All Forum Posts by: Nathan Gesner

I know some Landlords that establish a good relationship with a trusted electrician, plumber, etc. They give tenants permission to contact those individuals directly any time they are unavailable.

You can start by going to www.narpm.org and search their directory of managers. These are professionals with additional training and a stricter code of ethics. It's no guarantee but it's a good place to start.

1. Ask how many units they manage and how much experience they have. If it's a larger organization, feel free to inquire about their different staff qualifications.

2. Review their management agreement. Make sure it explicitly explains the process for termination if you are unhappy with their services, but especially if they violate the terms of your agreement.

3. Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers. It may sound nice to pay a 5% management fee but the extra fees can add up to be more than the other company that charges 10% with no add-on fees. Fees should be clearly stated, easy to understand, and justifiable. If you ask the manager to justify a fee and he starts hemming and hawing, move on or require them to remove the fee. Don't be afraid to negotiate!

4. Review their lease agreement and addendums. Think of all the things that could go wrong and see if the lease addresses them: unauthorized pets or tenants, early termination, security deposit, lease violations, late rent, eviction, lawn maintenance, parking, etc.

5. Don't just read the lease! Ask the manager to explain their process for dealing with maintenance or problem tenants. If they are professional, they can explain this quickly and easily. If they are VERY professional, they will have their processes in writing as verification that it is enforced equally and fairly by their entire staff.

6. Ask to speak with some of their current owners and current/former tenants. You can also check their reviews online at Google, Facebook, or Yelp. Just remember: most negative reviews are written by problematic tenants. The fact they are complaining online might be an indication the property manager dealt with them properly so be sure to ask the manager for their side of the story.

I hope this basic guide helps. If you have specific questions about property management, I'll be happy to help!

You can not collect a deposit, rent, or anything else for a service animal. They are to be treated just like a wheelchair or a pair of crutches.

If you don't know how to screen out fraud, hand it to someone that does. Use www.petscreening.com to handle all your applications for pets or service animals. They will weed out about 80% of the claims just by making the applicants follow their process. This web site is being used by professional property managers around the country that swear by it. The service is free to the Landlord.

I have one HERE and a few people shared theirs.

Major expenses: roof, electrical, heating and cooling, foundation, plumbing

It really depends on the individual property and what you plan to do with it. Are you holding it long-term or flipping?

no matter your strategy, I would find someone with expertise in that area and ask for specific advice. You can probably even find a book that addresses the process in more detail.

@Patrik Kusek I agree. I set aside $5,000 for my first investment. For the second investment, I only set aside $2,500 which gave me $7,500 total. I continued to set aside $2,500 per unit until I reached $20,000 which works out to about $1,000 per unit (I have 19 units). I can handle multiple vacancies and multiple major repairs all at once without touching my regular income, credit cards, or savings.

Your reserve may also take into consideration your personal finances. For example, I renovated an apartment for $5,000 and used the regular rent income for that month. I didn't have to touch my reserve fund. If you are a surgeon making $200,000 a year then you can probably pay most major expenses out of your monthly income.

Everyone's financial situation and risk level is different.

@Kurt K. the PM normally maintains security deposits in a Trust account. Depending on their software, the deposit(s) should show up as escrowed funds. I use Propertyware and it displays the deposits on every monthly report. My owner reports also show when a deposit is applied to charges or refunded to the tenant.

As for the leases, I don't send those to the owner. There's no reason. They've been given a chance to review a sample of our lease agreement and then I expect them to trust me to execute it on their behalf. There are some occasions where I'll provide them a copy to facilitate a loan application or something but I make sure all personal information is redacted.

I agree with @Thomas S. I only want to approve cats that have a strong Landlord reference. Once that odor gets in, it's almost impossible to get out.

As a side note, you should be careful with your language. A "deposit" is refundable. A "fee" is not refundable. There is no such thing as a "non-refundable deposit" because that is contradictory.

You can start by going to www.narpm.org and search their directory of managers. These are professionals with additional training and a stricter code of ethics. It's no guarantee but it's a good place to start.

1. Ask how many units they manage and how much experience they have. If it's a larger organization, feel free to inquire about their different staff qualifications.

2. Review their management agreement. Make sure it explicitly explains the process for termination if you are unhappy with their services, but especially if they violate the terms of your agreement.

3. Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers. It may sound nice to pay a 5% management fee but the extra fees can add up to be more than the other company that charges 10% with no add-on fees. Fees should be clearly stated, easy to understand, and justifiable. If you ask the manager to justify a fee and he starts hemming and hawing, move on or require them to remove the fee. Don't be afraid to negotiate!

4. Review their lease agreement and addendums. Think of all the things that could go wrong and see if the lease addresses them: unauthorized pets or tenants, early termination, security deposit, lease violations, late rent, eviction, lawn maintenance, parking, etc.

5. Don't just read the lease! Ask the manager to explain their process for dealing with maintenance or problem tenants. If they are professional, they can explain this quickly and easily. If they are VERY professional, they will have their processes in writing as verification that it is enforced equally and fairly by their entire staff.

6. Ask to speak with some of their current owners and current/former tenants. You can also check their reviews online at Google, Facebook, or Yelp. Just remember: most negative reviews are written by problematic tenants. The fact they are complaining online might be an indication the property manager dealt with them properly so be sure to ask the manager for their side of the story.

I hope this basic guide helps. If you have specific questions about property management, I'll be happy to help!

I only compensate when there's a long-term issue. For example, if they were without hot water for a week, then I would consider it.

If you want to be nice, buy them some passes to a local gym or something where they can take the family swimming and then shower.