All Forum Posts by: Matthew Whitaker
Matthew Whitaker has started 0 posts and replied 33 times.
Post: Property Tax Appeal/Protect in Birmingham AL

- Property Manager
- Birmingham, AL
- Posts 37
- Votes 36
Hey @Helen C. , all in all, the property taxes in Birmingham are low relative to many other parts of the country. If you hire someone to protest the taxes this year, you should get some residual value out of protesting them for the next few years. I wouldn't expect to hire someone every year, except for the new properties you purchase.
Lastly, owning rental property is not exactly "passive". So I wouldn't approach this investment like that. If you want to own "passive" real estate invest in a public REIT. Owning rental homes requires you to make decisions like property tax protests fairly often. While hiring a good manager takes most of the headaches out of owning rental homes, it doesn't remove all of them.
Hope this helps!
m
Post: Property Management KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) What Great Companies Track.

- Property Manager
- Birmingham, AL
- Posts 37
- Votes 36
Seems everyone agrees on this being a very helpful post. I appreciate your transparency related to your business practices and KPI’s. Some we track that I didn’t see are. . .
Related to leasing:
- Showings per property
- # of Applications (total and by property)
- # of Approvals (total and by property)
- # of Declines (total and by property)
- # of Leases signed
Related to new Owners:
- Inbound Leads
- Outbound Leads
- Consultations
- Signed Management Agreements
- # New Units
Related to occupied properties:
- MRE’s – These are “Moving Related Errors” – this is where we drop the ball on a move in or move out.
- # of touches a property manager has each week based on categories – touch = a drive by or visit to a property.
Because we are in slightly different businesses, you probably track these in different ways. Thanks again for the informative post. I hope these help out as well.
m
Post: Property Tax Appeal/Protect in Birmingham AL

- Property Manager
- Birmingham, AL
- Posts 37
- Votes 36
Good morning all,
I work with Matt and have personally done this a number of times for our clients. You are correct in saying that you need either a licensed local agent or an attorney to represent you when appealing these.
My suggestion would be to contact Brian Cloud ([email protected]). He's told me that he handles these and I'm confident he understands them.
Biggest advice when getting this done: Make sure you get someone who understands the process and understands how the Board of Equalization thinks. If you think using logic will get your appraisal lowered that is not the case. You must "speak their language" and work within their process.