All Forum Posts by: Phillip Gainey

Gregory, others,

If you do decide to go into pm please don't put a property "on hold" (their words) and let the grass grow to 5 feet and let the owner get a fine from city code enforcement like the PM I just fired in Memphis did. A Memphis pm who has posted here. Especially if it is an out of state investor who is really counting on you to watch his/her property. We can't afford to fly across the country just to see if the grass is getting cut on a vacant property or not.

Private message me if you want to see photos of 5 foot grass, huge piles of trash in the yard...etc of a property I had under contract with this guy for 2 months. I would have GLADLY sent him $$ (in fact I did) to take care of the mess.

This is not fiction.

PG

I have checked him out. And seen photos of his work.

I have a property manager who can check out his work, and will have to let him in to paint part of ceiling where leaks existed.

Just feel uneasy about wiring thousands of dollars without some sort of contract.

PG

What documentation would you require from a roofer before you felt comfortable wiring money?

I found a roofer who is reasonably priced but seems a little too "casual" with regard to the paperwork.

Thanks

And the turnkey scheisters and their minions will be vanquished from the face of the earth! The lord will heap back upon them the full weight of their overpriced properties and cast them into a sea of short sales and bankruptcy.

A new age will dawn. An age of mutual profit. And it will be good!

PM's can screw up the screening process as well. And let tenants take advantage. We had a PM who rented to a guy the wife of which (witch?) had 4 eviction judgments against in one year alone. Somehow, she managed to slip under his radar. We had to take them to court twice in 5 months to collect the rent. Turns out the roof was leaking, and the PM and tenants were in a "pissing contest" over the repair. Tenants stopped paying rent. PM didn't even tell us there was a problem with the roof!

PM even tried to talk us into KEEPING THE TENANT. Didn't make sense until I found out about the condition he let the property fall into. He was probably thinking, if the tenants were evicted, he'd have to replace them, and we'd find out about the poor condition of the property. I fired him. And he was trying to tell me he was managing "within professional standards", which is a phrase they like to use when they screw up. He expected 1k from us for breaking our contract two months early! "I don't see why I should take a 1k haircut!", he tells us!

How do you find an out of state team? Trial and error, and money out of your pocket. Try to meet fellow investors. Stay away from people who make their money selling you rental properties. If you got money, try to team up with somebody in Phoenix/LV, who is there, has the knowledge, but not the money.

At least you are not that far away.

PG

Two pieces of advise.

Stick to an area you can drive to in a moderate amount of time. Pay special attention to foundation, HVAC, plumbing, electic and the roof. We are having to pay 5-7k for a new roof on a turnkey property purchased just two years ago!

Hire your own home inspector who the seller has nothing to do with or even knows.

Be aware that you can't passively sit back while some PM "manages the property" for you. You have to monitor the PM. Actually, manage the first couple units yourself. The education will be valuable.

PG

Can't sell. MV in current condition is way less than acquisition cost.

Unsupervised, poorly screened tenant, put in by a bad PM recommended by IMHO a bad turnkey package vendor.

Here is the point. If I lived within a moderate drive away, this never would have happened. At the very least, the grass wouldn't be allowed to grow that high. I would have insisted the PM get someone over there before the neighborhood board got after me. This property is in a very nice Memphis neighorhood!

On a positive note, PM3 is better. Got the photos and estimates lickedy split.

Now we gotta come up 10k to get the place fixed and rented again.
PG

Can't figure a way to paste jpegs, but there was 4 foot tall grass, huge pile of trash in the yard, house and garage is still full of junk tenants left, broken down fence...etc.

Would you fire a PM who let this stand and did nothing for 5 weeks. Waiting for estimates?

PG

Got photos a couple days ago from PM3. Place is a mess! Was under contract for 2 months until PM2 was fired. They had full access to the vacant home for five weeks and did nothing!

I will post photos when i figure out how.

PG

To help resolve issues with property management company and seller/contractor.

Thanks,

PG