All Forum Posts by: Harvey Levin

also your population number is only for Indianapolis. It does not include the suburbs that are not within Marion County but serviced by most PM's

NARPM is not very strong in the Midwest 

@Isaac Anderson   As an Investor, I did my 1st Section 8  tenant in Indy in 1985. Currently, at our Property Management company we manage about 300 Sec 8 voucher holders in houses and doubles. It is important to note that each Public Housing Authority has its own modification on the HUD guidelines so what is true in 1 city may not be true in another. In Indianapolis, the majority of the Inspection regulations coincide with the Marion County Housing Standards. ( I know this because I was involved in the review and modification of the Section 8 standards a few years ago) The difference being the Marion County only inspects based on complaints or noticeable violations and Section 8 (in Indy) does annual inspections. Long term plans along with the Marion County Landlord registration is to implement Occupancy Inspections and those are waived if Section 8 performs the Inspection. I have always seen the annual inspections as positive because the tenants also have to comply with standards and whereas on non-section 8 tenants units the PM may not consider repairing items that are not a major concern at that time. As an investor, I like to keep my properties in top condition, I believe this is we the majority of our tenants in C Class units remain 3 to 5 years with many over 7. The program also forces the Pm to be accountable at a level an Owner will not be able to oversee. However, the paperwork and the time constraints are a very big hassle and anyone who isn't familiar with all the ins and outs will have a problem complying. The good news for the future is that HUD in Washington is working on a more landlord-friendly program. I met with the HUD Section 8 representative in Washinton as a representative for NARPM and I am compiling recommendations for them. Of course, as with all government agencies, the charge will take forever to implement!!

hi a lot of the problems come up when it is time to sell your properties it can be very cumbersome and time-consuming depending on who your lender was. I have one client who would order to sell three out of his 11 properties he's required to pay back the initial appraised value Plus an additional 20% per property he pays off. Unfortunately for him he overpaid on the properties they would never renovated and are worth only about 20% of the initial aarv that was used by the lender in the evaluation. I have also have clients that had to pay very large bees if they did not pay off the entire loan all at the same time. It  can be a great product just make sure you read all the terms and conditions very carefully

That's pretty normal for web-based enquiries my recommendation is that you contact each person find out who's actually qualified by asking legal pre-qualified questions then what I do is set up to have three or four people show up at the exact same time and hope at least one of those shows up there is a lot of rental inventory right now so people are not desperate to rent

HI, It really depends on the specific address. S Denny is a long street. We manage a SF in the 100 block and I would not recommend  buying on that block due to the Industrial building on same block  and it is a dead end  block. In Indy you have to either know the area very well or take a drive.  

@Josh C. What do you mean they cant have a Zero eviction rate in all the cites they manage in? The patented system they use can see if a tenant will lose their job in the future or get hit by a bus and be off work for 6 months or have a heart attack and die. If you need one let me know I have an old bowling ball ..I mean crystal ball I can sell you!

Lots of big PM companies across the country are  using  a platform of low fees to the Investor  (as a draw to gain lots of business fast), then they charge the tenant fees for everything under the sun. For example I am aware of 1  who is not yet in Indy, that charges a different fee based on if you pay rent online, by mail, or in person. Can you imagine asking a tenant to pay the PM for actually paying the rent!!! One told me they average in tenants fees over 150 per month extra.  After a year or 2 the tenants move and of course that makes the investor have to deal with vacancy loss as well as increased turn over cost. Companies in every industry still need to stay in business and in order to do that need to earn enough profits to offer the right services to operate as a professional customer service  (Investor and tenant )  focused organization. For investors that should mean long term tenants creating higher returns on investments with asset protection  and for tenants a system to provide great  service in a quality unit. When was the last time you were in a big retailer and had an easy time getting assistance?

@Brandon Hicks I hope your $8 high school kid has all the proper liability and work comp insurance. One mistake and a good attorney and they will pierce your LLC, your LL insurance will usually not cover you for failing to use proper insured contractors and there goes your investments. Working with an owner currently who is settling for over $250,000 on a "contractor" when his 1099 helper fell off a 2 foot step ladder. Being a self manager can save money so I am not hater but you still should always comply with all professional approaches. Operating even your own investments as a business is the best way to go.

HI, This sounds like an advertisement to accept Section 8. Why are you establishing this list?

 I have been accepting Section 8 both as a Landlord and  Property Manager since 1985 and currently have over 300  Section 8 voucher holders in the Indianapolis area in our houses. Fell free to private message  me.  

@Wesley W. @Josh C.  We confirm with utility companies  that they have been switched into the tenants name on day of move in . If winter we delay move in to protect the property. If any other season we have tenants sign that they are aware of the termination date.