I dropped the ball!
You know if you let a problem fester you can count on it getting worse!
Just evicted a tenant in a 6 plex we own. He has been there for years and pretty much paid his rent on time. Didn't cause any issues and no complaints from other tenants. I did have to threaten an eviction a year or so ago and he came through and got caught up and was pretty much on time each month after that.
Recently though we learned he didn't have the electric on in his apt and it had been like this since April. My manager called the local electric co and confirmed. I sent my manager in and the apartment was a disaster! Knee deep in crap, filthy and for all intents and purposes, ruined. We filed immediately and the sheriff came today - carted truck loads to the curb. Have a dumpster coming tomorrow to dispose of otherwise the city will hit me up for the junk on the boulevard.
This was a gorgeous apartment when we rehabbed it and rented it to him and now we are looking at probably $5k to restore!
Its all my fault -we regularly inspect our properties but this building is sort of outside our normal area; it sits in a great neighborhood but we just don't go by it that often. Well no more but its a pretty expensive reminder to always, always inspect your units on a regular basis.
Chris
If you have a manager...why didn't he pick up on this?
@Chris Harrington things like this happen all the time(not this exact scenario). I wouldn't look at it in the scope of it being your fault.
Its only a learning experience that will help in future endeavors
Sorry to hear about this but it is a learning process and one that will allow you to improve your business from. Yes it's an expensive lesson, yes it's frustrating and yes it's really unfair, but take the positive from this incident and move forward.
This could be a great opportunity to put a new procedure in place for your PM.
Brian
Thanks for the reminder. We have one duplex that is a little further out and we too have been lax in driving by it and inspecting it as often as we should. Last week we went there with a roofer to get a bid to re-roof. From the outside, we could see problems. The tenants of both units are good people, hard working, pleasant, pay rent on time, etc. but have been accumulating junk outside. We could also see condensation on the inside of almost every window. We had problems in the past with tenants disabling the baseboard heaters under the windows so they could place furniture there and then using a space heater instead. We're almost certain this is happening again, as the condensation points to a lack of adequate air flow at the windows and perhaps also a lack of using the range hood fan and bathroom fan as needed. Time to inspect again!
Originally posted by @Marcia Maynard:
Thanks for the reminder. We have one duplex that is a little further out and we too have been lax in driving by it and inspecting it as often as we should. Last week we went there with a roofer to get a bid to re-roof. From the outside, we could see problems. The tenants of both units are good people, hard working, pleasant, pay rent on time, etc. but have been accumulating junk outside. We could also see condensation on the inside of almost every window. We had problems in the past with tenants disabling the baseboard heaters under the windows so they could place furniture there and then using a space heater instead. We're almost certain this is happening again, as the condensation points to a lack of adequate air flow at the windows and perhaps also a lack of using the range hood fan and bathroom fan as needed. Time to inspect again!
What are your goals? Do you want to invest and accumulate cash flow? Expand horizons and own several properties in different, producing neighborhoods?
You can't do that if you are your own property manager. In fact, it's difficult if you invest in only one home to manage it. Dealing with a tenant's trash is hard enough, no pun intended. But if you hire a property management company, right now...you'll have a lump sum of worry taken off your person and into the hands of someone that will make your job effortless.
Then you can move near a beach, perhaps just vacation there. You will find opportunities in tourist-friendly areas. And when you decide you will invest in a property in that location, you will hire a property management company to bring you your cash flow whilst saving you trips and jet lag and money. Sound fair enough?
Originally posted by @Joe Calderon:
Originally posted by @Marcia Maynard:Thanks for the reminder. We have one duplex that is a little further out and we too have been lax in driving by it and inspecting it as often as we should. Last week we went there with a roofer to get a bid to re-roof. From the outside, we could see problems. The tenants of both units are good people, hard working, pleasant, pay rent on time, etc. but have been accumulating junk outside. We could also see condensation on the inside of almost every window. We had problems in the past with tenants disabling the baseboard heaters under the windows so they could place furniture there and then using a space heater instead. We're almost certain this is happening again, as the condensation points to a lack of adequate air flow at the windows and perhaps also a lack of using the range hood fan and bathroom fan as needed. Time to inspect again!
What are your goals? Do you want to invest and accumulate cash flow? Expand horizons and own several properties in different, producing neighborhoods?
You can't do that if you are your own property manager. In fact, it's difficult if you invest in only one home to manage it. Dealing with a tenant's trash is hard enough, no pun intended. But if you hire a property management company, right now...you'll have a lump sum of worry taken off your person and into the hands of someone that will make your job effortless.
Then you can move near a beach, perhaps just vacation there. You will find opportunities in tourist-friendly areas. And when you decide you will invest in a property in that location, you will hire a property management company to bring you your cash flow whilst saving you trips and jet lag and money. Sound fair enough?
Well, I didn't mean to imply that we only had one duplex. :-) Take a look at my BP profile and listen to BP podcast #83 to get a glimpse at what we are doing and our goals. My husband and I are pleased to own and manage 16 residential rental units, in four distinct neighborhoods in Vancouver. We own many of those free and clear, so our cash flow is quite good. In addition to our primary residence in Vancouver, we also have stake in a family home on the Oregon Coast (since1979), which we also take care of. Since my husband is a piano bar entertainer for a major cruise line (since 2004) and I have relatives in Australia, we travel worldwide too. So we have the vacations covered! I was commiserating with the OP that it's easy to drop the ball from time to time when living a very full life, despite our best intentions, so it's nice to know I'm not the only one. :-)
Originally posted by @Marcia Maynard:
Well, I didn't mean to imply that we only had one duplex. :-) Take a look at my BP profile and listen to BP podcast #83 to get a glimpse at what we are doing and our goals. My husband and I are pleased to own and manage 16 residential rental units, in four distinct neighborhoods in Vancouver. We own many of those free and clear, so our cash flow is quite good. In addition to our primary residence in Vancouver, we also have stake in a family home on the Oregon Coast (since1979), which we also take care of. Since my husband is a piano bar entertainer for a major cruise line (since 2004) and I have relatives in Australia, we travel worldwide too. So we have the vacations covered! I was commiserating with the OP that it's easy to drop the ball from time to time when living a very full life, despite our best intentions, so it's nice to know I'm not the only one. :-)
Why don't you hire a property manager and bump it up to 64 units, effectively increasing your cash flow?
Originally posted by @Joe Calderon:
Originally posted by @Marcia Maynard:Why don't you hire a property manager and bump it up to 64 units, effectively increasing your cash flow?
Because I have a passion for landlording, including the property management role! At some point, I may outsource the property management portion when I can no longer effectively do the work myself, but then I would still need to oversee what the property manager is doing. With the right balance and systems in place, the property management work is easy. We can get distracted by what life throws at us and occasionally we will drop the ball, but we can pick up the ball and stay in play. At this point I'm not ready to hand the ball to someone else. :-)
Originally posted by @Marcia Maynard:
Originally posted by @Joe Calderon:Originally posted by @Marcia Maynard:Why don't you hire a property manager and bump it up to 64 units, effectively increasing your cash flow?
Because I have a passion for landlording, including the property management role! At some point, I may outsource the property management portion when I can no longer effectively do the work myself, but then I would still need to oversee what the property manager is doing. With the right balance and systems in place, the property management work is easy. We can get distracted by what life throws at us and occasionally we will drop the ball, but we can pick up the ball and stay in play. At this point I'm not ready to hand the ball to someone else. :-)
That makes complete sense. (-: