All Forum Posts by: Samantha Wakaruk

Interesting! Do you ever venture out toward the Lehigh Valley? If so, let's connect! 

I can definitely name a few things. I'm a property manager that directs the maintenance department of the company, so my answers may be more maintenance specific. We currently use Appfolio. 

1. Reaching out to tenants to give them updates of when a city inspection will be. Yes, I can text everyone at the property level, but I wish there was a button that I could have pre-set responses built in to choose from. 
2. Creating bills from invoices received - I wish I could just upload a PDF of an invoice and AI grab the text and create a bill that I can proofread and edit if needed.

3. Explaining the same thing over and over and over to tenants - again, I wish there was a preset responses built into the software we use.

4. Fielding a REAL emergency from a tenant-thinks-this-is-emergent. I get calls daily from Appfolio about 'emergencies' that are definitely not emergent in the least.

5. Listening to my voicemails at the office. Although my line is only supposed to owners or new owners looking for management, tenants will still leave voicemails on my line. 
6. We are currently in the market for an AI chatbot for our website that will field emergencies and send a message to a member of our team if one arises. Although we have that for the phone, we're finding that many people prefer texting in. 
7. I wish that Appfolio would allow me to set maintenance labor prices by owner. Going in and changing all the billing for each individual labor line in the back end gets exhausting. 

I can say, my team went from Tenant Cloud to AppFolio, and Appfolio is definitely so much better. 

I highly recommend the Lehigh Valley, specifically, Allentown PA, or the outskirts. Steer clear of Easton PA, as the city itself is requiring a ton of expensive and unnecessary tests and reports to pass inspections. But Allentown you can still find investment properties that turn a profit quite quickly. It's a gem that many have only heard about from Billy Joel's song, and never thought to invest in that area. 

We have many investors from the NYC area that are investing in the Lehigh Valley PA. Still close enough to NYC if you are local so they can walk through the places they're  buying if they so choose. I also have a lot of clients that are moving away from residential units and buying office spaces in NYC. Diversifying in other zip codes is definitely a smart choice.

This tenant sounds like a headache. A tenant threatening you when warranted is one thing, but when a solution has been found but it's just not 'good enough' for them, that's a different story. I would not renew their lease, however I would revise my lease to build in lawn maintenance for the next round. Just because something is written in the lease, doesn't always mean it's enforceable. I'm not sure about the jurisdiction where your rental is located, but in the area that I manage no judge would evict for the leaves not being disposed of as per the lease. 

No tenant is going to care about the lawn the way that you do. It's not their property at the end of the day. Hire a company that you prefer, and build that service into your lease so that you do not feel that money coming out of your pocket. This will lessen headaches and heartaches down the road.  

Several of my clients who come over to my management company from self management were using RentRedi. It seems to be software that many people use when managing a smaller amount of properties. I have never used it personally, however, I do know that they allow tenants to bring cash to certain stores to make rent payments if they did not want to pay over the software. 

Cash for keys is very situational on specific. Sometimes, the comfort of knowing the tenants aren't going to dump cat litter down your toilets or take a hammer to your walls is worth more than the monetary value. Sometimes it gets the tenants to make moves quicker when they have the short term gratification of money in their hands. 

I currently have a seller that owns a triplex that is in the process of doing a cash for keys. Seller has a buyer but under the condition that the unit is empty and broom swept. The current tenant is a major hoarder. 

We gave him 2 choices:

1. We go through the court process. 6-8 weeks turn around time when all is said and done. And there's an eviction on your record

2. We will give you your security deposit back in full if you vacate on this day. You can leave whatever you want to, but you need to be out by this date and time. 

The tenant chose cash for keys. He got the bulk of his belongings out of the property and is currently in the process of moving. 

Was it more expensive? Yes. Was it worth it to the owner so he can close this deal and move on? Also yes. 

It truly depends upon the tenant and the situation. 

I've had great success with local appliance restorers. They will haul away the old stove and replace with a used one. Depending upon the vendor I use, they have a 3 or 4 month warranty on them. I pay $400 for a stove. 
I will say though, you do have to watch with certain vendors because you can get unwanted bugs, like roaches. 

How often tenants don't even hear beeping smoke alarms. It astounds me still to this day. 

I would be leery for mentorship at that price. Really look into what is included in the membership and if it is tiered.

a master of any trade is not getting out of bed for $50/hr.