All Forum Posts by: Gavin Carlson

I run a property management company in Southern California with around 450 units under management. I would love to create a group of managers of similar sized companies across the US to talk periodically (weekly, monthly, etc) to discuss tips and tricks to help us all continue to grow our businesses and improve the service to our clients. 

If you manage a medium sized management company and are looking for a place to set goals, hold each other accountable, and discuss ways to move our companies forward then lets get together!

Completely agree with @Michael Jones, aggressive breeds will cause your insurance rates to increase dramatically. Even if the dog is a service or emotional support animal, the reasonable accommodation clause in the ADA allows you to deny applicants if your insurance will not cover the breed (even in California!). 

It's not worth the liability in my opinion. 

Thanks for taking the time to put this all together! $500/month cashflow is awesome!

I believe you can ask for documentation to verify the need for the support/service animal. Usually it's just a note from their Dr or other medical professional stating their need. Most states also have documentation for the animal as well, almost like an ID card that the applicant could provide.

In my experience small claims is a pretty low key affair, no lawyers just two parties explaining their side of the story directly to the judge. I would bring two copies (one for you and one for the judge) of any agreement regarding the commission, texts and call logs you shared with the clients, anything that helps prove you are owed a commission. The real hassle though is that even if you win, your clients could still refuse to obey the judgement. The courts do not enforce a judgement, its completely up to you. If they refuse to pay, you file for another hearing and take them to a debtors hearing, re-explain your case, and file more paperwork to garnish wages and force them to pay. All in all it's quite the time commitment if your clients chose not to follow the judgement. Note: I've been to small claims many times as a property manager in California, but your state might differ in their processes.

At least in California, if you charge the tenant for work that you performed yourself you are required to provide a breakdown of the cost for materials, a reasonable hourly rate, and the length of time it took to complete. I would imagine this varies state by state. As for whats reasonable, check with handymen local in your area to see what they charge. If the going rate is $45 say, then I would think anything under that would be reasonable. 

I agree with Matthew, it's a slippery slope once you start offering to cover tenant's items that should be covered with their renter's insurance. Our leases do not require renter's insurance but do clearly state that any damages to personal belongs will be the tenant's responsibility should they decide not to purchase coverage. 

I tell applicants that we accept Section 8 applications but it is not guaranteed to be accepted. Usually these applications have lower credit or savings and can be used to deny the application that way. Certainly never say that they are denied due to their voucher. I've never have a discrimination case, and I never want one so we are more conservative than you probably have to be.

I actually use buildium to track the 400+ homes we manage, and to track company financials as well. Buildium may not be as sophisticated on the tax side of things, but you can create as many GL accounts in Buildium as you want to track different sources of income and expenses. Essentially Buildium treats your business as a property. A bit more clunky than Quickbooks, but you can make it work.

Hi German, congrats on your purchase! 

A quick call to the HOA should answer that part of your question but usually the HOA only really concerns themselves with items that effect the exterior of the home or how the home looks from the street. Beyond maybe the parking of your contractors, I wouldn't think that interior remodeling would be an item they would concern themselves with.

Permits from the city or county however, absolutely. While many contractors wont even pull these permits unless your explicitly ask them to, if you want to follow the rules to the letter than you can pull permits for the interior remodeling. Even then, I believe these permits are only needed if you were to alter any electrical, plumbing, framing, and the like. Usually paint, carpets and other strictly cosmetic repairs wouldn't need a permit.

Temecula actually has a pretty good permit website if you're curious: 

http://temeculaca.gov/283/Remodeling-Your-Home