Seeking some wisdom...

[S. Perry]

I am getting fed up with my PM company and my property doesn't even have a tenant yet. We went the PM route for a couple of reasons and the biggie was time. We don't have time to manage a property and all it entails. That being said we may just have to make time.

Perhaps I am being too impatient so I am seeking some advice. This is all new to me and maybe I am in need of a reality check. Be gentle!

My rental should have been rented within days. First problem was a neighbor who was doing a bit of sabotage. This has been resolved (hopefully). We even went the way of a price reduction (below market now). Second issue was that the property ads online (various locations) are not updated as often as one might think they should be. At first it was every other day. That then turned into every 4, every 6 days. Then an entire week went by and a bit of digging showed the property wasn't listed anywhere, in fact online sites were saying that the property had been removed from the posting X number of days ago. I went to the PM company and asked what was going on. Their response was disbelief. Office manager asked me if I was sure. YES. I am sure and that is why I am here. Then I was told that *sometimes* accounts get hacked....ads get removed. I don't know if she was referring to CL and what goes on there at times or what but I know what I saw and the ads were physically removed. At any rate within a day the ads were back online. Property has been shown 5 times in 6-plus weeks. I am not happy with the pictures nor the description they have on the ads. Poor quality cell phone pictures and pretty generic wording. I asked if I could provide different (higher quality pictures) and was refused being told that the pictures don't really matter. I requested yesterday via e-mail if they would PLEASE consider placing a sign in the yard. The house has a massive amount of traffic passing it daily!! I have not gotten a response and no sign has been placed.

I am seriously considering buying my own sign and putting their phone number on it however I have no idea if they are even responding to potential renters!!

For someone with ZERO experience in vetting a tenant.....ZERO experience in being a LL how hard/expensive is it to obtain all the necessary documents (leases, laws, etc...) find a handyman to handle everything needed/when needed AND not fail?

[Michaela G.]

I does sound as if your PM is dropping the ball.

If you have a handyman that lives close by and who you can call, it's really not that difficult to manage yourself.

I'm presently self-managing 14 houses/duplexes in Atlanta, while on the Westcoast. (And these are all in a low-income neighborhood, that usually requires a lot of hands-on) The only way I'm able to do that is by having good people that I can call. I have a handyman in the neighborhood and I can just call him, give him tenant's name/ph#/address and he'll take care of it. He faxes me an invoice and I deposit into the local branch of his bank. He lives right there and it's so easy for him to just stop by.

I also have a plumber and an electrician and an appliance guy and HVAC company that are willing to work the same.

I have a friend that will show, if there's an vacancy, and she'll get 1st month's rent (which I'd have to pay to a PM anyway) and I'll pay her per trip, if she has to put out notices or other.

Rent is being deposited straight into my account.

Just to show you, that managing doesn't have to take a lot of your time, if you have the right people to call, who'll then take care of things.

You're in a much better position than I am, if your rentals are close by, so I would agree with others to go ahead and fire your PM and do it yourself. But also make sure to find good people before there's a problem, so that you'll only have to pick up the phone.

Good luck