All Forum Posts by: Heather Green

Do you own investment properties if so where and for how long?

Idk about legal but I wouldn’t move forward with them, the amount of companies that claim they sent the owner owner held security deposits that don’t is also ridiculous 

I totally left the tenant screening out, tenant screening is the MOST important part, learned this the hard way on my own rentals and revamped my whole process after reading a TON of articles and advice on sites like these in the beginning, I’d rather have 2 months of vacancy to find a good long term tenant , I will even reject a tenant on personality , like if they argue with any part of the process, complain, point out a ton of faults in a home, are negative ect, I’ve literally told peope “come pick up your deposit right now, we no longer wish to offer you tenancy”

I just posted this on another but it fits:

Besides looking for a PM that is also an investor

Questions to ask:

- what is the eviction process like after COVID 19 in your city (ask for details and differences beforehand)

- what are the city rental regulations, what is the process to obtain a rental license, how would you rate this city compared to surrounding cities on difficulty with this process and working with landlords

- how do you handle late fees and payment plans, if a tenant calls and says they’re going to be 5-9 days late but have been on time for 6 months what is your response

- if multis - how do you handle tenant conflicts

- why do they work in property management and how did they get there

- if you could invest in any city in the state where would you and why (I love this question because it will tell you if they know where the most profitable areas are for investors and ROIs and hidden costs)

- how is water/water bills handled in this city

I just posted this on another but it fits:

Besides looking for a PM that is also an investor

Questions to ask:

- what is the eviction process like after COVID 19 in your city (ask for details and differences beforehand)

- what are the city rental regulations, what is the process to obtain a rental license, how would you rate this city compared to surrounding cities on difficulty with this process and working with landlords

- how do you handle late fees and payment plans, if a tenant calls and says they’re going to be 5-9 days late but have been on time for 6 months what is your response

- if multis - how do you handle tenant conflicts

- why do they work in property management and how did they get there

- if you could invest in any city in the state where would you and why (I love this question because it will tell you if they know where the most profitable areas are for investors and ROIs and hidden costs)

- how is water/water bills handled in this city

Oh one more tip, ask specific questions, like who is going to not say “yeah im great with communication” , be wary of this trap too because you want the PMs to focus on doing their jobs rather than answering 20 emails from each investor each week, time is our most valuable resource please don’t take up too much of it, when you say “yes” to something you are also saying “no” to something else (opportunity costs)

Questions to ask:

- what is the eviction process like after COVID 19 in your city (ask for details and differences beforehand)

- what are the city rental regulations, what is the process to obtain a rental license, how would you rate this city compared to surrounding cities on difficulty with this process and working with landlords

- how do you handle late fees and payment plans, if a tenant calls and says they’re going to be 5-9 days late but have been on time for 6 months what is your response

- if multis - how do you handle tenant conflicts

- why do they work in property management and how did they get there

- if you could invest in any city in the state where would you and why (I love this question because it will tell you if they know where the most profitable areas are for investors and ROIs and hidden costs)

- how is water/water bills handled in this city

I have been a landlord and investor for over a decade AND also work as a senior/regional property manager so I feel like I see both sides and have some good insight on this

- manage yourself if you have the time and fortitude to do so, you will make mistakes but it will pay off, get a real estate license (not hard to do plus you can sell and buy properties and get commission) and know the laws, be willing to do the research, NO ONE IS GOING CARE AS MUCH ABOUT YOUR PROPERTY AS YOU

- that being said, not everyone wants to has the time ect or headache or likes asking for rent…FIND A MANAGER THAT ALSO IS A LANDLORD INVESTOR, I can't tell you how many property managers I've tried training and that failed at our company because they just don't get it from an owner or investor side, like "no tenant we aren't going to come replace your stove again, no we aren't going to clean your bathroom cause you didn't , ability to analyze when to do maintenance and not, ability to explain to tenant owners POV, I tell every owner I am not telling you anything I haven't done or I'd do my self, a lot of property managers are blue colar type workers and have never invested in their life and just done get it, 4 out of 5 property managers fail at my company because of this especially for single family homes, find a PM with speciality in SFH for your area, for example, a PM in Birmingham MI (upscale area) will fail in Detroit or lower end markets (but that's were the best ROIs are)

I use Sifely for all of my STR and even put them on my own home, they're cheaper than other brands because they're "newer" but they have 5 entry options (finger print, key, phone, fobs, code) and can lock unlock remotely, I couldn't find that in another lock that was under a certain price point if even then, also timed codes ect up to 250 and can change codes remotely, plus auto locks itself from 5-30 seconds after

Only con is they don’t integrate with airbnb vrbo yet but I just recently got an email from them that it’s upcoming!

Possible other con is that it’s not a deadbolt but I find it pretty secure

Their customer service is actually pretty good, one of my locks broke in early usage and they send me a new one for free without hesitation, it ended up being the door itself needing adjustment not necessarily the lock, I’m in Michigan with hot and humid weather and cold freezing weather and no issues at all since then with any lock

One last thing/general tip: I keep one door of my rentals with regular locks and on a regular lockbox with back up keys in it, I’ve found it amazing in a pinch when you get that dreaded “my code isn’t working” and can’t get good internet service ect to change it at the time (most of the time it’s user error), also in cold weather states in older homes the locks can adjust and get stuck

My attitude as well has greatly shifted in the last decade I’ve been a landlord, I don’t supply appliances unless they’re already there and I rent them “as is” “landlord does not repair warranty ect” , my next is all bifold doors are going to go, especially in my short term rentals, I’m completely over it