All Forum Posts by: Nathan Miller

@Chris G. It's impossible to get behind the "thinking" of the officials that make these rules.  We live and operate in Oregon and every year they pass something new that is going to help tenants, and ultimately each and every time it hurts the tenants and make housing more unaffordable.  Their intent is the opposite, but they never think things through enough.  Lots of knee jerk reactions to one thing or another.

Ideally your property management will take care of the bills, but not all managers offer this.  Some want the owner to handle the utility bills, which isn't ideal because the owner doesn't have insight into exactly when the tenants move in/out.  The important part is making sure when a tenant is placed that the utility is changed into their name on the same day, otherwise you end up paying the tenant's utility bill.

I'm sure New York has it's own norms, but on the west coast you see it more like:

- 7-10% monthly rent

- 10% surcharge on repairs

- 100% late fee (yes, this is normal)

- $250 lease initiation fee (full month seems like a lot)

- nothing for lease renewal

It never hurts to check what the competition offers, but if you switch make sure the service level is comperable.

I think it's very common for rent to go up when a lease expires and the contract switches to m2m.  These rates are about 7x what we get around here, so I'm not sure how to advise on specifics, but it's not uncommon at all to see a 10-20% increase when switching to m2m.

I agree with all the others in that Quickbooks isn't designed for landlords.  If you use a software designed with landlords in mind you not only get an application that is simpler to use, but one that gives you good tools like a tenant portal (so tenants can make online payments & report issues) plus tools and reports to simplify tax time (think schedule-e specific reports, or electronic 1099 filing).

Many of the good tools are going to have a similar rate to Quickbooks though, although they will provide many more useful tools to you and your tenants than QB.  The more mature platforms that are designed for landlords/property managers include Rentec Direct, Buildium, Appfolio, Propertyware, and Rent Manager. These platforms typically have billing policies where you pay a per unit fee per month to the software and you get regular updates and support each month.

If lowering your cost is your primary concern, there are a number of low-cost platforms available that are able to offer you a lower price by passing along some of the costs to your tenants (payment processing fees, applications, tenant screening, etc). These platforms include RentRedi, Stessa, Avail, Innago, Apartments.com (formerly Cozy), and TenantCloud.

@Dominic Jacquot It really depends on how well managed the condo is.  I've seen cases where the association dues cover all capital expenditures for a property, plus a reserve for emergencies.  On the other end of a fence I've seen condos with fees that barely cover the common area expenses and do not save anything at all for larger expenses.  Those condos do special assessments when there are repairs, new paint, or roofing to be done.

Try to find out which management style this condo uses, then you can budget accordingly.  Personally, I would never buy into a condo that doesn't take in enough revenue to pay for all capital costs with the standard dues.  It shows a lack of management or lack of willingness of other owners to pay for necessary repairs.

@Freeman Schultz I've had excellent luck with Ubiquiti cameras and NVR.  It's significantly higher end than Lorex, but well worth it IMO.  You can access them from either a PC or they have a great mobile app as well, both accessible remotely.

While replacing a wax ring is very easy, even a do-it-yourself type task, it's not uncommon for plumbers to charge rates like this, especially in an over-regulated state like Ohio.  Most importantly is to make sure it gets done right because an improperly installed wax ring will cost you thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars in water damage.

Insurance likely won't cover that.  Sudden and unexpected events is all insurance covers.  Broken tiles over the term of a tenancy is neither sudden or unexpected. 

If you have 8 tiles, I'd replace the 8 most damaged tiles with what you have.  Tiles with linear cracks isn't that big of a deal to most people. 

It's always a good idea to do a separate bank account for your rentals whether you separate them legally in an LLC or not. This helps with taxes and bookkeeping, but isn't going to help you legally. If you maintain the ownership / business personally you may be personally liable for anything that happens at that rental. If you put the property into an LLC (or other entity), then there is some separation - provided you run it like a business.

If you operate it personally, be sure you have the correct insurance and appropriate liability limits to protect yourself.  Talk to an insurance agent to get this right.