All Forum Posts by: Lisa Doud

yes you definitely need to find a small company that you can actually have a conversation one on one with the principal broker.  They might charge you an affiliation fee, but I would categorize you as a referral agent, and referral agent fees are much more reasonable.  

I look at a lot of people like you that don't necessarily want to run after deals, but want to have access to the information, and that is how I classify people to determine their affiliation fee.  

Also look for someone that will give a flat fee to hang your licenses under their company. They will have to charge you something, they still have to pay E&O insurance based on the number of people licensed with firms, and also the amount of commissions made (either sales or management).

Let's be honest with each other,  If tenants had a good enough credit score 600 plus they could purchase their own home, why would they rent.  You can't just look at the number.  When i look at a credit report, If a tenant has had an eviction, look to see if the judgement was paid off.  You have to remember that in this economy people are living from paycheck to paycheck, and if they loose one day of pay (holiday), they might not be able to pay all their rent, or even worse their utilities. 

When we look at a applicant we look for the ability to pay rent and the will to pay the rent.  what that means that if they have had an eviction, I may require 2 months rent as security deposit, but I know as long as I don't give the many room to be late and  I send my 5 day notice right when the rent was late, and file my unlawful detainer, I can usually have someone of the property in less that 60 days (hence double security deposit).  Also I require that the tenants have either paid back their former landlord, or have document payment arrangements (with payment history) to repay the landlord.  My theory if they didn't pay the former landlord they won't pay me. Also I look to make sure if their are any judgements or collections.  If there are judgements or collection maximum amount that can be garnished from someone's pay check at one time is 25% of their gross income.  So if you want to live in one of my properties you all applicants on the lease need  to have an income of 3 months rent after the 25% is deducted for the garnishment.  

You have to be very careful when looking at evictions, here in Virginia it is unheard of for apartment complexes and large Management companies to work out payment arrangements with tenants.  They automatically file unlawful detainers on their tenants, which are reported immediately to the credit bureaus.  If they pay before the court date it would still show up on their record as $0 gal (No dismissed).  So technically it looks like they were evicted.  Also if they are any outstanding balances on the eviction databases, and the tenants are moving  out of the property because their lease has expired, you have to be able to read between the lines, like someone at the company forgot to send in the notice of satisfaction... I have never seen a landlord of any kind let a tenant stay in a property after a court date that has a balance still owed.  

So what I am trying to say is really look at the dates of the eviction before you just pass over someone because an eviction pops up.  It could have been months ago and the landlord just forgot to send the required documentation.  

I ended up in Supreme court this morning on a Landlord tenant issue, and the defendants attorney didn't know anything about the Virginia Residential Landlord tenant act, and it was just sad!!!!!   However most of the attorney's are very removed from the actual business of renting properties, and have the book knowledge of what should be in the lease, but do not have the experience that a property manager or experienced investor would would have.   

You might be better off if you just interview property management companies, and see if they would give you a copy their lease, i am not saying to plagiarize it, however there might be specific items in that document that an attorney would not know just because that is not what he does on a daily basis.  

Or you might find another experienced investor (one that is doing well) in your area and ask if you can learn from them... 

The point I am trying to make is that don't just jump in to property management thinking you have a lease and everything is great... Too many people try to be landlords and they do not enforce the lease provisions and after a while the tenants are doing what ever they want and destroying your property. You are also going to need to have policies and procedures in place so the tenant doesn't think that it ok to call you at midnight because their A/C is not working.  

If this is just truly about trying to weigh the odds on renting to a sex offender, then do your home work, I believe the property can't be more that 500 feet of a school even if they are not pedophile.   So check the laws very carefully in your state.  

Also verify the information,  remember that most of the Databases that we use to run applications usually come with the criminal background.  If they are admitting to you that they are a register sex offender see if you data base you are using pulls it,  If it doesn't then it is time to switch.  Also here in Virginia I can pull up the court records online for each of the 7 cities I manage properties in.  Some of you may not want to go that far, but if it is between renting the property, and not it would be in your best interest to check and triple check.   

I had a man and his wife been married for 28 years, and unfortunately when him and his wife meet she was still 17 and her parents didn't like him. Yes they are still married, but he was convicted of statutory rape, and that came with a mandatory sex offender registration.  So some times when you find out the real story, It may not be that bad. 

Also I saw someone else state that you shouldn't rule him out just because of a past crime, I am sure (since you said it had been over 10 years),  That this person did his time that was required, and we should not punish people for past mistakes if they look like they have changed and want to better themselves.  

