All Forum Posts by: Julie Marquez

@Justin Puetz Do you use any subs or have any employees now?

Hopefully your wife's connections can lead to great recommendation for subs. It's all about the referrals and relationships. Your subs will listen to you, take the time to understand the scope, come up with solutions in a team-like environment, they will respond to you promptly. You will treat them well, not beat them up over price, pay them promptly, not argue about every detail of the scope. Trust also takes time. I work as an estimator for a residential custom homebuilder and it's great how my boss has built his business over the last 25 years.

All my rentals are in MV and the only non-refundable fee we charge is for carpet cleaning. I expect the place to be returned in perfect condition so that we don't need any more fees collected. And if I need to charge for more work to be done or from their damages, I take it out of the refundable deposit. They are given a price list at the beginning so they know my cleaning rates and how much I'll charge for everything when they leave it in poor condition.

Not true - we also charge a large non-refundable move-in fee but it is changed to refundable if they stay 12 months or more. It is because we do month to month agreements only - but that's a different subject.

Regarding pets, I never separate a "pet deposit" from a regular deposit. If there are pets involved I just charge a larger regular deposit. I don't want to fight over whether the damage was from the pet or not, or if they get rid of the pet and want the money back mid-residency. It's just deposit.

@Joshua Top Storvik Park on the next sunny Friday! 

@Sharon Rosendahl Could you make it to Anacortes?

@Grace P. I'll come up with an event and let you know!

Hi @Grace P. , I don't have anything planned but we should probably get on going again, the interest is picking up and there is lots to learn from each other in Skagit!

@Grace P. We've used lawyer Loren Pirkle to set up LLCs and move rental properties in them for our rentals in Mount Vernon.

@Sam Denny Sounds like a successful deal! What are the sizes of each unit? And I'm glad it's working out with Eric

@Blake King Oh dang, that's too bad. I like Washington Federal in Burlington, but they will have the same requirements. Maybe Savi Bank? They are local and growing in the area

@Blake King I'd try a different bank. I have found BECU to look at things more favorably than other local banks. Everything you are doing is great, you just need to talk to more lenders! Skagit is appreciating so fast lately.

@Kai Van Leuven Skagit IS going crazy right now! It was the last discovered gem and is now getting all the attention

@Manna Sivia I management my own 20 units, and after much work with them, I don't think I want to start a property management company and look after other people's investments. I'm sure I could do well at it, it's just not the type of work I'm ready to do more of