All Forum Posts by: Filipe Pereira

It depends on your state @Nick Willi - in CT we are required to have separate security deposit accounts, each in the name of the tenant, being held in an interest bearing escrow account. It's a mouth full, but hey, the law is the law.

We keep a operating account and a reserves / savings for the next investment account. The operating acct (checking) is for the transient stuff (rent, repairs, etc) and the reserves is where the money builds up for major repairs and / or the next investment.

Did I just read an ad for a property manager @Jorge Vazquez? LOL. 

I believe that someone with a good contact list and decent systems can manage 10 to 15 units by themselves with a full-time job. Obviously this number changes based on each person's life circumstances, whether they have other commitments to attend to, Etc.

For most people property management is a luxury, not a necessity. Especially because most people will never own more than 5 to 10 units. However, people are obviously free to spend their money however they prefer to, so who are you or I to tell them what to do or what not to do. Some people spend money on property management to relieve themselves of the headache, or because they are too far away. Totally sound reasons. Heck, I even know of a couple people who live next door to their rental and still hire property management out!

There is no one size fits all approach to property management, thankfully.

We do a TON of tenant screening, so the best system we've implemented by far is one that allows us to screen tenants with no phone calls, back and forth emails, etc. I posted about it a while ago here on BP: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

We've now had over 5,500 potential renters go through this process and it's saved us a unfathomable amount of time. When combined with form mule, we can respond to all tenants with about 5 clicks of the mouse. It's a heck of a system and I'm really proud of it. We've shared it to about another 100 BP members over the years. Well worth it! 

I'm not nearly as big as Nathan, but we too have managed to collect 100% of our rents all through 2020. For us it's been more about being proactive and offering any advice we could, showing them how to get unemployment if necessary, and just not being jerks in the process @Jason Lam. 

I've learned this year that you have to find what makes someone tick. Some people just want to be heard and for you to acknowledge that they are in tough times, and will happily pay rent afterwards. On the flip side, if you keep screaming "pay me my rent!" they are more likely to resent you, and not pay you at all. 

Human psychology is an amazing thing, really. 

Google Drive, google sheets, anything google has been super helpful for me @Darryl Jennings. 

It can contain anything my computer has, from anywhere in the world. Need to send a lease to my insurance co? Easy-jump on gmail, find where I sent it to the tenant and just fwd to owner. Need to know who hasn't paid their rent yet ? Easy- jump on to google sheets where I log who has paid rent and it's right there. 

The list goes on and on. I use these products everyday and while they are free, if google started charging me, I'd happily pay for them.

This is exciting @Heather Kovaci! Congrats on having your offer accepted. My girlfriend goes to school at UMASS, so I was initially considering picking something up in Northhampton, but as you noticed, prices are a bit out of whack right now. 

I would spend 50% of the money on Kitchens, 30% on bathrooms, 10% on the porch (is it front or back?) and the rest on misc. throughout. Yes, the kitchens are that important!

@Ryan Breen removing old plaster / panelling and doing some skim coat + new paint is some of the most rewarding / transformational stuff you can do! Just did that at my place in Windsor Locks. Like you we're doing some kitchens next - those will be in Springfield. 

I think we should hire you! We're looking for another maintenance person north of the CT/MA border. Sent ya a DM!

No, not really. I've found it to be more of a bank by bank scenario. For example, we used Windsor Federal Savings in Windsor, CT for a while and they never required a W9 for the security deposits. Peoples united bank always did for some reason. 

As Konstantin said, it's so that the bank knows to who to send the 1098-int form at the end of the year for the interest made on the savings account. Without the W9 they don't have the necessary information (SSN) they need to be able to send out the 1098-int. 

@Kenneth Guy, here are the rates I got quoted from the last time I shopped around for investment property in East Hartford. As you can see, AAA was the cheapest one. Most people don't think of AAA as a home insurer, but they are and are the cheapest (still) to go with. Here's my list - all were quoting the same property in CT.

Insurance quotes:
Liberty Mutual 1687

Lundberg Insurance 1455

Geico 2880

Flanigan Insurance 2611

Nationwide 1722

Statefarm 2894

Paul Korzep 2294

Advanced American Financial 3251

Sava Insurance 2763

Farmers Insurance 1338

AAA 1000

Allstate 2165

Amica 4967

@Andrew Threet

1. We have our accounts at a credit union, so they don't do fees. Not business accounts. Avoid biz accts if you can. Just adds unnecessary complications with no real perks.

2. Maybe 1 time per quarter.

3. I don't really pay myself, I just put whatever is above the reserves into an online money market account that offers a higher yield interest rate. 

We use Peoples united bank for the security deposits and Windsor locks federal credit union for the reserves / operating accounts @Heather Armoogam

Sounds reasonable and fair @Steve K. The problem is you will have to get the tenant to agree with it, or you will have to face a tenant turnover if they refuse and move out. 

I've become a fan of solar options lately. There's some scenarios where a small solar panel wired to a common light solves the problem. In other instances where a furnace is tied in, it's less helpful. I cant imagine wiring that furnace to the correct meter would be cost prohibitive, unless you have to add a new meter just for that.