My tenants that i spoke about earlier paid $200 more than the same property rents now, and always paid rent... They were very grateful that we gave them a chance and took very good care of the property while there were there.  The only reason why they had to leave was the tragic death of their daughter, They took became legal guardians of their 2 grandchildren, and needed at least a 3 bedroom and they were only in a 2 bedroom.  

We do drive be the properties, but we don't go in unless we get a complaint or when we drive by the property looks neglected.

If you happen to have any section 8 tenants you need to inspect at least every 90 days.  I can go in and make sure that any tenant issues, broken blinds, holes in walls, Drawings on walls, etc are documented and had them fixed.  Also when you get your notice that there is going to be an section 8 inspection you need to go in at least 2 weeks before (they usually give you 30 day notice) and do an inspection so that you have a chance of passing the inspection.  

If you have regular tenants not subsidized, I would tell you need to do an inspection of the property 30 days before you have to give your notice to renew or vacate.  The reason why I do that is if they have been there less than a year and they have damaged the property their security deposit may cover the damages, however if yo used your notice to renew and they do and they keep the same habits of not taking care of the property, it is going to get very pricy.  For my office this process is how we determin who we allow to renew their lease and who we tell to vacate.  

Also I would recommend that you do a proper inspection proper to tenants moving in and make sure you have it documented properly,  In the event you have to go to court to recover damages the judge will always ask you how know the condition of the property before the tenants moved in.  

I now have a a policy that my company will not manage any property under any kind of Home.  I have had nothing but problems.  The venders that the home warranty companies hire or affiliate with are the worst and don't know how to fix the equipment that they were hired to fix.  

In July 2012 my tenants reported that water was leaking in the kitchen from the bath tub above.  I sent AHS over, and they concluded that the problem was coming from no caulking around the faucets, so I had to pay the $75 deductible and still had to send another contractor out to caulk the plumbing fixtures because that wasn't covered under the warranty which cost another $65.  Well a week later I get another phone call from the tenants and water was still coming the ceiling in the Kitchen.  I called AHS and they told me that I had to pay $75 again.  This time they sent out a different company who told me that there was a crack in the fiberglass bath tub, and because it was already fixed once this would not be covered under the warranty.  The worst part about all of this is that when the owners moved in after they purchased the property they found the leak, and AHS is the one that sent the technician to patch the hole.  We had no choice we had to replace the bath tub and fix the entire ceiling in the kitchen at the owner cost.  

December 2013 my tenants reported that their heat was not working, and  we paid the deductible of $100 and AHS sent a contractor over to fix it.  It worked for 2 days after the repair, and we had to call again for the same thing.  They didn't make us pay an extra deductible, but in the middle of winter it took approximately 7 days of no heat to get this issue fixed.  However in early spring (April-May) we had a very hot spell, and everyone had their A/C on.  My tenants couldn't get their AC (Heat pump) to put out cold air.  Well after 3 days a contractor came out and stated that it was working fine.  Tenants reported it was still over 80 degrees in the house, so we complained to AHS and this time they told us that all they could do is send out the same tech to see if they could fix it.  2 days later the same guy came back out and again said it was working perfectly fine.  Just to give you a heads up, this was the second summer for these tenants in this property.  When I complained again AHS told me that if we wanted a third opinion I would have to pay another deductible, and they would send out the same vender.  So after 8 days of 100 degree plus temperature I called my preferred vender,  He went out and found out that the original tech that went to work on the heat in december had wired it incorrectly and when the tenants turned the  A/C side of the heat pump on the power shorted to grown and blew the fan motor. The cost of my tech to go out there was $75, and for him to install the new fan motor and labor it was $425.  AHS said that because it wasn't their technician they would not pay for it.  

In August 2013 We had tenants at another home report that the AC wasn't working,  They moved in Aug 1, and this trouble ticket came in on the 2nd.  What a way to move in.  We called Home protect warranty company, and they sent us a contractor that was so unprofessional that you couldn't even leave a message on his "business phone".  It took 5 days for this guy to even call us to get him in the property.  He diagnosed it as the coil was bad and it needed to be replaced. Which was great the coil was covered under the Warranty, however I didn't understand why the contractors told my owners that they had to pay for Refrigerant recovery, and new duct work needed for adding the coil which he wanted $450.00 from the owners plus he already got the $100 deductible.  Home protect stated that they could cut a check to the owners for $1800, to get it fixed by another vender, or we could go with their vender.  The owner's didn't have the money to be able to go with my preferred vender because it would have cost $2400, and told me to just have the guy fix it.  Well we tried to call him to inform of the owner decision, but we couldn't leave a message, so we had to email him.  It took a total of 24 days to get this system fixed, and in my opinion that is totally unreasonable.  

