All Forum Posts by: David Niles

Paint is only going to be as good as the prep.  If you just go over the top of dirt, stains etc, they almost always find their way back out.  

We had an apartment the landlord/owner lived in and smoked 2+packs a day for his entire life, passed away and our client purchased. Needless to say the walls,ceiling etc were a deep yellow. Used TSP ( trisodium phosphate, is a powder you mix with warm water and use to wipe down your walls before painting ) to wash EVERYTHING and the nasty yellow was running down. After that, didnt even need to go as strong as oil Kilz ( my favorite for real nasty stains and smells ) but a basic stain blocker primer worked fine. 2 quality paint topcoats and just like new with no return surprises.

Couldnt agree with @Peter Baudendistel more.  Fees arent the whole story.  

I handled several hundred doors for a bunch of PM companies back in Buffalo before I made my recent move to sunny FL.  Some had cheap fees but raked owners over the burner with maintenance repairs.  Others had high fees and still racked up the repairs.  It really made me realize how many bad PMs are out there, unfortunately I saw far more bad then good.  With that I decided on my move to open up shop and use my skills to be one of the good guys.  

Bottom line, take a look at as big a picture as you can, fees, reviews and any other info you can gather from talking to them etc and go with your gut feeling.  Usually the more leg work you do upfront, the less it can cost you in the long run. 

When I first started, mine was also money, which I see mentioned here just a few times...

With that, I say you have to have something to bring to the table, if not money then what?  Adjust and scale your plans to fit what you have and are bringing to make it work.  I ended up starting with a dumpy mobile home that I could use my skills and redo on my own for cheap. 

Probably going to have to really narrow down exactly what your main  plan is for yourself and the property.  Never worry about being near or on water in Florida, there is always some no more than 15 minutes away, lol.  Also being that Florida is really all about tourism and retirement, with those 2 things off the areas you want, it will limit what your looking at. 

Most city codes arent going to allow you to use an rv / airstream as a residence. You also are going to want to look into the Big $$ costs for getting electrical, sewer and water onto the vacant property. 

Nice work, looks great!

I have a couple thoughts on this, first I am on board with the idea that there are alot of really bad PMs out there and the stories never end scaring people off.  I did property maintenance for several PM companies and saw first hand how much they wanted to cut corners and pad bills. 

Second, nobody is going to work harder for you then you. 

Not surprising at all, companies are seeing new models for what they can do cheaper and more effectively through all this and things are going to change.  Look at the remote web MD stuff, Dr office visits will become less and less. 

“Bedroom” means a room that can be used for sleeping and that:a. For site-built dwellings, has a minimum of 70 square feet of conditioned space;

b. For manufactured homes, is constructed according to the standards of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and has a minimum of 50 square feet of floor area;

c. Is located along an exterior wall;

d. Has a closet and a door or an entrance where a door could be reasonably installed; and

e. Has an emergency means of escape and rescue opening to the outside in accordance with the Florida Building Code.

2. A room may not be considered a bedroom if it is used to access another room except a bathroom or closet.

3. “Bedroom” does not include a hallway, bathroom, kitchen, living room, family room, dining room, den, breakfast nook, pantry, laundry room, sunroom, recreation room, media/video room, or exercise room.

The toilet as others have said, is usually the culprit, its amazing how much water it can use just trickling day and night.  Depending on how old the toilet is, your might want to just change it out if its not a water saving model.  If keeping the existing toilets, I would probably change out both the flapper and fill valves as they are cheap.