All Forum Posts by: Soh Tanaka

Sometimes we assume that the property management company we want is the same as the property management company others want. Obviously, most of us want to hire a property management company that is honest, knowledgeable, and responsive. But you want to consider the "type" also.

For example, do you want to be contacted with options and do you want to make the decisions (screening criteria, which repairs to do, when to do repairs, how to do it, etc? 

Or is your focus to save time and reduce the cost? 

Or your focus is to save time and reduce risk? 

These things will contradict each other so it'll be hard to reduce the risk and reduce the cost, for example. If a 25-year-old furnace is noisy but running fine, you may reduce the cost by leaving it as is, but it may increase the risk of going down in the middle of the winter. 

Knowing what you want will reduce the chance of hiring a company that does not match with what you are looking for. 

More likely the property management agreement is with the property management company and the seller, so you should not have to continue with the property management company. If you want to continue with the property management company, you probably have to sign a new contract with the company. 

I'm sure you want a property manager who is honest, knowledgeable, and responsive, but you also need to know what type of property manager you are looking for. Some owners like to get involved with all the decisions. Some owners like to reduce the cost as much as possible. Some owners just like to reduce the risk. Make sure you know which owner you are and make sure to find the PM who can offer what you are looking for. Best wishes to you!

You should manage yourself if you like the idea of managing properties, have time to manage properties, and have the knowledge or are willing to acquire the property management knowledge. In my opinion, you should not look at this from a financial point of view, as one can argue that it'll cost you money even if you manage yourself by giving up some hours, and I'm sure your hours mean something to you. 

If you decide to hire a property management company, know the 3 types of property management companies and which one you like to hire. One will try to reduce the cost (initially,) one will try to reduce the risk, and one will try to make you decide what to do. 

Best wishes with your journey!

I would make sure that you have written screening criteria when a student with no income/credit wants to rent your unit. 

You want to make sure that your expectation matches with the style of the property management company. 

Is your focus to reduce risk? Is your focus to reduce current cost? Is your focus to be contacted by the PM, so that you can be involved with making decisions? There is no right or wrong answer to this, but you will get frustrated if your focus is to reduce risk, but your PM`s focus is to reduce cost, for example.

I would hire a CPA. I used to use TurboTax, but I started working with CPA, once my situation got a bit complicated. To be honest, at least for me, it was not so much about my CPA finding "secret" loopholes to save me money, but more so doing the things right, and saving my time. 

I wish there is an easy way to convert my QuickBooks date to a tax return, but as you know, tax is insanely complicated, so I rely on my CPA to file it. 

While it`s not common, sometimes properties can sit vacant for months. If your tenant is not paying full rent, have you asked your PM what the options are, including potentially evicting the tenant?

One of my goals is to have more time, so I'm happy to pay my property manager. 

@Jessica DiPonziano I bought turnkey properties in IN in the past. If you want to know more, feel free to reach out to me.