All Forum Posts by: Brendan O'Brien

Absolutely you're not being too picky, unless your property is in a really expensive market - like midtown Manhattan.

A very general point, it is always smart to stay on top of your property manager, and if this means your properties aren't as "hands-off" as you would like, so be it.

As a database guy, I always consider the biggest mistakes to be those that don't appear for a while, but propagate through your system. Applying it to real estate, my big one is buying in a declining area. When you do this, you may not realize it for a while, but by the time you do realize it, you're already committed and chances are you'll lose a lot of money while you own the property and when you try to sell it.

Can't say I agree with Josh's point about overcharging/undercharging. This usually becomes obvious quite fast. But a lease with low rent will have a major effect.

I come at it from the perspective of an investor who also owns his own business. In general, but particularly in this economy, I would hold onto that job until you are sure that you are going to be financially secure. More sure than you once thought you had to be. Ditto for spending money. Now is the time to double and triple check. Do I really need this?

Thanks Steve!

Brendan

I have a good friend (involved as I am with the Cub Scouts) and she's losing her business do to slow sales and nonpaying customers. It's heartbreaking for her and her husband.

She can avoid personal bankruptcy if the landlord does not try to recover the entire lease amount (through Dec 2009). So, she needs to negotiate and hope for the best.

I have been in this situation from both sides. My question - and please free to PM me with answers - can you recommend any negotiating strategies for her? I suggest PMing because you may not want to give out trade secrets on the open forum. Yes, I'm aware she's made a lot of mistakes.

A recent forum post linked to pictures of one of the messiest apartments I have ever seen. It was a disaster. This (plus my recent blog post on imposing and enforcing rules) made me think of another excellent idea for landlords. You should always make a couple of extra checks on new tenants within the first couple of months. Thie includes multiple drive bys and visits to common areas, and at least one visit to the apartment itself. You will see if the tenant is going downhill early (before the epic destruction phase) and be able to reinforce any rules. And if the tenant is a good tenant you will want to have stay, this establishes that you care about their happiness with the unit.

I wouldn't be surprised to find there is real damage under that litter. All those spills probably have caused water damage/rot in places - plus there may be mold - and the whole place will certainly need to be painted - and maybe some floor replacement.

A good rule for life is to assume that everyone is out for himself. A good rule, but so hard to learn! In my experience PMs are not as diligent as you will be, ever, because they don't have real skin in the game. When they do things better than you will it is because of better tools or experience.

I think we're talking about similar means to get to the same goal. Absolutely there are some "no way" criteria. Jon's are pretty smart. There are others he doesn't mention but I'm sure he uses - like a record of nonpayment to the previous landlord. Other than that you have to be flexible, but the scoring system lets you set objective weights to different areas.

It's also very solid defense against discrimination suits - when the housing advocate comes a-calling, she's going to want to know why you rejected her client. It's very helpful to be able to present objective criteria and say "this is how I compare people every single time.

Hi Wheatie. The advantage is in flexibility. For example, suppose you have a hard rule - rent can't be more than 30% of tenants' annual income. Now you meet somebody who doesn't meet the income requirement but has $50,000 in the bank. Are you going to reject that tenant? No, but using the point system, you can quantify it.