All Forum Posts by: Rebecca Lebowitz

As a property manager myself, I am pretty surprised they are holding the rent until the AI is resolved. I would talk to an attorney. And I certainly hope that the rent will be there when this is resolved-they should be placing the money into Erik's (private-to avoid commingling of funds) escrow account.

I run a property management company, and I can say one thing is for sure-it is absolutely, 100% unacceptable that they are not in complete communication with you. It is entirely clear they are not not the right management company for you. While we as property managers cannot guarantee our tenants (although these problems seem HIGHLY excessive in my experience!)- they should be going out of their way to communicate with you at every step, and give you your rental income as expeditiously as possible-especially in light of all the problems!!!

Are you currently locked into a property management contract? Even if you are-ask if you can break it. After all their errors and miscommunication-it's the least you deserve and hopefully they will honor that.

Sorry to hear you're having such a hard time-under the right management, this should not be an ongoing issue, I promise! Keep us posted

It's impressive at 18 you are already interested in REI-that's great :)

1) What do you mean by 'looking into' campus rentals near campus? To purchase SFH's and rent them out to college students? I know a few people who are doing the SFH renting out to college students, but most of the time I tell my investors to look for multi-families. That being said: I personally don't make any broad conclusions without looking at each property and their own individual laurels-every property has unique [potential] assets. And every investor has potentially different returns that they are looking for.

2) If it was me-don't pay off your student loans all at once, take the money and invest. $22.5k is very manageable.

3) If you trust him and he has as much skin in the game as you, then explore it further. Talk to a lawyer (I can recommend some local attorneys for you to talk to). It's also a great advantage to have someone who is willing to put in sweat equity.

4) That will have to be a personal choice-whatever you guys agree to, is fair, and written into a contract!

5) Talk to someone who has been investing for a while :) You only learn by either working with experienced investors or by doing. At 18 you have a major advantage of having many many years ahead of you. I'd be happy to sit down and talk and answer questions you may have.

I agree. As much as I'm a dog-friendly landlord, you can't have that liability on your hands. Make sure you have documentation about the dog bite-hope the tenant wasn't hurt too badly....

Just a suggestion-I warn my new tenants with dogs that if I receive complaints they do not clean up after their dogs that I would hire a poop-duty company and charge them for it. Just a suggestion if it comes up again :) Also always make sure the tenant has renter's insurance that covers the dog's liability. My insurance rep suggests $300k minimum in liability insurance for their dog.

Good luck!

I really like my CPA, Paul Visca from Stokes, Visca & Co.

Wow-that's a new one for me. I'm sorry to hear that happened. At least it's a positive sign that they are having an adjustor follow up. Keep us posted and good luck!

It would probably be worth it to bring a trusted contractor through to see what you're looking at for immediate maintenance costs. It's possible you can use that at the negotiation table to reflect a lower purchase price-maybe (apt buildings are often a competitive seller's market). But remember-whatever quote you get, add 10-20% in the "just in case" reserves, and more time than they estimate, because major rehabs almost always go over budget and over schedule-which means vacancy and no rental income coming in.

Updated units would possibly mean higher rents, but I make a policy to never purchase property based on speculated rent-only on its current performance, and give consideration to potential rent increases.

25% is a very high return. Usually you find 20-25% returns in very low income areas of the city, which presents its own potential challenges. Personally I aim for anywhere from 10-15%, however, I only invest in nicer parts of Rochester. The nicer areas you get less return, but I find lower vacancy, less maintenance, less headaches and hassles worth the lower return.

I invest in Rochester full-time, and know the area well. Feel free to PM me with any other questions or want to run the numbers (and I'd like to know the area this property is in), I'd be happy to offer my insight.

I am not in Ohio, so I can't recommend any particular company, but here are a few tips from a property manager:

1) Check references! I always voluntarily supply three clients who are more than happy to speak to potential investors about how I handle their properties. Ask their references lots of questions-if they are happy with their property manager, the references will be glad to sing their praises.

2) Ask pointed questions-how do you handle a difficult tenant in [insert specific situations that maybe you have concerns with-like non-payment of rent, disruption of peace, etc.).

3) See what sort of property management software they use.

4) Look at their management contract right away, give yourself time to comb through it-even bring it to your attorney, if that makes you more comfortable.

5) Ask what type of properties they manage. For example: personally, I focus on higher-end properties in specific areas in Rochester, and am not as well-versed in very low income areas of the city and choose not to manage in those areas. Make sure their area of expertise reflects the type of property you want them to manage.

6) What is their rent collection procedures and policies.

Your property manager is the connection to financial success or failure associated with this property. A good property manager will make you successful, and a bad one can unfortunately cause a lot of economic damage, so choosing wisely is imperative! A good one will truly understand and value this fiduciary responsibility.

Feel free to send me a PM if you want any more questions to ask (I have lots more suggestions but don't want to write a novel)-hope this helps :)

A new 2-family unit was listed yesterday afternoon-on Memorial Day-I called this morning to set up a showing for one of my investors. The listing agent called me back to inform me that the property had an all-cash blind offer with no property inspection already accepted (she should not have disclosed all that to me, but she did) in less than 18 hours from listing!

The property was a [potentially-since I never got to see it] a good deal, but nothing that hot, is my educated guess (two 1-bedroom units, but nice suburban neighborhood). This is the third time I've potentially "lost out" to blind-all cash-no inspection offers.

Does anyone have any experience with this "strategy"? Thanks in advance :)