All Forum Posts by: Ashley Herring

@Sandra Quinn

Great post! I believe that you must have a team to have a successful portfolio. I am a property manager in the Lake Nona area and would be happy to answer any PM questions any investor has. 

Investment Info:

Townhouse buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $125,000
Cash invested: $10,000

At age 25 I purchased this property to live in. After construction was completed, I left to move abroad and never even moved in. Although I never rented it out while I was living overseas, I did turn it over to a professional management company in 2018 and it's been an investment property since.

How did you finance this deal?

First time homebuyer.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I wish I knew more about house hacking AND rental income in my 20's. Start early!

Thank You!!

Looking for a management company in Milroy, Minnesota (RedWood County). It's for the management of a 4plex. Thanks!

Cash for Keys is a great way to get the property back. What was always successful for me was to build the relationship with them during the tenancy and eviction process. My strategy was to always communicate with them and try to be helpful but firm and educate them through the process. 

Hello BP family!

I am looking for an operating agreement for my partner and I. We both already own the property but we are going to refinance it into our new individual LLCs and need the operating agreement to be executed asap. I would like to be as specific as possible in the OA so that all role responsibilities are specific and are documented. I would greatly appreciate your help!

(Orlando, FL)

I recommend what @Joe Splitrock stated. You issued a notice to vacate therefore  they need to be sent to the attorney to start eviction proceedings. It's unfortunate but it's what needs to be done. I would do what @Scott M.stated so when you do go to court, you tell the judge that the City Building/Health & Safety department indicated it was not habitable. I have had a property burn and we had to completely gut it. I assume that this isn't as bad as what I went through since they still want to live there. 

#1 - You gave them notice so they must leave. There doesn't need to be a reason (in Florida). 

#2 - You have information form the county stating that it's not a safe living environment. This should make you sleep at night knowing that you are removing a family from a bad environment. 

Hope this helps.

I think a good property manager could help you with this. My owners never had to deal with the headache of all that. That's why they hired us. Yes, it's not cheap but we had reliable vendors that we could hold accountable since we gave them so much business. I cannot even begin to tell you how many crazy scenarios I have encountered but hiring a vendor to handle it was the PM's job. If my owner didn't like his/her price, I would inform them that once this current "clean up" was completed, I will make it a priority to look for other bids/contractors. (Vacancy costs money too. Might as well get the job done as quickly as possible and move on.) I had several go-to "trash out" crews that would only charge $25-$50 to remove a fridge or couch. I've had full units that need to be trashed out so I hired the trash out crews to remove the items at a low cost, again due to the business the company gave them. If the PM isn't doing that for you, you can help them find a handyman or contractor. I always welcomed assistance from the homeowner. I've had homeowners request that I try out vendors and I will happily oblige. I think the key here is to find out if the PM is really doing what they need to be doing. If they are, together try to find a reputable company that can help with these issues. Hope this helps. :)

I agree with the previous posts. We renovated A LOT of apartments when I was a property manager and we always upgraded the appliances when they gave out. If it were my rental, I would never install a black fridge or something not aesthetically pleasing. I always upgrade anything in the rental when things break. As far as the brand, I do agree that Samsung is not my favorite. I try to stay away from the "fancy" fridges in my rentals. I do like the following criteria: EnergyStar, Black Stainless, No water filters, Yes to ice makers (provided there is a spot for the water line). I want my tenant to love their fridge but as an owner, I know that these things can break at the drop of a hat in one year so I don't want to pay $1,000 every time the fridge breaks. Hope this helps!

Hi Heather, former property manager here. I would look at the application as a whole. 

-Rental verification (at least two years)

-Employment verification

-Income requirements met? (I always required proof of income must be 3X's the monthly rent.)

-No evictions

-Credit score? (I require 600+. If less, I would require an additional deposit.)

-Plus the obvious, verify identify by meeting this applicant in person with drivers license. 

I also would get applicants that don't have a social security number or have no credit at all. I've seen a lot of scenarios. If everything checks out and there is only ONE thing that doesn't meet all requirements, I would normally request additional deposit, a Guarantor, or (in your case) reach out to the previous landlord before the treatment center. Maybe they have more information. There's really no right or wrong answer. You just need to do your due diligence and if everything checks out, go with what you think is best. I hope this helps. Feel free to DM me if you have more questions.