All Forum Posts by: Daria B.

Thanks @Wayne Brooksyou are always so succinct. :)

@Gilbert Dominguez,@Matthew Paul,@Tim Hackett,@Greg Szymbor that was what I was leaning toward and wanted to find if others encountered this. In all the years of having a PM they have generally done the work and now potentially I will be using another company. Getting bids and all that stuff since this is a $$$ project.

@Missy H.that's a very good idea. While I always tell my PM to contact me, they have authority under $300 to approve fixing things and of course in an emergency they address it right away. Letting them know these are part of a warrantied project, their involvement should only then be to put them in contact with the tenant and let me know ahead of time. That's a great idea. And really? Your former-PM didn't like that, honesty I don't see why unless they wanted to continue nickel and dimeing you. :|

Thanks all for your contribution. 

Hello and good Sunday to all of you:

I was not sure where to post this so if it's in the wrong section please let me know.

I am going to be having a contractor remodel my rental for the kitchen and bath and do some flooring. Nothing is being "redesigned", cabinets come out and new cabinets and counter (new) go in the same place as will be the bath. Tile comes out and a surround 3-piece goes in along with toilet and vanity and sink and likely new tub. Flooring throughout both rooms in addition to a powder room and the entrance foyer. Not replacing appliances either since they are new.

While this work is going on it will be vacant. Waiting for the tenant to move, if they do then this work will comence.

With that said, I pondered this evening on just getting through the process and thought to myself, "what happens after"? I will be inspecting but as we know things always seem to happen "after" we walk through. Well maybe not always, but there is a chance.

The work will be warrantied so if there is a problem there shouldn't be any issue with getting them back out to address the issue.

I do have a PM that will charge every time they go over to do something so likely, because I am not local, they will have to go over if the new tenant reports an issue in any of these areas that are being "touched". 

Now, if the tenant does report something out of balance with any of these "remodeled" areas to the PM (and I am going to tell them if they do get a call to let me know because this work will be warrantied), and, in the case that the contractor needs to get in while the tenant is not there, the PM will have to go over to let them in to address the issue. 

""Most" times in my experience, the tenant makes arrangements with the contractor to address the issue.

My question: has anyone had this experience and if so, if your PM does charge per visit, should the contractor pay for the PMs visit?

Thinking a lot on this and I keep coming up with "no" because the work is being warrantied so they have to address it without further cost to me. And because the PM charges me, the contractor shouldn't be held for that cost.

But I'd like to hear from others that may have been in this situation and what the outcome was.

Much appreciated....have a great Sunday....

Hi @Chanté Owens

I have both SFR and townhouse (in a condo community so HOA applies) that are managed by PMs I hired.

Both said they inspect 6 months (as this was what I was looking for but was already included in their list of to-do's) and of course at the beginning and end of the lease. During the move out there is an inspection but also one when the tenant moves out.

Now, I've asked about this and have yet to get an answer why I don't see any documentation on when they do this 6 months into the lease. And of course I get busy with something else so I don't follow up or press the point to them.

They told me they do this but I've not seen evidence of it and they document everything.

I suppose that because the move-in and move-out are super thorough that nothing escapes. So, if something were to happen at 6 months, at the move-out it would be caught because the move-in also shows defects.  The move-in defects are taken care of before the tenant proceeds with living in the property. I make sure that the move-in issues are taken care of in the week found.

I think it's what the agreement is between the owner and the PM.

Well I was going to do a new post but I see I am not the only one experiencing problems with the log in.

I too have been getting this for the past week:

"Your account is unverified. Resend Email Verification."

I am using my Apple account for BP and a Mac OS but I also log in on a PC Windows 7 OS machine as well and my iPhone 5S. So I use multiple devices.

Any ETA on this fix?

HI @Mark Wikkerink

 Looks like @Jeremy Gunn

beat me to the explanation.

I started with their web site and then went to Home Depot to get a live view of the lock and tool and ask HD questions. They were very helpful and said they had owners coming in the past 2 years to switch their locks. The kwiset web site has a video instruction on how to do the rekeys.

