couple scenarios when showing the property. See what they say. Don't want a slob, but the nitpickers can kill ya!
1 Reply
Bryan N.
Investor · Hampton Roads, VA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 418 votes
11y
Online application would be great. I think I can get one on the paid side of rentec but I'm not sure.
0 Reply
Joe Mahavuthivanij
OP
Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8 posts · 0 votes
11y
@Al Williamson Have you ever tried Thumbtack (no affiliation)? Basically you can describe what you need and they get services providers to bid on your job I think.
@Les Jean-Pierre How are you solving this problem now? Al (above) finds his contractors on Angie's List though I think Thumbtack can also make matches. Since you don't live near your rentals, do you use property managers to keep things together?
@Steve Vaughan I know what you mean and have dealt with this too. Might this be something to ask when calling past landlord references? It seems like it be something that's asked at an in-person showing. Do you take notes on your applicants?
@Bryan N. I'd love to dive into this a little, since there are existing products on the market to do the online application piece. I'm definitely planning on building it into my product though. What are the key decision points you look for when selecting somebody to rent to?
0 Reply
Les Jean-Pierre
Investor · New York City, NY · Member since 2014 · 370 posts · 85 votes
11y
I use word of mouth which has not been too effective. I have a handy guy but sometimes I get big jobs. No property manager as it is a three family.
0 Reply
Joe Mahavuthivanij
OP
Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8 posts · 0 votes
11y
@Les Jean-Pierre how often do you need to do repairs? What aspects of repairs presents the biggest challenge?
0 Reply
Les Jean-Pierre
Investor · New York City, NY · Member since 2014 · 370 posts · 85 votes
11y
I have to do them every few months. Most are minor. The most recent one was a plumbing issue. I had a great GC who would do stuff for me but he moved. I need to have a roster where I can call or text them when an issue occurs.
0 Reply
Sam Leon
Investor · Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 465 votes
11y
Not a huge pain but in terms of something that can be made easier with software I wish there is a way to extend Postlets.
Postlets is a website owned by Zillow and landlords can use it to create online ads and syndicate it to a bunch of other real estate web sites.
You put in address, title, descriptions, features, photos etc etc etc and it's free.
When a potential applicant likes what they see and they wish to contact the landlord for a viewing they press a button on whatever web site to contact the landlord or agent.
I wish when they press the "Contact" button I can inject a custom form to ask the user several questions, such as "have you ever been convicted on a felony?", "Has anyone ever filed eviction papers on you?", "Have you ever defaulted on a lease?", "Have you ever filed for bankruptcy?", "Do you make at least XXXXX.XX? (Calculated to be 3 times asking rent)" etc etc etc...the landlord can then use these answers to decide on a yes or no. I don't know if Postlets allow a call back to allow something like that, right now the only way I can see it done would be to redirect the applicant to your own web site for a "next step" and you can implement a form on your own web site. I'd rather it be a more integrated solution handled by Postlets.
0 Reply
Joe Mahavuthivanij
OP
Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8 posts · 0 votes
11y
@Les Jean-Pierre Have you tried to get reviews on potential GC's through Yelp? It seems like it would be a good resource with listings for the major GC's in an area. Maybe as part of a dashboard in what I'm trying to build, a user could keep a list of their preferred contractors and for what job. I've seen people just put this info on a post-it note before, but it seems like it's nowhere to be found when you need it.
@Sam Leon I really like this idea. Can Postlets post to Craigslist still? IIRC, Craigslist blocked autoposting for a while. Do you have an example of what a Postlet's ad looks like? One of the initial features I was thinking of building is exactly a screening inquiry thing as you describe. I feel like some of the other services have this disconnect between inquiry and application so I want to bridge that gap. You may still get the inquiry if they don't "qualify", but maybe it could automatically send a soft rejection info because they didn't meet the income qualification or had an eviction. Thoughts?
0 Reply
Al Williamson
Rental Property Investor · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
@Joe Mahavuthivanij you're missing my intent. I want Uber for contractors.
1 Reply
Joe Mahavuthivanij
OP
Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8 posts · 0 votes
11y
@Al Williamson That's a really cool idea actually, perhaps one to pivot to. I suspect that there's several companies already working to tackle the problem. Let me talk to a contractor friend to see how often he is booked. I think the biggest challenge would be defining the skill as a commodity, setting a price, and then figuring out how to prevent a contractor from leaving the system after establishing a relationship with the homeowner. In some ways it reminds me of HomeJoy and similar services that allow you to summon housekeepers and such. Neat concept!
0 Reply

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.

Log In Join for Free