A Question for fellow property managers!

[Patrick Gleason]

Hi BP, 

Let me first start off by saying how helpful this site has been. Without its members I never would have gained the confidence to get in on the student rental niche. Thank you to all for participating in these forums, you are much appreciated!

Here is my current situation. I am 24 years old, and own 2 student rental properties as well as a construction firm that caters to the likes of Harvard University and Boston College. We do large projects as well as building maintenance. I recently have been asked if I wanted to place a bid in regards to managing a 35 unit condo complex in the Boston area. I have experience with managing small residential properties as well as managing the construction side of commercial buildings. The condo complex is searching for a property manager that will take care of all financials, meet with subcontractors, attend monthly meetings, walk the property once a month, and report to the building in emergencies. With that being said I do have some questions.

At $960/mo to complete these tasks, is it really worth it? Is there much more headaches I will have to deal with than I'm predicting?

What types of things can I bill for? Can I bill them for book keeping? Is a 4 hour minimum to show up for emergencies/ meeting with contractors unreasonable?

Being a contractor myself, is it illegal to keep up the properties myself? (small projects like paining or repair work,  we aren't talking capital projects)

How will I write up a contract and what types of things should I include?

Thank you all for your help and knowledge, 

Patrick 

[Ray Hurteau]

@Patrick Gleason - for a 35 unit building, this seems extremely low.  If you were going to PM an apartment building, you would typically see 8% of rents and that's just to answer calls, collect rents, and deal with minor issues like lockouts.

What they are asking you to do has a lot more involved and would require legal services on your side, time, recordkeeping, and tax prep.

$960 a month for this is nothing, especially in Boston.  You should find out what they are currently paying their current PM.  Or find out what others typically pay.

For such a large building, you might look to only collect 5% of what gross rents would be (yes, they are condos, but what would they rent for?)

You need to present them with your schedule of fees.  You can certainly have a minimum charge (I would say 2 hours, not 4). And your management fee would include something like 10% on top of labor and materials for any work (so if a repair costs $100, you charge $110 and keep the 10 as your management fee to coordinate the repair).

This is my opinion of what I've heard and I don't do PM in Boston but know others who have a PM for a similarly sized condo association.  Anyone who has actual experience as a PM would have better info for you.  I think you would be losing money by taking 960 a month for that many units.