All Forum Posts by: Brandon Kamm

@Jeffrey K,

Labor required at properties varies in all degrees, from trashing out a unit, to painting walls, cleaning common areas of multi units, plumbing repairs, etc. Some tasks "grunt labor" can easily be performed by someone for $8.00 to $9.00 per hour. Skilled plumbers and good painters will run $15.00 or so per hour. Varied billing rates for what is being done make this possible. If a tenant skips and we have to trash out the unit and clean it, i don't need a $15.00 hour guy and bill an owner $40.00. i can use a $9.00 and bill $21.50. When i need to replace a toilet i use the $15.00 guy and bill $40.00. Its about making a profit, but keeping owner expense reasonable

Steve, I saw you had properties in Memphis and were unhappy with your company. We operate in Memphis, I am curious, don't realty care to know who you are using, but what are your concerns? Always interested to hear of issues related to our area.

Beware, run a full credit history, background check, etc. Asknfor bank statements showing rent paid etc. If anything looks shoddy ask for extra rent in advance. It's not your responsibility to give her a chance. You are running a business.

Would you ever walk into a car dealership with a shoddy past and ask for them to give you a chance on a new car loan. Doubt they would be willing to, they have certain criteria, why, because they are running a business.

Inherently we are want to be sympathetic and help someone out, that's human nature. All it takes is being burned once or twice to realize that helping someone out can result in a bad business decision.

One other thing i feel inclined to throw in here. Property Managers are not perfect, we do make mistakes. Over the years I am certain I have incorrectly billed, misposted rent, screwed up a service call, etc. we all make mistakes. The owner should always thoroughly review monthly reports and charges and question any that look odd or unexpected. With that being said many times when an owner has questioned a charge or something that looks incorrect we are happy to correct and make things right. The owner should have a responsibility to review the monthly reports and ask questions if they aren't sure about an issue or charge. Unfortunately there are many "manager's" who are very unethical in their work, many of us work very hard to make real estate investments work, but do make a mistake here or there. You should have a good working relationship with the manager and they should be accountable at the end of the day for property activity.

BryanA,

You make a great point, we use an in house maintenance staff. I would recommend to anyone that is searching for a manager or looking to become one to have this. It is much cheaper for the property owner when in house maintenance can take care of a problem. I can bill $21.50 to $40 per hour for various issues, while a subcontractor may have a minimum of $65 per hour no matter how big or small. Also, when management performs there own maintenance they can be sent immediately to rectify a problem vs. having to work off of a subs schedule.

What exactly is 1500 for MLS gorilla software? For less than that you can get a license and pay dues and then work your own deals.....25k please tell me that's a typo.

Sounds odd, are you even on any lease of sorts? If nothing is in writing theres your way out.

She should have a basic form letter from ssi detailing the who what where and how much she receives. Perhaps if you did not have this as apart of her file ask her to bring it in as a show of good faith that you will work with her. If she can't provide one, she may be trying to pull one over on you.

Some very good points here, especially Allen. Property management sounds easy until you run into a problem. Unruly tenants, evictions, holiday late night floods in apartments, I could go on for weeks. Owner expectation is a huge area to focus one. For many owners they do understand that maintenance occurs and expenses are incurred, others have a problem any time they are charged for a service call. When we have a service call, I have a wage to pay, gas, insurance, tools, taxes, etc. Keep in mind I am running a business and also trying to make a profit. Yes, there is a huge problem when service issues are blatantly over billed, but maintenance issues do occur and have to be fixed. With some owners we spend lots of time explaining why it was 85 bucks to service a condensor and charge it up...these things happen when you have investment property. Inherently one of the biggest responses I here is that "I cant afford the service issues, my mortgage is xxx", if I didn't work with you buying the property I can't help you with the fact that you overpaid for the property. It is my job to ensure a tenant pays timely rent in return for a safe habitable home.

It is true that a manager won't pay as much attention to your property as the owner would if they were managing it themselves. It also shouldn't be expected that they do without being compensated for it. Managers have certain inherent responsibilities, collect rent, lease units, handle tenant problems. These should be handled timely and correctly, and if not there is a problem. There should be basic responsibilities expected of he manager, ones that in all honesty are not as thorough as an owner would do themselves.

This is a great topic and I apologize for any sort of negative rant. We have been around nearly ten years and the one thing that sets me off is when the " my manager sucks" discussion comes up. If you haven't been actively, not on the side, involved or your just thinking of starting a management company because it sounds easy you wouldn't understand. This is a much more difficult than many realize. I believe the one poster had it correct above in that most use a manager because they don't want to deal with it themselves.

Speaking as a property manager I will add some food for thought. Always try and bargain when selecting one. One key point to work off of is how difficult your property will be and how much work it will take. If you have a great single famil in good part oftown the manager more than likely will just be depositing their check and sending you one, easy work for 50 bucks to 75 bucks a month. Keep in mind maintenance is billed separately this is just in the management side. If you have a property in a tougher part of town where dealing with tenant payments and often lease violations will occur be prepared to pay a higher percentage, it's inherently more difficult to manage and more time involved....just my two cents