All Forum Posts by: Amy Davidson

I usually leave it to the GCs. 

Recently, I foolishly thought I could just hire "some guy" to demo my last project, not knowing you had to have a permit in Tampa even for a simple drywall demo, and I got my clock cleaned by Code Enforcement.   Now I just leave it to my GC.  

The thing that caught my eye is that @Scott K. mentioned he might have a tool to sell after testing it and I think for the the cost of development that he mentioned, about $400, it's a great idea to develop what has the potential to produce as much income as another STR.

Scott -- I've heard people speak of HOMEE, which may be similar to what you're trying to build, except it's a marketplace for tradespeople and not an organisation system for your own people.   But it has similar aspects where they have to submit photos of the completed work and I believe you're invoiced through the app (I'm afraid I've never used it because it's only app based and not available in my App store in Switzerland.)   But perhaps you could design a hybrid, where people could could put their properties/tasks in there as well and indicate their prefer service providers.  And if none of them took up the job within a timeframe you specify, others could then bid on the job.  

This is the type of product I'd be interested in working with -- please make sure it's online and app based so it can be used by people "landlording" from abroad please.    I'd love to be one of your Beta testers!!  Good luck.

I wish I had known earlier that contracts are virtually unenforceable -- so be careful who you choose to do business with.    Even if you take someone to court and win a judgement, scoundrels still won't pay what they owe and you have to put a lien on something they own.    I've found this to be true for both tenants and contractors.  In both cases, it goes back to making better choices.  

I used to just have Open Houses, but now I use Rently.com.   It's just like what several people mentioned about getting a copy of a licence and then giving out the lockbox code, but it's automated and every person gets an individual code that's good for only one hour.  They can't come back later and try to get in, unless they request a new code.    

And the best part is that they get an automated reply from Zillow or where ever they saw the ad telling them how to access the system.    I don't have to answer a million Emails.  

It's the best thing I've ever done.  It costs $30 per box per month, and there's a minimum of two boxes, but the cost is nothing compared to the cost of my time and the cost of gas to drive to a property for another no show.  

Hey @Tom Parris    Thanks for much for your reply.  I have several houses in Hillsborough and have never even heard of that diagonal wind impact zone.  I'll definitely be figuring out where my current properties are thinking more strategically on future purchases.    I'm going to check out Waterset and keep looking for some actual ICF projects to look at.    Thanks for the tips on practical things renters love.  ICFs might qualify as an over-upgrade!  

Thanks again!

Hey Tampa Bay area BPers!

On a trip to Carroll's Building Supplies in St. Pete a few months back I got really excited about BuildBlock Insulating Concrete Forms, or ICFs.  I read everything on Carroll's website and scoured the web for all the cost information, etc. but I haven't been able to find anyone who's actually built with it.   Is there anyone out there who has used ICFs?  The advantages, in theory, are so huge and I'd like to know if they are true in real life:

1.  Do they really hurricane proof a house like the studies show?  And then what about the roof, isn't that your biggest weakness then and how to you strengthen that up?

2.  Is your insurance therefore so much cheaper?

3.  And is electricity really just 20 bucks a month in the Florida summer?  

4.  All the trade websites say that in the end they're only a tiny percentage more expensive than regular concrete block because the labor costs go way down.    Can you share any numbers?

5. Do tenants then care if they and their belongings are safer so you can charge a premium? I'm a buy and holder, but looking to be a build and holder.

I know I'm nothing but questions, but I'd be so appreciative of any information at all you could provide.  I promise to pay it forward some day!     Thanks!

Hi @Daniel Suarez    Yes, when I first started with Rently.com it was really new in our area and I had to explain things to people more than once, but it was still always easier than going to the property myself.    Nowadays, I it seems that about 25% of the people in the Tampa/St. Pete area are already familiar with Rently if they've been looking for a house for any period of time.  

I found that a typical house went from about 20 showings before it rented to only 3-4 showings.  I think the fact that people have to enter their ID and a credit card really decreases the look-loos and only people who are serious will come in, which is fine with me. And because I self-manage from abroad, it's important for me to weed out the people who aren't tech-savvy at the most basic level.    I have some Section 8 renters in a C+ neighborhood who don't even have Email, which is a pain in the pa-toot.  Somehow it seemed like a good idea when I accepted them a few years ago, but if I'd been on Rently back then I wouldn't even have had the temptation to accept them.  

If you decide to move abroad, just make sure you have all your tradespeople lined up in advance, with a backup as well.  And practice your payment method before you go.  My bank sends physical checks and it takes about a week, which is too long for some people, but now we're switching over to Zelle for some tradespeople.  But make sure everyone is signed up in advance so there aren't any surprises and you'll be just fine.  

Hi @Amit Ramraz    Can't your tenant take care of these small things for themselves?  When something breaks I usually give the tenant a budget and tell them find quotes for repair or pick out the new appliances themselves.  They'll send me 2-3 quotes for tree trimming or house painting, or links to new appliances, etc. and I'll pay on-line and let the tenant coordinate delivery, etc.  I think most people appreciate being able to choose what goes into their home and I appreciate the decreased hassle and expense.  

When it's done the tenant sends me pictures of what was done along with serial numbers, guarantee paperwork, etc. as appropriate and I've spent 20 minutes on the project and no extra money for a PM.  

I just read that some people are using Zelle to accept business payments into a personal account and then transferring. I agree 100% about the LLC protection issues, but there's another BIG risks. I used to accept rent payment for houses held in my own name through Google Wallet, where people could more or less just "Email me" the money. It was all great until Google Wallet said I was using it for business purposes and shut down my whole Google Payments account, which meant Google Docs and Google Pay were suspended. Not even going into the hassle that caused personally, having to switch rental payment methods without notice created a real mess. Some tenants will use any excuse to not pay the rent, and it took more than one person more than a month to "figure out" the new system. If you're using Zelle to collect monthly rent, I think it's just a matter of time until they block you. If you want to continue doing it, I would suggest that you have a back-up payment method like Cozy.co already in place and make sure that the tenants know what it is and how to use it BEFORE it's necessary.

My favorite cleaner is a private individual that that my GC recommended and she works for $25 an hour, but she has a day job so can only come in the evening.  I also use Maid to Order, which I think is a fairly well spread across the US.  They're a big chain and if I have a check-out and check-in on the same day I use them because they storm the place with 2-3 workers and have a lot of flexibility in scheduling.  Unfortunately, they change $40 an hour, which is more than I like except when I'm in a scheduling pinch.    But between the two cleaners, I always have someone who is available.