All Forum Posts by: Matt Jones

@Steve Rozenberg  I would like to grow slowly at first, to give me time to refine my systems and processes, and then grow as much as I can.  I'd like to use a software that could grow with me without breaking the budget while I am getting this part of my business off the ground.  With that in mind, is there any one of these that you'd recommend over the others?

Professional Property Managers & Managers of large porfolios,

I currently manage my own rental properties and have all of my tenants set up to pay online through Cozy.co and all applications go through there as well.  I track my income and expenses in a spreadsheet and it works great for my 12 doors. 

As an active investor and real estate agent I meet and work with a lot of other investors and am continually asked if I will manage their rentals.  I'm planning to start a property management company in July but I would like to choose my software and get my systems set up now in order to work out any bugs on my own properties before I go live.  Cozy was great for a free online solution to get me up and running but now I'm looking for something to move my applications, rent collection, accounting and maintenance for multiple owners all in one place.  I've looked at appfolio and buildium so far and I would love to hear your experience with these programs as well as any recommendations for other software I should consider.

Thanks in Advance,

Matt 

Realtor®

Pensacola, FL

Holly Nielsen If you had $10k in hand and you lived in FL would you buy a rental in Cleveland? If not, sell it and put the money into your new home or toward a rental in FL. Much of FL has cash flowing areas for rentals and if your area doesn’t then there will be a good area for investments within an hour drive. If this is your first rental I’d lean toward having it close to home if you can make the numbers work in your area. Good luck with your move and decision!

Hey Eric, I always figure 10% capex and 5% vacancy into my deals when I run the initial numbers and then I leave that money in my rental operating account. On a $1000 rental that adds up to $1800 per year which usually more than covers any repairs I might have done and leaves the rest saved for future repairs and big ticket items. I’m about to set up a savings account for my rentals and transfer the money every month so I know how much I have set aside for capex and vacancy. As the money adds up you may be tempted to use it for something else, I used a large chunk of mine to renovate a new property last year, so I think it’s best to separate that money from the general bank account for your rentals.

You’ll want to talk to you lender before you start the loan process and maybe before you buy the property and find out if they have a seasoning period and if so what it is. Many lenders will loan you a percentage of what you have in it rather than what it’s worth for the first 6-12 months after you buy it. I’ve been able to find local lenders that will loan 80% LTV based on the income of the property, if you don’t have a W2 job I recommend checking with some smaller local banks and credit units for commercial loans.

Hi Al Ball , Christopher Phillips nailed it on this one, a good listing agent with a great marketing plan and great track record will make you more than they cost by marketing your home to sell at the best price, pricing it right and with their knowledge(laws, contracts, negotiation). It wouldn’t cost you anything to interview a few local agents to get an idea of what they bring to the table. Be sure to ask good questions and ask for proof of their track record when you interview agents. If you need recommendations for a top tier agent in your area just let me know! Good luck on your sale!

Matthew Kern I use cozy currently, it’s been great for my first 8 doors and would probably be fine as I transition to 12 next month. It’s free, easy to use and functional enough to get me by with very little work on my part. I’m getting ready to upgrade because I will be managing for others soon and I’ve been looking at buildium or appfolio which are much more involved and require a lot more time to build out. They also have much higher capability and many more functions. If you have the time to build out the software, want to pay for it and plan to scale up your rental business very quickly try one of the bigger and more expensive companies. If you are only going to manage for yourself and it’ll take you a while to get above 10-20 doors I’d recommend starting with something free at first and building slowly. Cozy fit my business well for 2 years and I’d probably continue with it if I wasn’t managing for others soon.

I realize that the deadline for this deal has passed so this will be more useful for future deals... Most sellers placing restrictions on the dates when they will accept offers are banks or other institutional sellers, they are not known for being flexible or even logical at times. If they wait to review offers until the dates they specified and yours has already expired then they cannot accept it even if they want to. In these type of situations it’s best to play by their rules and make an offer you are comfortable with and not change it when they come back asking for more or telling you they have multiple offers. As another poster mentioned you may have to offer on more properties but you won’t overpay and you won’t miss out because your offer had expired.

Hey @Drew LaVallee 

Congrats on buying your first multifamily and on your plans to expand to Pensacola.  I relocated here about 3 years ago by buying a quadplex and I think Pensacola has a great market for rentals.  I agree with @William Allen that a good PM can be hard to come by at times so interviewing several before you close on your first property down here would be a good idea.  I’m an active investor and full time real estate agent in Pensacola and the surrounding areas so if I can help you find a great property just let me know! 

Hey @Douglas C. 

Message me your email address and I’ll send you my vendor list with inspectors, insurance agents, some handymen, lenders ect.  I’m a Realtor and investor here in Pensacola and I keep a frequently updated vendor list for myself and my clients.  Pensacola is a great area to invest!