All Forum Posts by: Don Chambers

Does anyone have any tips on hiring someone to manage rental properties?

I have 26 properties and I am trying to step out of the day to day operations.  It's not a full-time job but it's a lot off hassle for me because of the other things I have going on.  I have someone now but it's not working out.  They have taken a full-time job and I am slowly being pulled back into the work.

Currently, I pay $200 per month, $200 to get a property rented, and a percentage of rent.  The percentage is a sliding scale based on occupancy - 4%-8.5% when everything is rented.  It's usually about $1300 a month.

I expect them to cover all duties for managing the properties except going to court and paying bills.  They put out signs, show houses, handle repair calls, send late letters, file evictions, record payments, and work with contractors.  Its sounds like a lot but I have been doing it and know it takes about 8-10 hours a week and that equates to more than $30/hour.

I have looked into a property management company.  They are very expensive and I can't find a good way for them to handle repairs.  They have no incentive to reduce costs.  Plus, they are not really working for me and it's hard to get them to do odd things that come up.  I need a part-time employee.

I am open to paying more if I get a reliable person that keeps tenants happy and vacancies low.  I am not sure what I am looking for or how to find anyone.

I need a tool to help me work leads.  I have been working with Podio but it is lacking or I can't figure it out.  In Podio, I have tried creating my own app or using existing ones.  I have my data imported and google voice integrated.  It seems perfect, except it's difficult to work the leads.  I am still working it through Excel but that is not ideal.

1. Many leads are just phone numbers - hang ups from a direct mail campaign.  Podio handles this, but other tools required a name or an address.  I need to call them before I have this info.
2. I need a way to ensure the leads gets worked and have a followup date. In Excel, I just use a follow-up date sorted with oldest first. After I call, I change the follow-up date and resort. Then I just work through calling the top one.   
3. I need to be able to divide the leads between people that work for me.  In podio, I can share the workspace but everyone sees everything.  I just want people to see the things assigned to them, so we don't have multiple people calling the same lead accidentally.  With Excel, I just send people different excel files with just there leads.

Working with Excel is tedious.  A lot of scrolling.  My needs seem simple and there should be a tool for this.  I don't mind paying if I need to.  My volume is low enough that I just need a tool for the leads.  Maybe 60-80 a month with only a small portion getting past the first phone call.

So far, all are lookie-loos or people with disasters and still want too much.  Like 40k for something I need to be at 2k for.

I don't know if I buy the instant response theory but I have heard it.    What do you think is the reason?

I also have a website, and in that case they are looking to sell and if i don't answer they probably just move to the next guy.  But if they get this postcard and it takes me a few hours to call back who are they calling?  The chances of another card hitting the same day is rare.    I guess it could get them in the mood to google it.

If a service answers and then I need to call back it seems to be the same problem.  They will just move to the next person while they wait for me to call.  However, I would like a service to pre-qualify them.  I am looking into that.  Any recommendations? 

I have never found it hard to get the really motivated people.  They really want to sell and it does not matter if I answer immediately or how I word my letter.  The clever wording and tricky envelopes just seem to get unmotivated people to call.

All that being said, I am a complete novice at direct mail.  This is my fist mailing.

I have only gotten 9 because i'm busy. I have a small software company that keeps me busy as a consultant and manging a few employees. I have been a real estate investor for 10 years. I have 26 rentals and have done a few flips. I have built a rental business thay will scale. I have employees and I am not required to run day-to-day operations. I just need a funnel to get more properties. I get leads from my website and also buy bank owned. A few directly from the banks buy most were listed. I wanted to build a pipeline so i could buy more houses. Buy i misjudged what direct mail is. Now i am scrambling to find a way to hire someone to help. 1. Buying bank owned a financial exercise. Work the numbers and be patient until something fits. 2. The website leads are helping people solve problems. The challenge is usually numbers - is there equity to solve the problem. 3. Direct mail is sales. Be vague enough to get calls and then use sales tactics to try to get deals. Most want market value and you have to talk to them, get them to meet you, make the offer. Eat up your time. I would apprectiate any tips you can give me.

I have just gotten caught up on the calls from my direct market campaign.  I need a way to make sure the leads get worked in a timely manner and I have a few weeks before the next postcards hit.  I

am thinking about using PatLive.  Does anyone have experience with that?

I am also looking into Michael Quarles call center but I'm having website issue (on my end - not his).  Has anyone used that?

Does anyone have a recommendation?  

I would like a CRM that let's me start with just a phone number.  Does anyone know of such a product?

I have a lot of calls from a direct mail campaign.  Most calls are missed and they hang up (I'm working on this).  I know they came from the direct mail campaign because that's all I use the number for.  I need a tool where I can store the number and then me (and some helpers) can go through the list calling them and adding the other details as we get them.

Here are my requirements:

• Create a lead with just a phone number.
• Allow import/export of data.
• Allow multiple users.
• Be mobile friendly.

Everything I have tried requires an address or a name to create the lead.

My direct mail response rate is almost 4%. This is my first direct mail campaign and i dont think there is much competition in my area. I've sent 1,100 postcards and gotten 42 calls. The mailings just went out and i don't think every card has been delivered yet. I have had a hard time getting all the calls. I have only gotten 9 and now I have brought in a partner to call the leads. The list is absentee owners with equity. The card is a handwritten font that just says i would like to buy the house, as-is, with cash. The main response is from people that have no motivation. They just want to see if I will pay market value or more. Should I make my intent more obvious on the card? There is a lot of discussion about what to send (yellow letter, zip letter, postcard), how to get them to open a letter, what to say, how to make it personal, etc. Are these things really important when they are motivated? I think its just ways to get the unmotivated people intrigued so they will call. I would like to try a mailing that makes it clear that I'm an investor. That I will buy fast in any condition but I'm not paying after repair market value. I am not sure how to word it. Any thoughts?

I do have a Google voice number for this and I already use VoiceNation for my rental line.  I have not used voicenation live answering.  I like that idea.  Have you done it?

Can the prople answering just have a conversation so it doez not sound scripted?  For example, can I tell them how to answer certian questions only if asked?

I dont see how to upload an image on the mobile version.  Ill try later from a desktop.  The postcars uses handwritten font and says:

I would like to buy your house at 123 thierStreet, if you woukd like a quick, no-hassle sale please text or call me.

I can pay cash and will buy as-is.

Then my Google voice number.

I have to hire someone.  If I can't find anyone I'll go back to bank REOs and abandon this as a lesson learned.  

I run a small software consulting company.  If I have to have a job I would rather it be writing code than being a salesman.  I have 26 rentals and have done 4 flips and until yesterday I never thought of real estate investing as being a salesman.

I expected 1 or 2 leads a month and maybe 1 deal a year.  I feel like I have tricked a lot of people into calling so I can make a sales pitch.  Leads from my website seem more motivated - I guess it's because they were seeking me out.

I have had 29 calls in less than a day.  Probably more this weekend and the middle of next week my second batch of mailings hit.  There is no way I can call all these back, in fact I have stopped trying.   

If #4 is to high would uou still go see it?  Hoping they would take even less.