All Forum Posts by: Chris Grenzig

We've lived in Jacksonville, FL for the past 3 years and recently moved to the Orlando, FL area. We own and operate 51 multifamily units and we also do property management in Orlando and Jacksonville for other owners of residential properties from single units/homes up to 80-unit apartment buildings.

I've always tried to network and meet more people in the real estate space wherever I live and would love to meet more people in the Orlando area. I also want to go to more networking events and meetups in the area. I'll be checking out CFRI and possibly the NARPM events, but if you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear them and attend. 

If you're in the area or are actively involved here please comment below, shoot me a message, or friend request, and let's jump on an intro call and connect.

@Scott Trench I have been an owner who has used a 3rd party PM, and I am currently an owner-operator and a property manager managing other owners' properties. 

When you compare one company versus others there are a lot of different pricing models, so many times it's tough to compare. My company has a higher listed % fee than some others (8-10%) but that includes more services, other have lower fees but have other items that are additional costs. So each owner would have to spend the time to compare them and figure out what is best for them. 

However, in your stated list I think there are some that I think are ridiculous and should not be included:

- Document fee of $50

- Rights to commission when selling

- tenant lease renewal fee (tenants shouldn't have to pay to renew their lease)

- none of the other admin fees specifically are totally crazy, but the total amount of them IS crazy to me

- interest on trust accounts, that might not even be legal so check that, depends on the state

One thing I will mention, that I think @Jay Hinrichs mentioned is there are some fees charged to residents that do make "sense". One is the resident benefits package which the manager is providing services to the resident and charging a fee for. Application fees, lease prep fees, and pet screening fees (probably 3rd party service petscreening.com), are all justifiable in my view. However, ones like the tenant renewal fee (previously mentioned) would not be. 

So, I do think some of these fees and the overwhelming amount of fees is a bit crazy, but a lower % fee and more fees could be good for people. If you have an easy property and an easy tenant and nothing breaks, you could in theory spend less by paying a lower % and not having any of those extra fees come up. However, in my opinion in the long term, the extra fees end up costing the owner more and just leads to a more strained relationship over time. 

A lot has already been said, but having been both an owner who used third-party managers and now managing properties for others the biggest thing is setting up expectations and responsibilities clearly.

Also, if you don't understand something don't hesitate or be afraid to ask!

@Tiffany Tan in addition to other suggestions, have either yourself or someone you know secret shop your listing. Have someone call, email text showing interest in the lead and see what sort of response you get. That will tell you a lot about whether it's service-driven or something else. 

 @Petronella Kerssens the biggest thing I would be looking at is the supply levels for each market. Assuming you're thinking of some form of rental model, that's always been the biggest factor in rental properties. However, landlords and owners (myself included) have been getting reminded of how important that is. The last 12-24 months new supply levels have increased dramatically and you're seeing vacancy rates expand, rental rates flatten or drop, and days on the market rise. 

Unfortunately, I don't have the data for this on hand to look at, but that's what I would be paying close attention to. However, just in general supply levels should be dropping way down in future years as new construction starts, especially in the multifamily space, have dropped off a cliff. So there are a lot of projects being completed right now and in the next year or maybe two, but the number of new projects being started right now is very low, so once these current projects finish up, the new supply levels will drop and absorption of new units should get better. Which in turn should help rent growth in 2-4 years from now assuming most other things stay the same. 

You still have to worry about other things like job growth, population growth, unemployment, macro economic trends, etc. 

Sorry it's no so much an actual answer (plenty of other people weighed in on that), but just another thought to consider as you look at it. 

@Benjamin Hirsh hopping into an old post, hopefully you found a manager that worked out for you. If we can help in any way let us know. We're based in Orlando, manage long-term rentals 1-80 units, and own/manage 48 units ourselves, so we know what it's like to be an owner and a manager. 

Old post I'm going to tack onto. We've been owner-operators for the past 3 years in Jacksonville, FL, we've bought over 200 units and currently own and manage 51 units in Jacksonville. We moved to the Orlando area several months ago and we got licensed to take on property management clients in the Orlando area. We specialize in long-term rentals (7-12 month leases) for properties from 1 to 80 units; single-family, duplexes, triplexes, condos, townhomes, and apartment buildings, that's our bread and butter. If anyone is still searching we'd be happy to discuss your situation with you and see if we can help!

 Hey @Yona Ganz great questions, hopefully I can help a little bit!

1. This goes for any market, but it depends on what your goals are. Long term appreciation and wealth preservation you could look in areas like college park, maitland, winter park, etc. There's not too many high cash flow areas anywhere in Florida, but if you looked for more C class stuff you should get better cap rates or rent to price ratios, so could check out pockets of areas like Casselberry, Longwood, Leesburg, Deland, Deltona, Sanford, etc. Not saying those areas are bad by any means, just you might get some better pricing there. 

2. @Adrian Lammersdorf-Scioll nailed a lot of those areas that I would say as well. 

3. Another great resource is city-data.com for some stuff like that, definitely income and crime stats, I don't know if it has data on schools. 

Investment Info:

Large multi-family (5+ units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $1,920,000
Cash invested: $830,000

24 Unit Value-Add property in Jacksonville, FL. We bought this 6 pack of quadplexes all right next to each other through a double wholesale and we were able to close cash in 3 weeks and then refinance into an 80% LTV loan. The property appraised for $105k a door and we bought it for $80k a door. We've increased rents $350 in 12 months and should increase them $600+ once all units are renovated and brought to market rents. We should refi out 100%+ of our money inside 24 months.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Unbelievable purchase price in an area of town that was growing fast, with a large amount of upside to income and renoavtions/

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Off-market through a double wholesale. We had to close cash in 3 weeks.

How did you finance this deal?

Hard money loan to close, then refinanced into a 80% LTV life insurance loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

We are spending $12-18k per unit on interior renovations. We've also fixed a lot of rotted wood siding, re-painted every building, and done other exterior fixes.

What was the outcome?

We have been able to raise rents $350+ inside 16 months and should continue that to $600+ inside 30 months.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Fast contractors are better than cheap contractors.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Jim Hoggat - Walker & Dunlop Mortgage Broker
Jordan Feldman - Rampart Insurance

Investment Info:

Large multi-family (5+ units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $1,170,000
Cash invested: $900,000

16 Unit Value-add property we significantly renovated spending $35k per unit doing interiors, exteriors, and amenities. Completely overhauling the property and significantly improving. More than 2x the in place NOI at purchase and will refi out 100%+ of initial capital and hold for cash flow.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Orange Park has had next to no new supply since the 80s/90s because of barriers to entry in the physical barriers around the submarket as well as the low allowable density for new construction. Also, the prior management had done a poor job and gave us upside in operating expenses and in rental income.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

It was through a local broker who brought it to me off-market after he knew what types of deals we were looking for.

How did you finance this deal?

70% LTV life insurance loan

How did you add value to the deal?

Spent $35k per unit on interiors and exteriors. Re-piped the whole property, built a laundry room, expanded the pool deck and added pavers, refenced the property, re-built 2 exterior staircases, re-landscaped, and put in all new cabinets, granite, appliances, LVP flooring, lights, doors, blinds, etc.

What was the outcome?

In the process of trying to do a full cash out refi right now into long term non-recourse debt.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Construction and heavy reno will create/reveal problems you didn't know existed, have a healthy contingency and stomach.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Jim Hoggatt - Walker & Dunlop Mortgage Broker
Jordan Feldman - Rampart Insurance
George Bacon - Jacksonville/Southeast US private broker

Walkthrough video of a unit