All Forum Posts by: Satyam Mistry

@Kyle Varga Congrats on your new addition! Was this your first out of state investment? What will the monthly rent be and do you have a PM company managing the rental?

I am self manage my properties in Omaha and wanted to ask how other investors manage emergency situations. I sleep away from my phone overnight and have that constant thought if some emergency situation occurs overnight how can I guide my tenants so that they know the procedure if I am not immediately reachable. I personally do not perform any repairs at the properties, but have a couple of handymen on file. I do pass on their contact to tenant for emergency situations when I am out of town, but more concerned about those late night situations when even a handyman on file does not pickup. 

- Do others instruct tenants to call a handyman in emergency situations when they cannot immediately reach landlord? 

- My main concern is if something plumbing related bursts and flooding becomes an issue should I instruct the tenant to try a couple of plumbing companies if they are unable to get a hold of me or a handyman? 

Just looking for some more direction on how to guide tenants in the event something like this happens where the landlord is not immediately reachable. Thank you for your input!

@Lee Ripma & @Zach Stillman Thank you both for your input and experiences! I will definitely note these things and will likely end up getting a good PM company in place.

@Aaron K. I agree the laws on landlord tenant related issues is important and something I should definitely be aware of. The real estate lawyer I have worked with in the area has actually mailed notices if there are statewide changes that may affect landlords. I am also part of an active FB group for the St. Louis area and keep an eye on what is happening in the community. I think staying in touch with a trusted agent and a couple of investors in the same area will also help in these matters.

@Zach Stillman Sure, the zip is 63111, yes I would be open to placing them with a fee through an agent. 

@Lee Ripma Sorry, to clarify I meant that I would have an agent do the showings in person and also do the lease signing in person after a tenant has been accepted. I would have access to the tenant application through Zillow, Cozy, etc. so I could know some of that background information. I was thinking to try self managing for 1 year and then make a decision on whether it was worth to continue or put a PM company in place. On one side from the experience of managing my own rentals for a few years I feel the most important part is tenant screening. If a qualified tenant is placed in the property and I have a relationship with a couple of handyman and other investors in the area then managing could be quite feasible, but on the other hand I do not want to create a mess out of it early on. Thank you for your input Lee, I enjoyed hearing your episode as well.

I will be closing on my first multi family property (4-plex) soon in south city St. Louis. I currently have 8 SFR in Omaha and self manage those, but this will be my first out of state investment as well. I have connected with a great agent in the area and he will be acting as the GC as the property needs a full rehab before occupancy.

I have good experience with managing my rentals in my local market and feel I can do the same with this new property as I should be able to find a couple reliable handymen through networking with other investors in the community, but am thinking the main thing would be finding someone that can show the property to prospective tenants. I feel if I can get someone to handle that part and go over the lease signing with them in person then I can self manage maintenance requests and rent collection being out of state. I am thinking I could have an agent do the showings and lease signings for a fee as I will still be the one that will be reviewing their applications.

Curious to know others advice and tips on this.

@Kevin Barry Looks like a good deal. Is there any common area that should be maintained such as a lawn? Also, I like that it is a good deal with the utilities being paid by you so if you are able to get that to the tenants that would be an added extra. Is the water setup through 1 meter currently and is it normal for your area to have the landlord pay for the water/sewer?

@Colin M. Brother this does not look like a deal to invest in. This is not an inexpensive property to get into at a 315k price tag and the numbers do not indicate there is a lot of margin.

Also, you are out of state so you will have management fees whether the management is good or bad. I understand it is new construction, but still budget some monthly amount such as 5% for maintenance and 5% for vacancy. I would stay away from this one!

@Tyler Kavan Search Omaha Real Estate Meetup on FB.

@Aaron Hilgemann Welcome to Bigger Pockets. I am also an investor in the Omaha area. There is a great local Facebook real estate group started by @Collin Schwartz that you can join to stay involved with the market here. Feel free to connect with me as well. Best wishes.

@Matt Byrne Have been able to learn a tremendous amount through a combination of BiggerPockets, connecting with agents & investors in my local market, and actual day to day experience self managing and growing my portfolio. Immerse yourself into BiggerPockets by listening to the podcasts and reading a few topics each day, go and see other rentals and homes for sale in your area, talk to 5-6 agents and stay in touch with the ones you connect well with, talk to other investors in the area and how they got started, etc. Get out of your comfort zone and when it gets hard keep going, it will be worth it if you are passionate and dedicated!