All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Michaela G. There are settings that you can have that would enable the ringer to be off, and still receive a notification when there's a voicemail. When I had someone doing this, they set the voicemail notification sound to be an incredibly obnoxious and loud sound, so he would wake up if he received a voicemail, but didn't have to leave his ringer on!

Have the maintenance manager create a voicemail message on his phone stating that outside of business hours only emergency calls will be responded to, laying out exactly what an emergency is, and then say that if they proceed to leave a voicemail and it's not an emergency they will be fined $50 on their tenant account. Then tell the manager not to answer his phone outside of business hours, but to wait and listen to the voicemails for emergencies. 

Mal, you'll want to call their case worker and check the specifics, but here I need to give a 60 day notice to them and their case worker of any rental increase. From there, they will recalculate what they will pay and assign a new amount to the tenant. If the tenant is unable to pay that amount, you should terminate the lease and get a tenant in there who can pay market rent.

Hello Matthew! I was hired by two investors to start and run and grow their property management company, it's a complex process, but I'd be happy to share with you my strategies for growth and success, feel free to DM me.

Derek,

You need to hire a Property Manager as soon as possible, the ROI restrictions will hurt more by neglect and vacancy than by paying a PM to take care of these things for you. Often a PM is able to get higher rents and lower vacancy, evening out their cost anyway.

The Certificate of Service is for you to keep for your records, check which option you did for delivery and save. 

When does the tenant's current lease end? Did he just leave at the end of his lease? If so, you are not legally allowed to keep his deposit for rent if his lease has expired. 

Hey TJ! I manage in Grand Rapids, however I'm familiar with the rental markets in Byron Center and Caledonia. This is completely my own opinion, but the reason there's not much to compare it to is because people who are renting are looking to live closer to Grand Rapids. The rental prices are going to be less than GR, and it may take longer to place a tenant. The good news is, once you get a tenant, they will likely stay for a longer period of time. I've seen that $300-$400 a bedroom is typical for single family homes in those areas, or if it's a two bed one bath in a nice, quiet neighborhood you could get $1100 - $1250. 

Hello Cornelius! I am a Property Manager in the 49503-49506 area in Grand Rapids, so a couple hours away from Flint, however I would be happy to answer any questions you have about property management and/or out of state investing in Michigan if you are interested.

There are so many different ways you can get started, if you are interested in Property Management I would seek a position with a local PM company as an Assistant Property Manager, this will give you experience in a variety of different areas. However, if you are looking to spend your time on the investment side and just hand your future properties over to a PM, then I would start by doing wholesaling or finding a partner to work with on your first deal. The best way to meet the people you're looking for is to check the local REI Meetups and BP Meetups, good luck!

Hey Charles!

Great questions, virtual tours and floor plans can be instrumental in renting the property to qualified tenants in a shorter period of time, however these things can be costly. From what I've seen as a Property Manager, the biggest reason some of my investors choose not to add these things to their marketing package is the cost. When you're the one posting the property and doing the showings, it's in your best interest to get them rented as quickly as possible, however when you're paying a property manager to rent something out for you, and they're making sure there's no vacancy, most people don't want the extra $350-$450 cost to get professional marketing for their units. Personally I offer to take photos for free for my owners with my smart phone, it takes good photos and I have a 0% vacancy rate, so it's obviously working well. When you get the same results without the extra cost, it can be difficult to justify. 

Admittedly slightly biased as a PM, I would agree with @Caleb Heimsoth, you're going to save a lot of time, headaches, and money trying to figure out this process if you use a PM. Not only that, but if you hire one before it goes vacant, often they start marketing/showing the unit before it's vacant so that you have a new tenant lined up before the current ones even move out. If you have questions about how to find a good PM and what to ask them, I wrote a blog post with some of the details you'll want to look at, you can find it on my profile.