All Forum Posts by: Drew Sygit
Drew Sygit has started 42 posts and replied 9752 times.
Post: Partnering with an investor, Any advice?

- Property Manager
- Royal Oak, MI
- Posts 10,049
- Votes 6,893
When partnering with anyone, but especially family & friends, you want everything in writing. Otherwise, you may not be welcome at family events!
Too many investors want to partner with “handshake agreements”, which they would never do with a tenant or property management company.
Things to think about:
1) What happens if one of you is suddenly incapacitated or dies? Do the surviving partners get that investors shares or do they have to deal with relatives that may be ignorant and/or greedy?
2) What happens if one of the partners wants to terminate the business relationship and wants their investment out now?
3) What happens if one of you drinks & drives, killing someone and getting sued by the victim's family? How would the other partner(s) be protected from that?
So, why wouldn't you want to hire an attorney to create a partnership agreement and perhaps an LLC to cover as much of the above as possible?
Post: Inexperienced landord, in over my head

- Property Manager
- Royal Oak, MI
- Posts 10,049
- Votes 6,893
hire someone as you are incompetent as landlording
Post: Wanting bigger pockets !!

- Property Manager
- Royal Oak, MI
- Posts 10,049
- Votes 6,893
what took you so long to join? :)
Post: Corporate Housing Specialists (CHS) Experience

- Property Manager
- Royal Oak, MI
- Posts 10,049
- Votes 6,893
@Jordan Tebbs could work if you vett them thoroughly.
Biggest risk is they abandon the contract and property or allow guests to cause damages.
Make sure you require them to have renter's insurance that covers their damages and add you as additionally insured.
Post: Section 8 previous owner issue

- Property Manager
- Royal Oak, MI
- Posts 10,049
- Votes 6,893
@Michael Paling first, send deed in and ask them to STOP making payments to previous owner/PMC.
Then you'll need to fill out the transfer form, which asks for seller's signature, but isn't required.
Other then that, you'll have to deal with the red tape of the housing commission.
Post: STR Hidden Management Fees

- Property Manager
- Royal Oak, MI
- Posts 10,049
- Votes 6,893
@Sara Kasper great catch!
Too many owners would have just gone with this.
EVERYTHING should be in writing and clear.
Our LTR management contract is 13 pages long - to define everything, so there are minimal surprises. We don't have one fee that is arbitrary. They are all either a specific amount or percentage.
Post: Company to be on call for repairs and maintenance

- Property Manager
- Royal Oak, MI
- Posts 10,049
- Votes 6,893
@Stacy C. S. you can hire Porch.com or similar services, but you will still have to mange the process.
Post: Property Management Poconos

- Property Manager
- Royal Oak, MI
- Posts 10,049
- Votes 6,893
In our experience, the #1 mistake owners make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.
It's often a case of not doing enough research, as they don't know what they don't know!
Owners mistakenly ASSUME all PMCs offer the exact SAME SERVICES and PERFORM those services EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, so price is the only differentiator.
So, the first question they usually ask a PMC is about fees - instead of asking about services and HOW those services are executed.
EXAMPLE: PMC states they will handle tenant screening – what does that specifically mean? What documents do they require, what credit scores do they allow, how do they verify previous rental history, etc.? You’d be shocked by how little actual screening many PMC’s do!
This also leads owners to ASSUME simpler is better when it comes to management contracts.
The reality is the opposite - if it's not in writing then the PMC doesn't have to provide the service or can charge extra for it!
We have a 14-page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord. Beyond the Monthly Management, Placement & Maintenance fees, all other fees in our contract are IF EVENT -> THEN fees.
We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:
We recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.
EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!
P.S. If you just hire the cheapest or first PMC you speak with and it turns into a bad experience, please don’t assume ALL PMC’s are bad and start trashing PMC’s in general. Take ownership of your mistake and learn to do the proper due diligence recommended above😊
Post: Highest and best use for a Historic 5B/5B home

- Property Manager
- Royal Oak, MI
- Posts 10,049
- Votes 6,893
Try to rent individual bed/baths as STR or see if city allows boarding houses or traditional bread & breakfast setup.
Either way, you will need dependable person to provide cleaning and if boarding house maybe one complimentary meal a day.
Post: Need Help Underwriting A Property!

- Property Manager
- Royal Oak, MI
- Posts 10,049
- Votes 6,893
@Rachel Hettler this is a typical issue when buying at retail prices - lack of cashflow.
What is market rent?
Also, make sure you get a fixed rate, not one that varies with Prime.