14-unit apartment virtual assistant management?

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14-unit apartment virtual assistant management?

Adriel Hsu
Investor · Beaumont, TX · Member since 2016 · 171 posts · 277 votes

Hello BP,

I have a 14 unit C+ apartment that I am debating on property management options. I work full time and I currently have an off-site management company that charges 8% monthly fee and half month's rent on lease-up.  My main issue has been lack of prompt communication and turnovers taking longer than they should. 

I already have a great maintenance man dedicated to the property I inherited from the previous owner who is on site 2-3x a week and knows the tenants personally.  He does everything repair and make ready wise (including plumbing and electrical) except for HVAC and I already have a HVAC guy I use on rehabs that I'm comfortable with (Just text him issue and he goes out and diagnoses and fixes it without me having to be there). I am a rehabber so coordinating repairs and make readies with the maintenance man is easy.

I really need management company to handle all the bookkeeping, marketing, showing units for prospective tenants, collecting rent, and evictions (if needed).

I'm debating if I should fire the property management company and:

1) Coordinate make readies and repairs with my maintenance man directly (what I've been doing). Have maintenance man take emergency calls (what he did with old owner)

2) Get a buildium or renttec or appfolio account

3) Outsource to my VA administrative stuff (marketing property online, handling general inquiries, fielding tenant calls, fielding prospective tenant calls, scheduling showings)(Tenant screening via buildium/appfolio)(Transferring utilities on turnovers)(Handling documentation (leases, addendums etc)

4) Outsource to my VA book-keeping stuff ( Collect rents, balance checkbooks, create monthly P&L statements, pay contractors, etc)

My VA is currently paid $5-6 per hour

The only in person stuff left that I can split with my maintenance man is:

- Filing Eviction notices / Going to Eviction Court

- Showing properties to prospective tenants

- Quarterly inspections

-Move-in Move Out inspections

Probably some more stuff too that I cant think of now.


Do you think that would be more cost effective and efficient while still not burdening myself with too much work?

If costs end up being the same as the property management company, I am ok with that because at least I will be running the property more efficiently.

Thanks 


Adriel


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  • Richard Sherman
    Rental Property Investor · Salem, OR · Member since 2017 · 696 posts · 660 votes
    7y

    @Adriel Hsu is the property manager doing everything else well except the turns and communication?  How long are turns taking (make ready)?  You say too long, but how long?

    How would you collect rents?  Are your tenants going to push back on electronic, can you set up for deposit into bank account directly with local bank etc?

    0Reply
  • Simon W.Business Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Lehigh Valley PA & New York City · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 662 votes
    7y

    @Adriel Hsu I might be able to help you out with the accounting part. What is your VA responsible for right now? How many hours is the VA putting in?

    I think the most important thing is having the right team. One-stop shop might not be the best option if that Shop is not really good at certain aspects. That's why Property Management firms always hire and fire people because they can't seem to find the right employees.

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  • Adriel Hsu
    OP
    Investor · Beaumont, TX · Member since 2016 · 171 posts · 277 votes
    7y

    @Richard Sherman

    I would probably use buildium/appfolio for all online payments, and still accept bank deposit/check and figure out cash payments with the maintenance man.

    Things they do well:

    - Handle rent collection (Prompt notification on any missing payments or late payments)

    - Enforce Late fees/eviction notice if needed

    - Lease renewals

    - Negotiated contract with Waste Management for a lower rate

    - Most accounting stuff

    Issues that I have experienced:


    - They are not paying my maintenance man on a timely manner (They had said they can do phone payments when he goes to Home Depot or Lowes but they do not pickup when he calls for payment.  He is supposed to paid weekly but there has been delays consistently on getting him paid.)

    - They do not respond to my emails/texts or phone calls promptly. Sometimes they pick up when I call. Most emails and texts go unresponded to or I get a reply a week later.


    - Explicitly stated I want advertisement posted on certain facebook groups and mls.  Did not post them after several weeks and I ended up posting them myself.

    - Notify me of repairs late.  My maintenance man texted me Friday morning the a/c wasn't working in one unit and the furnace in another wouldn't turn off without shutting off the breaker. He notified Property Management same day.  They sent me the email of the issues Monday morning.


