All Forum Posts by: Phillip Austin

@Isaac Lane I love this question! As you can see from the responses, it's going to vary greatly depending on the PM. Many factors go into turn time and from a PM's perspective, it can be tough setting these expectations for our owners who may only have a single home that they used to self-manage and are expecting a maximum of 3 days (unreasonable).

@Nathan Gesner is correct when says there is no industry standard; however, I would say most reputable PM companies are somewhere between 5-14 days on average.

Here are some common factors that affect turn time:

- size of PM portfolio

- area of PM portfolio (do they manage in a single neighborhood or across an entire region)

- time of year

- number of reputable vendors

- condition of property

- length of tenancy

- size of PM's staff (do they have assistants or other team members in the field)

- PM's systems and processes (are they efficient and proactive with turns)

A smaller PM who does everything themselves but only manages 5 homes will most likely have a much faster turnaround time than a PM who manages 100 homes on their own. On the other hand, a large PM company who manages thousands of homes may have a ton of more resources and vendors, however, they may be doing 30-50 turns at the same time which forces a longer turnaround. There are many factors!

@Al Sed You have the right idea by posting on BiggerPockets. Here are some other avenues I would explore:

- Reach out to the PMs who are members of the nearest NARPM chapter (national association of residential property managers)

- Post an ad on Facebook/Craigslist

- Target 3-5 top producing brokers in the area and start asking questions

If you do all of these, I bet you find a BIC willing to work with you!

A minimum of 600 is most common in the industry. However, you have to consider your market as well as your individual property. I wouldn't go below 600.

Personally, I prefer a 650 minimum but I'm also in the Denver market so it's a little easier to find tenants with higher credit scores.

As a former Regional Manager for one of the largest PMs in the country, I can tell you that A LOT of the larger national companies do not share the same values as their clients. In fact, their values and goals often times are in direct conflict with their clients’ goals. 

Generally speaking, as an investor, our goal is maximize NOI. Well, these larger companies have particular revenue goals and are heavily dependent on maximizing their leasing and maintenance revenue. They make A LOT of money off of your vacancy and repairs which is why Brandon Turner states in ‘Rental Property Investing' that "property managers suck because they're incentivized to suck."

In my opinion, you need to find a property manager that JUST charges a monthly management fee, NOTHING ELSE. This removes that incentive and instead, incentivizes the PM to place the best tenant and KEEP that tenant. Otherwise, they’re spending a lot of time and making no money. Which is how it should be! If the landlord does well, the PM should do well. You don’t want a PM company that makes money off of your pain!

Agreeing with @Richard F., you absolutely need to make sure whichever contractor you choose is licensed, insured, and permitted to handle asbestos. 

@Matt Jepson Look into a company called Evernest. Full disclaimer: I used to be their Director of Operations for their Colorado market. 

They're a national full-service PM company with 25+ markets around the country including Austin, San Antonio and Houston. The reason I'm recommending them is because it's hard to beat their value proposition. They're relatively inexpensive and offer a flat rate management fee instead of a percentage of rent which most companies cannot offer. BUT, cheaper management often means you need to manage them a bit closer. That's the catch.

@Rebekah Meyer Agreeing with a few others in the thread, the time it took to resolve the issue is where you went wrong. Not to mention, it's a couple with an infant and parents are understandably overprotective.

Not to add insult to injury but your biggest mistake is not having a backup HVAC vendor. If they're booked out 3+ weeks, find another vendor! Better yet, if your husband is experienced in HVAC and you knew they were 3+ weeks out, he should have gone over there to diagnosis and get ahead of the problem. But, you waited 3 weeks for information that you could have found within the first couple of days.

Always have at least 2 or 3 solid vendors for each trade. Also, if possible, always keep a couple space heaters and/or portable ACs on hand.

@Kim N. Contact Showdigs to see if they operate in your area. Showdigs is a fantastic company that works with local realtors to do showings.

@Logan Larochelle Echoing many on the thread, I highly recommend using Zillow Rental Manager for your first few properties. You can run background checks and advertise your listings. @Nathan Gesner is correct; BE CAREFUL of scammers on platforms like Craigslist and Facebook.

Standard underwriting criteria:

- Income: Gross monthly income must be 3x monthly rent

- Background/Criminal: No felonies within last 'x' years (this one can vary wildly between property managers)

- Credit: 600 minimum (if you have multiple tenants, take the average)

- Rental history/References: contact their 2 most recent landlords; did they fulfill the terms in their lease? Did they receive their entire security deposit? Do they hold any outstanding balances?

Hi @Brittany Guimond! Best practice is to increase rent on tenants who wish to go MTM. Most professional companies will increase between 8-10%.

While we always want to show appreciation, especially to great tenants, we have to treat it like a business. You absolutely do not want a vacancy between Thanksgiving and Presidents Day. Your days on market will be longer and you may also be forced to lower rent to fill the vacancy. The increase in rent is meant to cover these expenses. Plus, who wants to be doing showings during the holidays?!