All Forum Posts by: Patrick M.

@Carlos Martinez understand that you are asking a question on a site where the majority of participants are property managers and landlords that take their managing very serious. So you will get very constructive opinions advocating both methods.

I self manage 9 units and right now I would not have it any other way. It was extraordinarily difficult and stressful the first year because the buildings and tenants were in a bad way.

The last 4 years have been a pleasure. I see the fruits of my hard work in a way that my w-2 can't. Your management becomes second nature, almost reflexive. So it becomes easier and easier.

With that being said, I had a great mentor to turn to when things got rough. I spent a lot of time educating myself. I am in a very "tenant friendly" state- which means I can be married to a tenant for life, so my vetting is strict, serious and professional.

It has definitely "changed" a lot of my past beliefs and prospective. You MUST be ready to be firm in your rules and be ready to address and prosecute lease violations immediately if you want to have a profitable business AND a smooth running operation.

The 1st year it was definitely a 2nd full time job. For the 1st year I dreaded seeing my landlord phone ring. Now I welcome it as an excuse to go down, check things out and collect some money from the laundry. 

It is also matters what you are taking on- SFR, multi, condo... I have a general understanding of the ins and outs of my building plumbing, electrical, etc. I know that I can diagnose and replace a toilet flapper. Or adjust a showers temperature, change a light fixture, etc. or any other small odd or end. I also cash flow well so I don't hesitate to call in a pro when needed. I see a lot of self managing landlords who are hesitant in this regard- this is why it is helpful to have a management team because they can tell you, "hey we need to address this with a plumber." Or "we will be over later today to clear the clog."

If I could hire one of the regular posting PM's on this site when I retire, I probably would...

Best of luck!

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/07...
Well it would seem that Texas is standing up for its landlords. This reporting is extremely bias and also shows the divide even among landlords.

Even a major landlord group seems a bit baffled by the ruling. David Mintz, vice president of government affairs with the Texas Apartment Association, says he has been reaching out to the Texas Justice Court Training Center.

"We have asked them to clarify their guidance," Mintz says. "We believe that the courts do have the ability to consider CDC declarations that are provided to them."

Why would anyone continue to support this landlord group?

@Kevin K. There was an article that ran yesterday about David Chang shutting down his restaurants in Hudson Yards and fleeing with the countless others. The comments from the HY representatives were stolen right from Baghdad Bob. "We are operating at 92% lease. Everything is sunshine and roses..."

The moment you try and point out discrepancies and provide another point of view the hysterics begin: Oh they've written us off before... You just want it to fail... I've seen the obituary for NYC many times..." What do they even mean? Drama.

It is scary that people won't acknowledge the problems, both today and down the road. But, it is like the luxury high rise owners, they don't want to speak ill of where they are invested. Be it emotionally, monetarily or both.

@Joe Seegers Exactly Brother!

On the upside- They caught the recently paroled murderer who brutally beat an old woman near Times Square on Monday.

@Justin Thorpe looking to the history books to predict the future of NYC is a tactic taken by some. I see things more nuanced then that and it is also why I don't pay much attention to the people who see the future as either a return to 2019 or apocalyptic post nuclear holocaust.

If the NY Times and WSJ are incorrect in there reporting then it should be challenged. But when the only critiques are "it's clickbait" or "they are wrong on crime! Look at this graph showing crime from 1924 to 1965," then I am unmoved.

I have never said that NYC will cease to be. But it has ceased to be what it was, and if crime, epidemic homelessness and wasted resources aren't addressed then it will continue it's downward spiral.

Commercial and residential rents have dropped significantly. Your position is that once people are vaccinated it will be 2019 all over again, others are saying it is already back to normal. I am saying, based on the reported representations of business leaders, former residents and government officials, that that is not the case.

@Carl Mathis I am very sorry for what you and others are going through. 
But thorough vetting is a huge piece of this problem. And it is not said to be smug, but to be accurate.

Claiming that your not a professional investor does not  negate your responsibilities to your business.

You need to run your business like a business.

I am very sorry you are going through trying times right now, I am hopeful you will make it to the other side and this will just be another learning experience, expensive though it may have been.

Both are in today's Wall Street Journal

2 articles in WSJ today:

1. JP Morgan and others are getting rid of huge swaths of NYC office space.

2. SoftBank, Microsoft and other are Looking for hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space in Miami. It is outshining NYC as a new tech hub.

DiBlasio and his supporters continue to use hyperbolic language like death and obituary. No one is saying that NYC will cease to be, but it won't be what it was.

@Johann Jells the numbers are flawed, they equate military bases with monetary payments and other nonsense meant to skew in favor of an predetermined outcome.

It is really amazing how difficult it is to get someone to say thank you for several billions of dollars.

Btw- there is renewed fear as another surge is hitting the north east. NYTimes