All Forum Posts by: Tony Castronovo

What do you do to keep your rekey/locksmith charges down? We have Kwickset Smartkey locks but are they legit for multi-family use? What about mailbox keys?

We have had a few prospective tenants walk because we don’t have in-unit W/D. But the economics just didn’t work to add. Plus we’d need to reconfigure the space to accommodate them and it would pull away from other livable space. Considering an on-site laundry facility (just 20 units), but there is a laundromat across the street.

Hi Adrian.  Other than the W2, I don't consider anything else "work".  When you are passionate about something all things are possible and you find the needed energy (well, most days anyway ha ha).

Hi @Adrian Gonzalez. Welcome to BP and glad to hear you are moving forward. I've been working on my REI business for about 4 years now. But I also have a very demanding W2 (left the house 12hr ago and still haven't left the office). Last night after a long day of work and trying to buy a couple Christmas gifts for the kids (I am so behind) I got emailing/texting my property manager about an idea to leverage some staging I did at my apartments into a full on furnished corporate rental option....simultaneously I was emailing back and forth with my contractor about our rehab project....while simultaneously updating my website, tracking invoices, preparing financials for my CPA....and eventually at 12:30am I threw in the towel on getting up at 5am to get my run in (also training for my 23rd marathon).

The point of all this is to relate on the point of "hustle makes the difference". No doubt the 4 jobs is stressful and would be a good excuse for you to "put REI on hold". But you sound like someone who is willing to juggle some things to make it happen. I commend you for that and please let me know if I can help in any way.

Welcome to BP @Marcos Torres and @Brian Alfaro!

Good to see the various perspectives.  @Joe Splitrock I didn't post it to announce to the world how annoyed I was, but rather to raise a topic that I felt no one had addressed.  Perhaps my mistake was equating colleague requests too much like FB friend requests, or Linked-In connections, etc.  It doesn't seem to be the case as many of you have pointed out.  Thanks for that perspective.  I will say though that most of the folks who I am colleagues with I have had some sort of dialogue with...and many have turned into mentoring and/or face-to-face meetings....and even some really good friends.

@Darius Tracy and @Lisa Maturo I was not trying to inhibit any reaching out as you are right that this is the spirit of BP that has made it what it is.  I was just suggesting to add some sort of relevance to the request.  Isn't the whole idea of making a colleague request so that you might interact with / create a dialogue with that person because you find what they have to say or might say interesting and helpful?   

As some of you have noted, there is no harm in accepting random colleague requests.  Although I am still curious what the heck they really do and how they differ from Followers. 

Thanks again for voicing your opinions

@Russell Brazil, @Cody L., @Christopher Phillips...you all bring up good points.  I guess there isn't really a downside and these folks could just be lurking and trying to take some initial steps.  I guess I'd just prefer to have true colleagues (like @Mike Dymski defined) than random "connections".  Again, it's probably just my old school thinking.

Seems like a good policy @Marcia Maynard

Maybe I am old school...but I really think if you reach out to someone to make a colleague request on Bigger Pockets that you should make an introduction...send a message with your request and maybe suggest why you would like to connect?  At the very least you should have had some dialogue going in a forum post.  Otherwise it is just SPAM!  And BIG TIP for anyone that does not have a profile picture...please consider adding one as most of us on here do not want to be colleagues with just a name.  And please please please do not reach out in pure solicitation (again SPAM).  Many of us have enough of that and I have always viewed Bigger Pockets as a place for learning, education, networking, and collaboration.  If we develop a relationship through any of those angles then feel free to make your pitch if it is relevant.  <Ok, off my soapbox>