All Forum Posts by: Ethan Lieber

@William Huston - Why not manage it yourself and use a service to take the tenant calls 24/7 and dispatch for maintenance emergencies at your directive? This option is only $30/month versus $900/month and you don't have to worry about missing a tenant call or interrupting your day/night.

Let me know if you want a recommendation.

@Matt Leonard, that makes sense. Especially if you're actively acquiring new properties. I'd imagine once you hit a certain size property management becomes less scalable. (Because at a point the fees would just be too high. $10k+ per month... even $20k+per month.)

@Steve Maginnis, that makes sense about picking up landlords in eviction court. It is a worst case scenario for anybody. I'm sure as a property manager it is probably the worst thing (and time consuming thing) that you have to deal with.

I work with a company called Acacia Partners. I'd recommend speaking with them. If you're just looking for help handling maintenance then feel free to PM me. Good luck in your search.

For any landlords that use a property management company, what is the biggest reason that you chose to use a property manager? 

The reason that my own friends and family chose property managers in the past is because of the maintenance hassle. Not wanting to take the tenant calls and then find a contractor to fix the issue.

Also, for self managed landlords - would you ever use a service that ONLY managed the maintenance calls for you? Basically, taking tenant calls for maintenance and coordinating contractors. You'd still have to do everything else from finding tenants to accounting, etc.

If you put the right systems in place you don't need those PMs. You can get a leasing agent to do one time tenant placements. You can use maintenance only services to pay closer to $30/month versus 10% of rent. That covers 2 of the biggest issues. Then just make sure you have a decent accountant.

I've used Upwork in the past. You just need to provide clear instructions on how to do each task.

If you're looking for lead list/database building you can also use MTurk. You pay per hit. It is an Amazon service.

@Herbert Lewis Pick a service that will relay information to you and also handle emergency maintenance. You don't want to have to wake up at midnight to deal with a plumbing emergency. I'd look for:

1. An ability to troubleshoot maintenance issues on the phone
2. An ability to send a good contractor to fix emergency issues (anything that can cause property damage)

Feel free to PM me for details/suggestions.

Hi @Jon Collins. I suggest looking into a service dedicated to tenant calls for property investors. You want to pick a service that understands: 

1. How to troubleshoot maintenance issues
2. How to get contractors out during emergencies
3. Has a network of contractors to lean on (and at good pricing)

Feel free to PM me if you want my suggestions on this. Thanks.

@Rei Thomas I have a network of handymen and contractors in Rochester. If you have maintenance work that you need coordinated please feel free to PM me.