All Forum Posts by: Will Fraser

 This is 🔥🔥🔥

@Nathan Gesner we're real off topic here, but I know other folks are wondering the same thing . . .

What draws investors to your market?

Is it folks who live in the market already that get into investing, or something else?

 Stop shoulding yourself!

You've built a solid business and you walk in the reality of your Contribution drive.  That's the thing you should be walking out and you are OWNING IT!  

Watch out, Q2, 3, and 4!  When you start attacking growth you're doing to crush it, Nate!

 We've seen the same thing WAY TOO OFTEN!  This is why we exhort owners to let us handle the utility coordination.  It does come at a price, yet I find that what we are hired to do is to allow our owners to redeploy their time into HIGHER VALUE, which is exactly what dickering with utility companies is NOT.

Keep going, dude!  I've been there (more recently than I care to remember) and IF you put your nose to the grindstone and are honest with yourself about the problems you can build solutions.

The cycle of suck is real in property management and there are ways to break that cycle, yet most landlords exist in the cycle until they tap out and invest in "easier stuff".

It's alright to tap out . . . that's an honest thing to do when it's done with eyes wide open.  YET if you work at it you can build a business you don't hate.

Get after it!

Do you have other applicants?  

If it's early on the market and a hot property then move on to the next applicant.

If it is slow going then something that has been suggested above should work (like logging running a free bureau report in your presence using one of the many reporting tools available).  

They may actually be acting very prudently here, or they may be a chatchki.  It's really hard to know, so I'd default to the analysis above

If they sell for $150k below the real value then the 3% they might pay an agent is likely to be a drop in the bucket.

However, for most FSBO sellers the motivations are often more about control than anything else.    It's not unusual for folks to be uncomfortable giving up control of a process that they feel is simple, and doubly so if that person has had a bad experience with an agent before (or heard stories of some licensed bafoon, like we all have)

I can tell you are looking out for the best interest of your folks, and that's deeply noble, Nate!  Keep going!

I'd hire a ridiculously good inspector to inspect the home. Then have a handyman (or dad since like my dad your dad probably wants to DIY these things himself. . . just find a sly way to check the work after completion). Then hire an appraiser to appraise the home. Then have a REALLY GOOD real estate photographer take the photos (whatever the max your local MLS allows), shoot a video walkthrough, and a 3D tour, then put it up on Zillow as a FSBO. Answer every call that comes in and try to not get ticked at the 40-400 agents that call you in the first 72 hours with "a client looking to buy a house like yours."

Ultimately your folks CAN sell their home effectively, but they WILL need the same team that helps a real estate agent do our job well -- title (or attorneys if you're into that sort of thing), appraiser, inspector, and a few other folks. The reason most FSBOs get crap results is because they don't use the processes that good agents use . . . oh and agents dislike working with FSBO sellers.

A little note about the charity concept . . . I think it would be equally loving for the community around the building if you treated it as if you were rezoning it.  If you start operating the building as a charity instead of a market-asset, it WILL affect the community around the building.  Out of consideration for the broader community it would be prudent to let them know and even give them the ability to weigh in (or add value in their own unique ways).

 I second Jeff's advice on the 1 Bed advice.  In fact the past 7-10 years have seen an evolving trend in our youth (who have now entered the rental or purchase markets) and many PREFER to live alone as opposed to 10-15 years ago when the preference may have skewed towards renting a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment and splitting rent with roommates.

With the various 1 bed units we manage in Oklahoma City I've seen that the well-maintained units thrive.  

Do be aware, though, that there is no shortage of 1 bedroom units in the Urban Core and it makes a lot of sense to think wisely about where the property fits in the spectrum.  Don't buy a deal that would require you to make a 100-year old building outshine the new construction apartments right down the road.  It just won't happen, BUT many people will overlook the $1,400/month 1/1s in favor of a more modestly priced 1/1 and perhaps you can add value in that space!

Everyone seems to be motivated by different things, and this thread shows that very well.

If you're looking for cheap, then your using your cleaner and giving them a gift or pay on an as-needed basis should do the trick.

if you work with a PM company that thrives with STRs then you SHOULD be offloading ALL of the operations to them.  Finding one that charges between 20 and 10% of revenue is not unusual and it's also not uncommon to see your profits be comparable to pre-management except with significantly less toil.

However, which of the many solutions is right for you really comes down to what you want to get out of it.  Remember, anything is possibly, but not everything.