All Forum Posts by: Brian Young

I agree @Alicia Marks, good riddance! He was still trying to get me to do the renovations after I told him I was out. Really rubbed me the wrong way and haven't spoken since. Hakuna matata! On to the next one! 

My handyman company has become overwhelmingly busy and just trying to keep up at the moment and saving what I can. However I'm still on the hunt for another deal and partnership! Checking my sources daily for another gem. 

Almost had my first last month! Started a JV deal for a condo on Seminole Lake here in Pinellas County FL with a local wholesaler that I've been in contact with. He had it under contract for substantially less ($305k) than it was listed for on Zillow $365k. Solid ARV of $425k. Needed all cosmetics but everything else was in great shape.

The agreement was for me to handle the entire renovation work myself (I have been residential remodeling since 2006') with a few subs using $15k of my own money and $20k of his capitol. I would then sell the property using my real estate license and contacts. I was willing to take a modest 30% of the profit and 3% commission being that it was my first deal and he had found and acquired the property.

I had asked him to see the contract (as I was to be added to the contract) and for all information on what the numbers where in his analysis (holding costs, taxes, fees, etc.). After 2 weeks of going to the property and lining up everything needed for the renovations his communication fell off. He said he was with family that was visiting and apologized for the gap in communication. I said no worries and next time a text just saying I'll get back to you would suffice. Still not having seen ANY of the paperwork for this property and closing day was only a few days out and having my calendar blocked off to do the work I started to get nervous. After 2 more incidences of him not returning my call nor calling when he said he would and multiple delay texts I had to tell him for my first deal I couldn't partner with someone who was not properly communicating with me. 

Sad but I feel I made the right decision. I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts who read this far.

@Joshua Messinger Thank you for the reply! We are having multiple meetings a week to get all of our processes fine tuned.

If you wouldn't mind sharing, I would love to know what client portal you are using?

I feel there has always been a demand for these medium term rentals with people in the traveling medical field, traveling teachers and traveling trainers of all sorts. They just haven't received the attention they deserve so you're filling that knowledge gap for everyone interested in taking advantage of that market with this one and I am excited to read it when it comes out! 

30-Day Stay: A Real Estate Investor's Guide to Mastering the Medium-Term Rental has a nice ring to it and gets my vote!
 

Thank you for all the wonderful responses! 

@Tracy Streich I will definitely look into this, thank you for the resource! 

@Justin Moy Saying 'no' is something I had to perfect with my handyman services company and understand the value in being able to do what I way I will and over deliver whenever possible.

Aloha @Richard F.! This is the stage we are currently at. Being that we already do STR management we have a lot of this in place and are tweaking a few things and adding some others for smooth operation when we roll out the LTR management.

Thank you @Kristina Kuba for those bullet points! I really like the 12 month guarantee, going to talk to my broker about this one for sure! I would love any recommendation on easy to use portals for our clients and tenants! This so far has been the biggest struggle to find. 

Hello all! I am excited announce I will be adding a long term rental property management division to the brokerage I'm with Mitchell Dean Realty here in Tampa. 

I have been taking note of the things the landlords I know like to have done by their property managers and the things they tend to be frustrated by that some property management companies do or don't do. Some of the big ones I've heard are things like having a great tenant portal for handling maintenance requests and rental applications, quick response times when dealing with tenant follow up, showing face at the property or at least routine drive by checks and a reliable maintenance team to handle property repair and upkeep. Some of the big no no's I've heard have been things like unresponsive maintenance requests (or long lag times in correspondence), long turn over times with vacancies and unprofessional interactions with the tenants.

I am interested in what your management team does that you can't live without and/or what they do that you wish they would change? Any horror stories and blessings from a previous or current manager are also welcomed!

I look forward to hearing your stories and to finding out what is important to you in a property manager!

In my opinion you should allow them. Allowing all size cats and dogs widens your renter pool. Some of the biggest dogs, like great danes for instance, don't really move around too much as compared to say a border collie. This also makes it so people don't try to sneak one by you and you can fully vet the pet as far as its personality is concerned (not allowing pets that have a record of aggression). Most people, as @Patricia Berman is finding out, can just get their pet deemed as an emotional support animal and then in most cases you wont be able to deny the pet, charge rent for the pet nor charge for a pet security deposit. Go with a non-refundable security deposit for the pet in addition to the tenants base security deposit that you feel will comfortably cover typical pet caused damages and use tenants security deposit to cover the above and beyond damage caused if any.

 Allowing pets can affect your tenant retention in a positive way also. Due to a lot of other places not allowing pets or even just not allowing large dogs causing your tenant to want to avoid having to find somewhere else that will take them when their lease with you expires. Not to mention if someone has a healthy dog or cat or both with vet records and the like they usually have to have some kind of grip on their responsibilities and finances as compared to those with no pets or kids.

Best of luck! 

Big no no. The last thing you want is to sneak something by the hoa and have this up and running only to be found out by the hoa (which will definitely happen eventually) and be in a situation where you are paying a lot of fines and no way to handle getting back in the good graces of the hoa (who have the ability to make ownership a living hell).

Best of luck!

Both @Andrew Garcia and @Tanner Connelly make great points. I can only speak for the Tampa Bay Area where I live and the rental market is booming! Even though the 1% rule is pretty much non-existent here there are still lots of investors buying, renovating, renting and cash flowing. I would say with rising interest rates it is especially important to have good financial backing and a clear plan to refinance once renovated.  That being said, to @Eliott Elias and @Andrew Garcia's point, I have seen poor management and buying too high ruin even the best properties potential.

Let me know any way I can assist you with this goal!

Glad you are taking this route rather than gambling with an HOA. Always prefer loosing money before closing rather than after. Time for a new agent and a property without an HOA!