All Forum Posts by: Jacob Bownds

@Jonathan Beaumont, I think Denise gave some very sage advice that would (ideally) be much simpler and less disruptive to the resident. Adding confusion of where, when, who to pay to an already delinquent resident may not be in your best interest, if not required. 

I'd actually make the counterpoint to Daniel's, that you should perhaps consider, when you have the urge to call, if it is indeed urgent & important OR if it could be better-served through email. A PM who will abandon their proven systems & processes to each individual owner/resident will quickly find themselves driving a bus with the wheels falling off.  

Property Management is a very hands-on, in-the-field type of business. As you are interacting (it sounds like) remotely, it may not feel that way at times. Most property management teams become profitable at scale by maximizing efficiencies with as lean of a team roster as is sensible. 

Your PM contact's day may consist of meeting a water company with a 4-hour time window for the appointment and attending a 4-hour, no-phones-allowed eviction hearing, then conducting 2 hours of showings/open house to prospects (not to mention the windshield time between each)...they are hopefully not ignoring you and are just busy doing the kinds of things you've hired them to do. 

Communication is hugely important, and crucial in building trust in this type of relationship. If they have (or when you find a team who) earns your trust, it will be easier to digest that no news is good news, they've got your back. Our team operates with more of an event-based, high-touch communication. There are many mundane days where you can enjoy the peace & quiet while we've got our ear to the ground, then as a noteworthy event happens, or it is time to review statements, or there is a pending renewal, etc. we reach out and invite you to be a part of that conversation & strategize on solutions, as needed. 

When not urgent, email allows asynchronous communication and may often result in receiving a quicker/better response as they have the opportunity to research details or otherwise orient their focus toward your concern. 

I also think email serves to benefit you in another significant way too, in that it guarantees you have a written, time-stamped record of the actions taken, steps agreed upon, timeframes, etc. I don't mean to try to entrap people by forcing them to make aggressive estimations in writing, but rather to ensure alignment and/or provide accountability for both sides as it is meant to be a symbiotic relationship where all involved parties come out winning. 

Lowes seems to be having a big summer sale on appliances, but I typically check Menards and Nebraska Furniture Mart first as they frequently run better prices.

This is great - had missed this headline. 

Love these rare 'quality of life' upgrades. Unaware of our states' (KS & MO) stance - appreciate the spark of curiosity you provided, I'm off to learn more about what other states allow this practice. 

While it is a Home Owner's fee - right in the name - the above suggestions are on point in most cases. May not always be able to pass on the entirety depending on how high the fees are. $40 actually sounds quite reasonable. 

We recently represented a client who had a mortgage of $460 per month in an old, restored brick building downtown, virtually no services provides for that amount. Client was already highest priced in the area and then when he learned he needed to pay the HOA directly and tacked that on to the rent amount, as well, he had totally priced himself out. No bites for months at that rate.

Further question, who will be responsible for the insurance, the taxes, who will acquire your landlord license, who will be keeping the books, how is maintenance work split, who owns the relationship with the property manager. Very important to define the details, in addition to the finances early on. 

Once roles are clearly defined, much easier to begin assigning numbers for your split. 

Patrick brings up a great point that the size of the portfolio can dictate quite a bit about what tool will be "best" for your situation. 

One of the mentioned tools make take you strides from the headache you are experiencing now and as you scale, a year down the road it may no longer make the most sense. 

We made the decision to use AppFolio from the beginning knowing it was overkill at that time and as we've grown into it they've continued to add many new features over time. 

Even today with hundreds of properties under management there are still features we don't need/use in AppFolio. 

Some will rightly view as a negative, but I see value in some of the software options (like AppFolio & Buildium) that aren't a one-size-fits-all, but rather you can select key components you need at your current stage (and only pay for those) then augment the services as the need arises. 

Any of those can do the job, but there are also specialized renovation/remodeling businesses that we've seen be a better fit for a job like this. 

There are also lots of groups on Facebook, in Atlanta, that I'm sure could provide you specific recommendations for who they used and the perceived cost-to-value in addition to the level of service they've received. When people find someone good they love to share about it! 

I'd actually not encourage seeking advice there for how to fix/what to do, I think this forum is a better resource for that, but rather a brief description of the work you need and ask for recommendations for service providers. 
 

We are also located in Missouri (Kansas City market) and have had great experiences with and feedback from others about Denker Law Firm. 

To echo what several others have said, Option 2 would be my choice as well... If you've already decided to go all in on real estate with the cash (as it would seem you have), you'd still likely benefit more from leveraging a loan product and house hacking. In the earlier part of your investing career, having  the cash gives you so many options to get into different types of deals/partnerships/etc, versus later in your career where you'd likely be more risk averse and at that point, paying more out of pocket could make more sense. 

Also, just because you are living next door doesn't necessarily mean the neighbor would come running to you with every issue. The first client we started managing for over 5 years ago lives on one side of a duplex and the other tenants have never learned that the sweet little lady next door is the property owner. 

If you do go the loan/leverage route, be sure to find out specifically from your lender what work you are allowed to complete yourself as some have restrictions on you completing the work yourself. 

Agree with @Nathan Gesner about using available resources to get a sense for what is right for this specific property. I often remind myself, the investor can set whatever price they want, but ultimately the market will determine the value. 

Not certain if similar in your market, but in our market the payments often take around 90 days to start coming in (they'll get caught up on what is owed) so if not already aware of the payment schedule it may be worth looking at in case you aren't prepared to carry the mortgage for a few months past your vacancy period.