All Forum Posts by: Christian Hansen

Hi welcome to NC! Please let me know if you need anything. Also I am involved with TREIA triangle re investors assoc., it's a good networking opportunity. Good luck, Christian

@Ben Braddock

Hey there, I hope your doing well. I talked to Rently recently at a conference and I had the same thought as @Dawn Brenengen (Hi Dawn!) that it would only work with vacant units. Ben it may work for you when you bring units on for the first time. I rarely show a vacant unit and I agree it is also the best opportunity to meet/interview tenants. Its so important to get the right tenants, I feel it is the point where you win/lose the battle of rental management.  Being careless and picking bad tenants can make the next 12 months really challenging. 

@Tom Dwyer

Hi welcome to the South ;-)  I moved to Cary NC from Boston in 2003.  I like Pittsboro as well, there are some good positive aspects to the whole area out there.

@Patrick H.  

This law is tricky because, buried in it are new rules about local govts. ability to pass other laws based on sexual orientation and set minimum wages. It also essentially allows employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and allows discrimination based on sexual orientation in places of public accommodation aka: any business open to the public. So really sweeping stuff.

It will not hold up, and there is a lot of pressure building. It seems to be the last flailing efforts of the hyper-conservatives in the current state govt. to bring NC back to 1950. Note to all: I am just expressing my opinion and will not engage in a debate on this topic.

Businesses won't move, there's too much momentum currently. Raleigh is a tough market to find "killer" deals, but its growing so appreciation is a real possibility and there are surrounding areas with potential.

@Tyler Howell,

I use Propertyware and am happy with it, I was close to going with Appfolio but had another PM tell me she had switched to Appfolio from Propertyware and wish she hadn't. I know Applfolio is really pushing sales and Propertyware isn't, as much. They (PW) are a Realpages co. so have a big co. behind them. I think they are probably both very capable. 

I saw Yardi has come out with a new product, which I think is designed to be cheaper and not quite as comprehensive. So maybe not ideal for large Assoc. or Commercial., but maybe good for just residential? They have been around the longest.

Good luck!

Christian Hansen

Hi, @Pete Bhairgond

I just read your post and wanted to invite you to the TREIA South subgroup meeting this Tuesday evening. I run that subgroup meeting. It is at Dave& Busters at the Cary Towne Center, it has its own entrance. We use their function rooms which are nice. I have a speaker coming who will talk about foundation issues/solutions, he has a lot of experience in the field and that is always a tricky topic when looking at properties. If you have already joined TREIA it is $15.- which includes dinner. 

In the subgroups the talks are not sales oriented at all, only educational. Members do present deal and of course plenty of networking.

Hope to see you there or another mtg.

@Max T. Hi, I totally see your point and agree that there are multiple scenarios in the property manager / owner relationship that appear to have an inherent conflict of interest, and many times do. It is like many service oriented relationships, you pay more for bad service because it has to be done more often. So what is the solution? 

I can't say there is a cure-all for this, you need to find a manager who wants to be your service partner not a vulture. Personally I would prefer less volatility. So, less turnover, less maintenance due to neglect and less tenant headaches. Although some managers see these are revenue streams, I don't. They all require work to be done, its not like free money. Then when you(PM) factor in that the owners are unhappy which will create property turnover it can actually be a losing proposition financially. I much prefer a scenario where tenants stay for years, theres no crazy repairs at turnover due to bad tenant behavior or lack of attention on my part during occupancy, and owners are happy. I want to make the bulk of my revenue on the management fees. If I do my job right it should be a more steady predictable business model with less chaos. Most importantly for owners if it is more steady and predictable, they can make their future plans more accurately and hopefully bring me more business. It is a service business and has to work for both sides.

Thanks,

Christian Hansen

Abodia Property Management

Victor, Please remember what @Darren Eady mentioned. If you've leveraged your purchase inside a SDIRA and used all you money, and then the roof needs to be replaced, you CANNOT use any $ from outside the IRA to fix it. I would add that when some say you can manage it yourself, that does not mean you can go and fix a couple rotten boards or replace a light fixture, because you would have to buy(outside $) that fixture and your sweat equity is also an issue. Will someone be looking over your shoulder the whole time, probably not but it can be discovered. Best to stay safe.

All that said, SDIRA's are a great way to go but as others mentioned you have to be knowledgeable about the rules and risks.

@Michael Campbell  Well there are certainly ways to improve the screening, but there will always be the potential for a problem if you are the tenant procurer. The tenants' situation may change causing them to behave differently 6 mos later, but it will always be the tenants that YOU found. 

I suppose you could ask if they would charge less? it all depends on the market in your area, and also if tenants in that kind of property stay for only 12 mos or many years. The latter would cut the cost down a bit.

Good luck!

Christian Hansen

Abodia Property Management

In a perfect world the owner would find awesome tenants who pay on time and take great care of the property, in which case as a PM (which I am) I would say great! In the real world, the owner, who also has a full time job, might not always find the best tenants who then become the people causing problems. However it's my job to deal with them and I may grow to resent the owner who put these tenants in there, and the owner might be mad at me for not "managing" the property correctly. Bad situation. I think either you trust your manager which the whole deal or you better be ready to deal with some issues. Now this assumes the PM is finding as good tenants as is possible given the constraints of the market and property. Which is what you are paying for and should receive.