All Forum Posts by: Gillian Thackray

Thanks - appreciate the referral.  Good advice that lines up with my experience so far.  My property management has been good about day-to-day items like appliances and turn overs, but poor at comprehensive solve like exterior leaks and only one individual has been good at communicating with tenants.  

Hi Everyone - I am looking for some referrals for agents who do leasing in Philadelphia, PA.  I am only semi-satisfied with my property manager, and considering taking over the daily management myself but would only want to do that if I have someone good to help me with filling units as they come empty.  I have two 8 unit buildings and one 3 unit, so a fairly steady stream of empty units during the year.  Thanks for your suggestions, Gillian  

You can try filing noise complaints or even a nuisance lawsuit, but whether that will help depends a lot on whether the next door property is inhabited by the owner (less chance of chance, more chance of poor attitude) or a renter.  Also depends a lot on local authorities whether people will dismiss your concerns or not.  Could well be a puppy mill, but enforcement about conditions there is sorely lacking due to lobbying by AKC and also lack of funding.  Like any neighbor issue, maybe the route with best chance of success is to try and talk to owners and establish a rapport and share concerns/ask if they would help you out.  Takes work to do that, as well as being able to manage your own feelings about the situation.  Second to that I like the privacy fence suggestion - blocking the visual contact of the dogs to people at your property will definitely help some.  

Thanks for sharing - been a fun story to read.  And the solar hot water heaters make so much sense for AZ that it's crazy it hasn't been done by everyone . . . 

Hi Everyone - 

Thanks for all your valuable discussion and willingness to share advice.  Tapping into the wisdom and thinking of folks who have greater perspective/different perspective and experience is so very valuable. 

Here's my question:

Courtesy of an upcoming property sale and 1031 exchange, I have a sizable chunk of equity to invest. Figuring out what strategy to use and weighing either putting it all in an absolute NNN property or splitting into two properties that are commercial office and multi-family as a way to diversify. Planning to buy and hold for quite a while if I get it right - what with 1031 possibly being gone and also just the work to find and make transactions, want to put the money somewhere it can stay for a long while.

I know absolute NNN gets lower cap rates that the other types, and I'm not afraid of some hands on management (have managed SFR for more than 10 years) but what I am trying to figure out is if the somewhat better cash flow (cash on cash) from the commercial/multifamily actually balances out to about the same returns as the absolute NNN once you account for the maintenance, leasing agent fees, etc. that one will incur over a 10-20 year time frame OR if the total returns are better for the commercial/multifamily provided one is willing to put in the time to manage them.

In other words, NNN gets much lower cash flow, the others higher - so NNN seems like you make less money but is that really true over the long term? The others require more work, and possibly more investment along the way. What is the experience of those on these forums - after, say 20 years, are they all about even or will one of those investing strategies leave me with greater *wealth* (i.e. not just cash flow, but also appreciation). Realize that can vary by location so assume same location.

Thanks very much - look forward to the replies.