I can go on and on about how warranty companies use the poorest quality of technicians, or how they find ways to disqualify the covered items so they don't have to pay out, but I don't think anyone would want to read all of my complaints.  That is why I put the no warranty policy in place with my company, and trouble tickets can be resolved within a 48 hour period unless parts have to be ordered.

Another thing that yo need to consider is how many hours are lost calling these warranty companies, waiting in the phone for hours at a time, calling back to check the status of what is going on when tenants don't get called.  It is ridiculous.  

Last but not least you need to consider that for every trouble ticket you put in you have to pay your deductible.  So if you have a light fixture that doesn't work that is one deductible, if you toilet is running that is another deductible.  So If I send my handyman, It is one service call to fix all things at the property.  

When I was opening my company, I figured it was the best time to do my research I found that there were a lot of software venders out there, and they all were trying to get my business.  I used Buildium where I used to be affeliated, and I liked the fact that everything was online, maintenance requests were tracked from start to finish, and tenants could log in pay rent online as well as their trouble  tickets.  I also liked that I didn't have to mail out owner statements any more everything was done electronically.  I loved that we could set up our 5 day notices through the system, but the tricky part came when you got ready to send them out.  If you hit mail, you had to pay $0.67 per letter mailed out.  I liked that all the 1099 reporting was online, but they had a batch fee of $15, and $1.50 per owner in the batch...  Tenants could pay rent online but it cost $.$50 (4 day hold) $.75 (2day hold) $1.00,  per transaction per tenant.  Also it cost us the same structure when you paid owners....

So they had a Fee I want to say it was $125 for the number of units we had, and then they added all those other fees on top of it.  It just got to where we were easily spending around $200 a month.  

When I did my research, I asked all the venders about their added on services, and extra costs associated with letter writing, 1099 processing fees, and I ended up going with appfolio because of the benefits it provides for the flat fee.  The only extra thing I pay for when I run  applications $15 per app is not bad when considering I am pulling rent bureau information as well as full credit, criminal, and tenant performance.  I love the fact that when I review an application, if I want the tenant to move in, all I have to do is hit move in.  

Intergrated with appfolio is a wonderful marketing tool, and by clicking on the post to the internet button, they have about 70 different listing services that get the listings, and all you have to do is hit post to your website and the property is there.  

Also in the 2 years I have been with appfolio, they are very good about feedback, and always ask how they can make their product better.  I have made suggestions along with a lot of other property managers, and they have implemented ACH/Credit card processing for Security deposits, They have also made it easier to track the last date as to when you changed the rent, but making you write in the price and as of date.  They have also incorporated a lot of commercial features like rent per sqft, when you got to pay bills instead of having to go to print checks, at the top of the bill you can pay it right from the bill.  They have added Online lease feature, where all you have to do is copy and paste your lease in to a template, and adjust your lease per each property and from the application all the pertinent information about the tenant is auto populated.  This has made our lease writing time go from 30 min to 5 min....  You know who important inspections are to a good property management company, and to incorporate online inspections with appfolio is the best thing they could have done. I currently pay extra for inspect and cloud, and as soon as appfolio has pushed out the update where I can now download the inspection in a PDF format, I will cancel the inspect and cloud service.  

So to answer your question I like to know my fixed costs every month and appfolio charges $200 a month up to 200 units.  So if you are a small company with less than 100 units, I would still look at appfolio, but but also compare all the nickels and dimes you are being charged by other venders.  

Bill,

  I opened my company 2 years ago, and I did my research before I opened my company and I chose Appfolio. I Like the fact that they don't nickel and dime you over every little improvement.  I love the fact that they don't increase the price for new features that they bring online.  For instance, 24 Hour cash payments ( paying rent at 7-11 or Ace Cash express), there is no extra cost for me for this services.  My tenants love it because they don't have to pay tunnel tolls to get to my office.  Also they are constantly improving their product.  I have been apart of bata testing on some of their add on features, and they have people call you and ask you as a property manager what functions do we need to add to make your job a lot easier.  

 The negative is that when you have a payment issue, or your are trying to move someone in and you need to talk to customer support you usually will get a call back in 24 hours.  This frustrates me, and I got to the Appfolio user's forum, or call another company that uses Appfolio, and get the answer before they call me back.  

