All Forum Posts by: William Joseph

@Nadir M.

I am a property manager and want to provide the PM perspective. I think any client absolutely has the right for a breakdown and explanation of any charge. You should look at this as part of your education process too. With that said, if your PM says it was an emergency I would not second guess the decision too much unless it is a trend or your are positive it is not. I had a situation where a cartridge went bad and as a result was spraying water laterally onto the floor and flooded an entire house. If my maintenance person's diagnosis was as described I would replace ASAP.

On its face the fee seems high but if done by a licensed plumber with a hourly minimum and done after hours or as an emergency call it is not totally unreasonable. You should respectfully ask the questions and get your explanation. I would be much more inclined to respond to an e-mail that stated, "Hey, the plumbing invoice seemed a little high for something that appeared so small, maybe you could just explain it to me or help me understand."

@Brandon Sowers

I am a property manager in CT and we manage around 1200 doors. About two years ago I did a similar business analysis and am still in the process of implementing certain fees on new and old clients like lease renewals. It is a delicate balance because I don't want to upset old clients or lose new business.

One thing that helped increase total revenue was to diversify the business. We started a pest control arm of the business which deals with rodents, roaches and bed bugs. We also invested in our maintenance department and can now keep busy a full time maintenance department which was a significant revenue increase. We created a general contracting division so we can GC large projects and unit turns and now have a number of willing subs under us. We started a real estate brokerage with our leasing department and expanded into traditional buy/sell deals instead of just leasing.

My point is that when you look at your year end figures property management is just one of the revenue sources now and there is a synergy between management and all the ancillary services for both you and your clients.

Kind of an outside the box response, but have you thought about trying to make the association warrantable. If you own two units and the management is passive I would reach out and say hey lets try to fix this. 

I just recently did a few deals with Lima. I like their terms and how their points/rate are based off your experience. With that said, I would not use them in a situation where I wanted to close quickly or didn't have access to interior.  I had a property I purchased with no access to the interior prior to closing and had to convert the deal to a cash deal at the last second because they were unwilling to budge on interior inspection. 

Here is the background:

I have a separate entity for my flips. It is a domestic Connecticut LLC and does nothing but hold the flip properties. There is an operating account to pay contractors and purchase materials and any other things you need to flip. In essence, the LLC is the GC. Naturally, for every property I buy I purchase a hazard and liability policy from my insurance agent for that specific property.

I am being told now that because this company flips that I need to purchase an additional general contracting policy in the event a subcontractor makes a mistake. I was pitched the doomsday scenario of an electrician not properly wiring something, house burns down after I sell it and I get sued. As a general rule, I use licensed guys for mechanical/electric/plumbing. It just seems crazy that I can be exposed to that liability for selling a used house (which buyer had the opportunity to inspect) and work was done by a licensed contractor. 

My question is the following:

(1) Does anyone else who has a flipping company pay this additional general contracting insurance? It seems redundant since in theory I have a liability policy for that specific property. 

I am in the process of flipping a house built in 1890. It is an interesting project and I love the restoration aspect of this type of project. With that said, I am going to be over budget and am having a tough time determining my list price. I am also going to be  3 months over on my rehab due to unforeseen structural issues. I would not recommend a newbie take on a project like this. This is approximately my 30th flip and I still was off on my numbers and timeline. 

Here is the scenario:

I just purchased a property in Connecticut. The old owner is in assisted living an left anything he didn't want (trash out was negotiated as part of purchase price). The seller left a number of guns and ammo in the property. I know this is likely a state specific question but am looking for general answers too. How should I handle? For what it is worth, I have my pistol license in CT but an am not really interested in in the intrinsic value of the guns so much as the liability of now being in "control" of them. 

@MarcAnthony Bonanno

I started my PM company after law school. Truth be told, I would not have been able to do it without my business partner who was previously self-employed and was available to staff the office 9-5. Another advantage you had as a JD in CT is that you can get your your salesperson license very easily. You have an exemption from the 60 hour class so all you need to do is sign up for the test and pass. Once licensed you can then get your broker's license on an expedited basis if you practice in the area of real estate. I think I went from unlicensed to a licensed broker in a little over a year. It saves substantial $$ on flips and leasing. 

I wouldn't be too concerned about having a non-RE practice. Litigation skills will be useful the rest of your career.

Hey Marc,

I have been a lawyer for 11 years in CT so I can relate to what you are going through. Just like you, I was so eager to get started after putting my working career on hold for so long to be in school (7 years). My advice to you would see if you can find a synergy between your investment strategy and area of practice. This is what I have tried to do and find that you will develop skills as both a lawyer and investor that make you a superior deal analyzer and negotiator to almost anyone else in that area. You become both a better lawyer (because you know the business side of the deal) and better investor (because you know how to play the string out and can allocate risk better than a lay person).

Personally, I decided to start a property management company with a partner. We have roughly 850 units under management. I can still maintain my profession as an attorney because for the most part I have hired staff and set processes up that don't require me to be part of the day to day operations.

Best of luck and I am excited for your career.

Non-monetary breach evictions are difficult. You sometimes need to send a Kappa notice which gives them an opportunity to cure the breach (i.e. nuisance here). You should have the Kappa notice served liked you would the NTQ and Writ as it needs to be an exhibit to your lawsuit. You also need to keep the subsidy provider (at least if it is HUD) on notice of the breach and correspondence.

You also need to understand that judges do not like non-monetary breach evictions. They want the parties to try to work it out before they will remove someone from their home for being a nuisance - naturally, disturbing the quiet enjoyment of the neighbors premises is the counter-argument to that. I would recommend using a lawyer for this type of eviction even if you currently handle your non-payment cases yourself.