All Forum Posts by: Chad Hale

All of them are better logos.

Picking one will depend on what you want to communicate.

For example (to me),

 #4 or #45 communicate a place to sleep that is furnished

#4 and #48 communicate a furniture store. IE furnishing for my home

#36 and #48 also remind me of a psychologists bed

#22 has a more sterile hotel fee compared to #45 has a warm welcoming feel.

personally, I like #45 the best.

As everyone else as said re-key after every tenant turn over.  

The lease agreements I use have a spot to check that the unit was re-keyed.  This removes a lot of liability and wondering and starts things off on the right foot for the tenants.

There are lots of fast re-keying solutions available these days.  Personally, I use kwikset smart key.  It takes literally less than 1minute to change a lock.

@Rong Liu  Those rates are near the bottom of what you'll find available.

Just remember that is only part of what you are after in a PM.  You want them to be affordable but also a fit/match for your particular needs and personality.

Regards,

Chad

As a San Jose licensed property manager and investor, a 5% flat fee can be reasonable depending on the property. Things such as location, condition, aggressive rent rate, etc affect how much work may be required to properly manage a property and its tenants. Also there is a difference between managing SFR and multi-unit properties.

Some things to consider regarding PM fees.  What is included?  Are there any other fees?  Setup fee?  Lease fee?  Are maintenance bills marked up?  Banking fees? Admin fees? etc?  Is marketing the property included?  What does this look like?  Are pictures and a floorplan included?

Some other things to consider.  

Will you have a dedicated PM to call for all your questions/concerns or do you call a general number?

Do they understand an investors point of view and expectations?

Does the PM personally visit every property or is it someone else (for example a maintenance worker?)  How often?

How and what do they do for tenant screening?  It's more than 2.5x or 3.0x income/rent.

Are they aware of current updates/changes in local laws/ordinances?  For example, San Jose updated the rent control ordinance June 17 of this year.

What is the PM's philosophy in handling tenant relations?  Personally, my philosophy is I am fair but firm.

Regarding turnover times.  That varies some too.  Time of year, location, diligence of PM.  A year ago, in San Jose, assuming the unit needed a quick clean and minimal maintenance, most of my units were re-leasing in less than a week.  This year, it is around 10-12 days.  

I'm happy to answer more generic or specific questions from my perspective.

Regards,

Chad

What type of loans are you looking for?    

Using the "normal" loans will likely give you the best rates.  I have a loan guy (no affiliation/compensation/etc) that I have done 1/2 dozen loans with and my friends just as many.  I am happy to share contact info.  Just PM me.

Once you can no longer get those, portfolio loans can be used.  I would imagine here is where you would want a local bank partnership.

Best of success

@Vitaliy Merkulov

I've been using CBA with good success.  

h t t p : / / www  dot cbacredit  dot com

There was an initial setup.  No annual fees.   Though, I am a member of the California Apartment Association.  So there may have been / continues to be a discount through them?  I don't recall?

No affiliation other than happy with the product.

Chad

Hi Rong,

As a PM, it depends on a few things for me.

- How much work will the unit need to be ready for the next tenant.

- Is it in showable condition now?

- How desirable is the property.  How long does it typically take to rent? 

- What time of year?  Around Christmas/New Years can be a harder time to rent.  More notice can be helpful

- How much time do you want to take to explain the situation, field inquiries, etc before you can either show it, lease it or both?

Cheers

Chad

I have been happy with CPA / tax advice from BJ @ 

www dot wt-cpas  dot com

Chad

@Sean C.  Rules of thumb are just that.  Rough guidelines at best.  You need to work the numbers for every deal and see it if works for your goals/criteria.  Once you've done this a few times you'll get a good sense of what will or will not work.  

Practice running the numbers and then execute when appropriate.

Hi Sean,

I don't have any specific zip codes to target.  I would think the better school districts and higher demand areas (west San Jose for example) would offer higher potential returns for flips? 

Everyone doing mailer says getting in front of sellers multiple times makes a difference.  So you may want to do a combination of specific targets and shotgunning to cover a larger area but also get the repeat time in front of sellers.

Sorry I don't have any better ideas at the moment.