All Forum Posts by: Laticia Braxton

Hello Joshua. I would advise that if you are planning to manage other people's investment properties, you absolutely get the LLC set up as you will then have a legitimate business. You will also need the incorporation documents to set up your business bank accounts. Lastly, you will also need to get GL & E&O insurances for the business.

Hello Alysa.  Are you speaking of a property management agreement or are you speaking of an actual lease you have for an office space?

As a realtor and a property manager, I would suggest that you not interview anyone charging less than 8%, unless you are getting a volume based discount.  Quite frankly, for 8 or 10% of gross rents, a great PM is not being paid enough.  You will find some PMs who will charge a lot less just to get your business, but they work a lot less too.  Likewise, you will find some that charge 10% or more and the level of service is actually at the 5% level.  You have to interview several and ask really good questions.

I charge 10% and most in my area do, but the level of professionalism and overall customer service for your tenants is what's most important. Great service only comes from a seasoned professional who actually cares about their clients and their own reputation.  Whichever price point you decide is right for you, just make sure you're hiring a qualified PM because it seems that many investors are being had by PM companies that have no idea what professionalism is nor do they know how to actually manage real estate investments.  

Best of luck to you!

It's amazing how many people are completely fine with wasting their money and other people's time.  It's unfortunately the nature of the beast.  As a realtor and property manager, I get it from both sides and it never feels good.

At least your couple were actually approved. I get people all the time who pay application fees KNOWING their situation won't allow them to get approved. It's mind boggling!  

Get yourself a realtor or a property manager to handle the leasing for you.  It will be worth the one month's rent :-)

Best of luck to you!

One full month is standard here in Maryland.  You will certainly find that some PM companies charge less, but you also sometimes get what you pay for.

Assuming the rental prospect has an agent, I charge one full month because you, as the owner, should want to incentivize other agents to show your listing to their clients.  I am not sure what the "other miscellaneous fees" are you speak of, but 8% to handle all of your tenant headaches is more than reasonable considering all that has to be done to earn said 8%. 

It may seem like a lot if you only have one rental, but I would charge you to try doing it all on your own for a year so you can actually see what that 15.6% really means.  

Best of luck to you!

Evictions do take time so they were acting accordingly in sending the notice first, although it seems like they were very late in doing so.  The notice is the first step and hopefully the letter gave them a deadline to clean the yard. Then, an inspection and pictures should have been taken no later than 7 days later and if the yard still wasn't clean, the non-renewal notice should have been sent.  You have to make sure your eviction is a legal one.  You definitely need a new PM company mainly because you can't get a professional response from a company you are paying to manage your property.  

You also need to make sure the court summons and any other violation notices are being sent to you (until you get a new management company) because it's highly unlikely that your tenant will appear in court or do anything that needs to be done.  Contact the PM company today and demand to speak with the owner.  If you can't do so, you send the tenant a certified 30-day notice (if your lease allows), site the clause in your lease that speaks to his non-compliance and contact the court clerk to find out what you need to do to start the eviction proceeding yourself. 

Also, make sure you document everything for both the case against your tenant and in case you have issues with getting out of your management contract.

Best of luck to you!

Totally agree with all of what Ray said.  Additionally, ask them how long they have been managing properties and what types of properties they've managed.  Ask for their definition of each of the class types to see if they understand the differences and nuances of managing each.  Ask what their biggest challenges have been thus far.  

There are a lot of people in unregulated areas, like ours, with little to no experience, setting up businesses and attempting to manage other people's investments.  Make sure your PM has experience so that your portfolio and financial well being isn't jeopardized by their learning curve.

Best of luck to you!

If the agent did not process a credit, employment and background check on your behalf and you agreed to rent to this person and signed the lease, I don't see how you could go after the agent.  He/she earned the commission as soon as you signed the lease and the tenant paid their first month's rent and security deposit.  It is the landlord's responsibility to properly evaluate a prospect's credit and their ability to pay rent, unless you've hired a management company or the procuring agent to do it (and have a written agreement with them to do so).  

You signed the lease, so you agreed to lease to that person.  It is an unfortunate and expensive lesson learned. I understand your frustration but to blame the agent because you didn't properly qualify this person to rent your house (or contract someone to do so on your behalf), is unfair and getting the commission refunded will probably be unlikely. 

Hi Anthony.  I am actually both a realtor and a property manager.  My background is in property management and I have over 20 years of combined residential and commercial property management experience.  I definitely agree with @Joe Villeneuve and the importance of first hand knowledge.  Property management is all about solving problems and getting things done; they key to success is to do that both promptly and professionally.  

Taking a course is great but you really need to get hands on experience to understand the day to day roles of a PM.  You will have a to-do list every morning that will constantly be changed, ignored, etc. because there was something else that happened that required your immediate attention.  The job also requires a thick skin and that is something I had to personally grow into in the beginning of my career.  Please understand that no class or textbook can give you the real life experience you need to understand what PM's deal with, so I would suggest you start with a residential management company.  Perhaps work as a leasing consultant on the weekends just to get your feet wet.  Then ask to shadow the manager in your free time, so you can see what they have to go through daily.  

I am so glad I started my career on the PM side because the lessons I learned and the experience I gained has continually come in handy on the realtor side.  If you are people person like I am, you will actually enjoy it either way.  

With regard to your dead end job...last year I left a really good job with health benefits and a great salary that I held for over 13 years. I left because I woke up everyday feeling sick and tired and frustrated.  I felt like I was missing out on what I thought life should be - having the ability to control my own destiny, control my earning potential and live life by my own rules.  Saving some of my real estate commissions allowed me to quit my job and now I have my own property management company and am loving my new life.  I tell you this to urge you stop ignoring that thing in your gut that is calling you to do more.  That  job is now dead end to you because you want more for your life and you deserve it!  I really wish I had someone telling me what I'm telling you five years ago.  That said, don't leave without having a GOOD financial cushion because we all know bills are real LOL, but please don't continue to stay in a place where you are only dreaming and not actually PURSUING your dreams.  You will look up years down the road and regret doing that.  There are literally tons of incredible and successful people on this site who made the decision to follow their dreams and now they are crushing it!  Your time is now...

Best of luck to you!

Tracy hit the nail on the head when he said you shouldn't assume they will be doing inspections for free, if your contract doesn't call for them.  Good inspections take time and if they are not included in your PM contract, your PM should be compensated for his/her time.  They should be providing you with both pictures and a written report for your records.  I would say once per year is sufficient, preferably around three or four months after lease start date.  You can't expect any tenant to be okay with inspections every other month, it's intrusive.

My advice is you should definitely have a meeting with the owner of your PM company ASAP to discuss your concerns and requests.   

I'm sure they wouldn't want to lose your long term business over property inspections and it sounds like this is the only complaint you have.  It should be a very easy fix :-)

Best of luck to you!