    - Was supposed to have December P&L by the 6th. Still do not have it.

    - I have to manage and negotiate contracts for Cable, Pest Control, Lawn service, myself.

    0Reply
  • Adriel Hsu
    OP
    Investor · Beaumont, TX · Member since 2016 · 171 posts · 277 votes
    7y

    @Simon W.

    Hey Simon,

    The VA actually is not doing any of it right now, the property management company is. I am debating about firing them and switching those tasks off to my VA

    0Reply
  • Simon W.Business Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Lehigh Valley PA & New York City · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 662 votes
    7y

    How well is your VA in terms of understanding real estate accounting and communicating with your CPA during year-end?

    I can personally say that when I went into a job when a regular bookkeeper was doing all the data entry, it was a complete mess that I had to take a good amount of time to "fix".

    $5-$6/hour for bookkeeping is dirt cheap. But hey, if it works, then continue with him/her.

    I do not know how bad the PM in terms of bookkeeping, but did you speak with your VA if s/he is comfortable taking over?

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  • Kenny Dahill
    Investor · Tempe, AZ · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 731 votes
    7y

    @Adriel Hsu where is this property located?  Curious what the average rents are, to help understand determine your 8% monthly fee and the value they should bring.

    0Reply
  • Adriel Hsu
    OP
    Investor · Beaumont, TX · Member since 2016 · 171 posts · 277 votes
    7y

    @Simon W. I was thinking of having my current VA handle all the admin stuff and then maybe hire another one specialized in just accounting with experience at a higher rate.

    @Kenny Dahill This is in Beaumont, Texas (1.5 hours from Houston) and average rents at the property is at $700 per month

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  • Grant Rothenburger
    Investor · Taylor Mill, KY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 964 votes
    7y

    @Adriel Hsu

    I think that there are companies out there that are a middle man for tenants and maintenance issues, but not full service PM. I know Secure Pay One does this kind of work with many investors across the nation. Linda Liberatore is the owner and she's awesome. Maybe look into some companies like this.

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  • Adriel Hsu
    OP
    Investor · Beaumont, TX · Member since 2016 · 171 posts · 277 votes
    7y

    @Grant Rothenburger No idea those even existed. Thanks for the info and recommendations. I will look into them

    1Reply
  • Grant Rothenburger
    Investor · Taylor Mill, KY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 964 votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Adriel Hsu:

    @Grant Rothenburger No idea those even existed. Thanks for the info and recommendations. I will look into them

     Happy to help.

    0Reply
  • Jill F.
    Investor · Akron, OH · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    7y

    We use Buildium. It makes it super easy to pay online-- For computer phobic (usually older) tenants instead of checks we have them fill out an ACH permission form and then set up a Buildium account with recurring payments for them.  Buildium also allows for maintenance ticket tracking. However, you will probably still need a leasing agent or someone to show units-- unless your maintenance guy is willing. Buildium listing software is really nice. You fill out the add and it does 4 different sites (Zillow, apartments.com and a couple others) it also half-way does Craigslist. The only additional site I post listings on is FB Marketplace. 

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  • Andrew Taylor
    Contractor · Magnolia, TX · Member since 2016 · 279 posts · 155 votes
    7y

    Read "Landlording on Autopilot." Even if you don't want to be a full-time landlord, this will show you what your property manager should be doing. It's a little dated (lots of talk about pagers and how cool they are) but it's still great info.

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  • Curtis Rouse Jr
    Realtor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2015 · 266 posts · 182 votes
    7y
    @Adriel Hsu So my opinion is that as an investor you should be the quarterback of your property and not specifically running the day to day operations. I understand in the beginning you need to do this when getting started but eventually you want to outsource the management/bookkeeping to a third party if you want to scale your business which is what I presume. Have you already reached out to other management companies in the area or local managers in the area that could take on this role for you? I think this would be beneficial and would help you get a perspective on how much it will cost depending on a management company, in house manger, or outsourcing to yourself/VA. Regardless in your budget or however you ran numbers you need to make sure you include 8-10% for management at minimum. I hope this helps and Best of Luck!
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