All Forum Posts by: Matt Clark

A lot of emotion creeping into this thread... Yes, it's cool, but coolness rarely mitigates risk...

Attention BP family in SW Virginia:

Please join us for the monthly Roanoke area meetup on the fourth Wednesday of each month.  This month we'll be meeting on 2/24/16 at the Grandin CoLab.  Please note the new start time of 6:45.  We'll be in Conference Room B, so if you come in the front door of the CoLab, walk about halfway to the back of the main room, and keep an eye out on the left for Conference Room B.

Our meetups are informal, and everyone is welcome regardless of experience level.  We open the floor for discussion, and everyone participates to whatever level they are comfortable with.  Please share this announcement with anyone you think may be interested.  We have participants from Roanoke, Salem, Franklin County, Bedford County, Vinton, and other localities in Southwest Virginia.

See you soon!

Matt 

Gino Rizza , we are paying $150 flat rate for 2 bedroom apartments. We provide a specific check sheet for the cleaners to use so that both parties have the same expectations. And for me, reliability is the most important quality. With a tight turnaround schedule everyone must show up on the right day, as agreed upon.

I guess I'm old fashioned - it sure wouldn't work for me. I consider property management a "people business" and I just don't think that lockbox would start building the relationship based transaction that I want.

Joe Fairless , if no one else chimes in with recommendations, you might check with one of the more progressive electrical contractors where the project is located. It's not a particularly complicated process, but it might be labor intensive, depending on how the buildings are wired. But it would be within the capabilities of most commercial electrical contractors. Submeters are readily available for purchase online. The simplest ones would be read manually. If you want them to be monitored electronically you'll probably have to go with one of the larger utility submetering companies for the installation. I'm sure there are some good ones out there, but my experience has been limited to just one, and their customer service is sub-par. My opinion is that it's better to go with manually read submeters. Then your on site staff can read and bill the tenants. No electronics to maintain, and no fee to pay the submetering company.

I think I've probably used 20+ dishwashers over the years, and one trend seems clear. I've had better service and longer life out of the cheaper ones. It seems like the fancier they are, the easier they break.

Roger Laughary , I just signed up with Buildium for 7 units. So far the on boarding and setup has been pretty simple, and they have been very responsive when I have had questions. I've been quite pleased so far.

This Wednesday, 01/27/16, at the Grandin CoLab, come join us for open format discussion of all things real estate.  All experience levels are welcome.

Please note the new starting time: we'll be starting at 6:45pm, in Conference Room B.  It's about midway to the back of the CoLab, on the left.

1327 Grandin Road, Roanoke, VA 24015

http://www.colabroanoke.com/

Not necessarily material to your question, but I think your handyman is wrong. Power surges don't trip breakers. If it happens again have a real HVAC contractor check it.

@Account Closed, I've installed about 8 of these in apartments with high RH:

http://www.innovativedehumidifiers.com/

They are fantastic!  Great service from the manufacturer too.  Their product eliminates the shortcomings of portable dehumidifiers.

Matt