Negative when Appfolio sells you their software, they neglect to speak to the fact that out going payment (ACH transactions to owners), are up to you to get services for.  That feature is not available in their system.  I didn't understand that the first month Went to my bank and at the time I only 89 units, it cost me over $300 to pay them that month.  As I call it growing pains.  I found a third party vender and my outgoing expenses to pay owners is less than $100 a month.  

Negative, there is no delete button... you  can hide properties, tenants, or owners, but you can't delete them.  I am not sure about you guys but when you moved people in manually, we sometimes had an issue where entered the information incorrectly under the property (as we were getting used to the PM software) and once entered you can't delete.  So what we have to change the name (no name) and then hide it.  

Negative once a tenant has moved in, you have to go completely through the process to move them out (incase they didn't come in and sign their lease), there is no undo move in. 

Positive, you can have multiple-portfolios with different bank accounts.  For instance if you have another Licensed Agent under your company and they want to manage properties you can set them up with their own portfolio and they can only see properties in their portfolio.  Any logos for any letters, or leases will reflect the portfolio which the property is assigned to.  

To be honest I am absolutely pleased with Appfolio,  I just called on Monday for customer support, with a new item, and I had a return pone call the same day.  I left a message I was very upset about customer support and I knew no one would get to me until the end of the next day (customer service used to be in California) The gentleman I spoke with told me that they have customer support to cover from 8:30 am until 7PM ET Now.  So maybe my negative has turned positive.  

Again if you choose Appfolio, and get stuck call or email and I will be more than happy to help out. 

I would give your property manager a deadline, and also call their principal broker or the owner of the company and speak with them about the lack of performance of your property manager.  If your property manager owns the company then you really need to physically go to your properties and look at them.   Ask your tenants when they paid their rent and how much.  Ask if they have copies of checks or money orders, or even reciepts from their property manager.   Also I would suggest that you go back home and type out exactly what they tell you and  have them sign it.  

Once you establish you have money owed, you contact your property manager and state approximate cost of how much is owed, and request all your receipts and copies of any bills which includes rehab costs... At that point you let them know if they don't provide it to you by a definite date you will be either taking court action, or filing with your real estate board a complaint.  

If you get the receipts you need to go through them and figure out your final numbers and if it is off by 1 penny, then as far as  I am concerned you have every right to go after them legally, or through a professional board.  

If you don't get the receipts/not owner statement, (owner statement is only going to give you what the costs were, not what was completed) definitely take court action, or professional board action.

Bottom line, you need to change property management companies because the trust has been broken by not preforming his/her job by providing you a monthly accounting of where your money goes. As an owner, I do understand it the owner statement is later than normal, but not to have some set of accounting in a month here in VA is illegal, and is punishable by board action.

I have a new owner that came to me July 1, and has a 12 unit apartment building and said my property manager is not doing anything to help me or my building.  When I actually started looking at the financials I realized only 4 of the 12 were rented.... It is a shame the owner didn't step in 6-7 months before because he had a negative $3800 a month.  

I took over managing the property on July 15, 2014, I had to make the building visible again , overgrown shrubbery had made the property very hard to even see, I have had to put 4 apartments in rentable shape( as of yesterday), and I have one  the one that was more rented for a total of 5.  Also the second day we were managing the property we got a phone call from one of the tenants saying they had a notice that the water was going to be turned off due to non payment of bill,  The bill was over $1400... The owner hadn't seen any bills or owners statement and he couldn't tell you where the money went, all he knew is he hd to overnight us the funds (he is out of town), to keep the water turned on for the tenants.  

I also reviewed his budget.  I found out my owner was paying too much for water.  what I mean is for only 4 apartment you should not have a $600 water bill,  I found 3 of the 4 rented apartments had toilets leaking, and the worst part they reported the leaks to the old property manager and nothing was ever done about it.  I went ahead and took it further and looked at the trash dumpster and for a 16yd dumpster my owner was paying $294.00 per month.  I had him cancel the contract with that waster provider and move over to a company that I do lots of business and negotiated his rate to $110 a month for the same weekly services.  

To make a very long short sometimes owners let things go to long with a property manager because they don't know what else they should do, but you might be making the problem worse by not moving quickly and getting new management.  

Also at any time if you feel like your manager is not providing you the service you think is necessary, you need to make your feelings known.  If you want something above and beyond what is laid out in your property management agreement then obviously they will not accommodate, but if the services detailed in your property management agreement are not meet you need to let them know and have them correct the deficiencies.