The "new" key was what confused me. You can spend $10 for another new set of keys that comes with a smart key tool, or, you can use any old kwiset unused key to be your new master key. HD told me (and showed me all the unused kwiset keys) that if I came back into the store they would give me a key to use. They keep the unused keys when they do rekeys from people that bring in their entire lock to have it rekeyed. They charge $5 to do that but I'm not taking the lock off the door even for that price.

Also, if you loose the master key or tool, heaven forbid, you can dismantle the lock and "reset" it so that you just need to buy new master keys and another tool. HD said they also do the reset but again the web site has these instructions that show how to fiddle with the lock to reset.

Unbelievable that I'm just hearing about this technology and I'm glad it's here.

Hope this helps.

@Tyson Luthymay I ask why not use them on all the rentals? Is it a cost factor when it comes to the larger homes?

I recently found out about this myself and plan on switching out the locks for this kwiset lock. I already spoke with the PM company and apparently they had already planned on using this themselves. Not sure if they were going to contact owners or what that meant. But I informed them that it was something I was looking into to save the cost of a locksmith at every turnover.

Aside from the upfront cost to switch them out, this seems to be a better method for rekeying. Plus, the kwiset web site touts this as not pick-able. And Home Depot said that I could come in to get used keys to do the rekey. I was confused how that worked and they were very good as explaining the re-key.

@Craig Wilcoxthanks for the answer. I've been to a lot of open houses with my friend and never sign the book. When I had an agent I thought it would be bad for her since I didn't know if it would affect her commission. Somehow I thought there was an obligation if I signed.

I agree with you @Alex Silangit can be intimidating especially for so much unknown. As @Sergio Garciamentioned go to some local REI meetings. I attended one this past Saturday and I'm not good on socializing but I'm facing my fear and it actually went quite well. I met some nice people, found a bank as a possible source, and I also met a GC that I could possibly hire. All in one meeting!

I'm a buy and hold but this meeting/workshop got us out to view 2 properties to determine if it was a buy and hold, flip, or walk away. We analyzed the property for the repairs and also discussed the ARV and how to calculate from that down to our repair cost and potential profit. But again viewing all these factors to determine what we'd do with it.

I didn't think this would apply to me to me after all I am a buy and hold investor so why would I want to be involved with something that is a potential flip. Well that was the point. It opened up a new appreciation for me as I would like to do a flip for the experience and who knows I may add that as an additional to my buy and hold strategy. But the point was that I got to learn about things that would apply to any situation. For instance, I am going to be remodeling one of my properties. What I learned from looking at those properties regarding the kitchen and materials is invaluable to me and I can now do better on what I need to do for my remodel.

Good luck to you!

This is an interesting question for me and one that I'm trying to find a balance between what I relied on soley in the past, and what I've learned from BP experienced number crunchers and experts. 

Prior to joining BP I did my purchases based on comps, looking at the neighborhood, and looking at (without all the deep analysis) what I could get for rent that would cover the expenses and mortgage, etc but again without the deep analysis.

Today, I've included the analysis as my 1st start so that I can better see the $$$ as it relates to the rent, everything that I have to pay (mort, taxes, ins, pm, accounting for future things like cap ex, minor repairs, turnover, etc), and returns.

What I've found between these two methods is that the analysis has surely uncovered a view into every $$$ related to the property. It's actually a relief to be able run the numbers and have everything update to give me the COC and ROI.

And like @Michelle NelsonI'm torn with the "offer"....for the property.

As I mentioned, prior to this I went with comps and a "little" analysis on what I viewed as being able to pocket $$$. I should also say I am a buy and hold.

 A lot of people say that if the "numbers" don't work, ie getting that certain cash flow every month, then they move on. I don't know if that means they don't "offer" what the offer price is based on their numbers, or they do give that offer and the seller rejects it.

@Josh Mitchellwhat portion of comps do you rely on when you crunch your numbers?

I've found a property that according to my required net, will cash flow nicely but at a $20k less of the list price.

I generally put in the list price first to see what falls out and then start deducting until I get to what I want in returns. There are several properties that don't cash flow well with the list price or the reduced pricing that I do.

As I become more versed with this I expect that this process will get easier as I've already streamlined my spreadsheets to give me the bottom line numbers.

Thanks all!

This was right on target for me! Great question and one that I was trying to determine myself just today. Deciding to search instead of posting the same question, now I can move on with my analysis. :)