New guy with lots of questions :)

[Wes Rowlette]

My first question is this. Since I am new to this, and do not have much capital to invest, I am looking at investing in dayton ohio instead of here in the boise idaho area. The real estate there is extremely cheap giving me the option to be able to invest sooner, and maybe even start out with a multi family so that I can start getting some cash flow right off the bat. 

I know a lot of people are against using a property management company and long distance investing. But it makes a lot of sense to me if I do good research in finding a good realtor and a good management company. 

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. 

[Steve Rozenberg]

@Wes Rowlette Good to E-Meet you... when looking for a PM company I would say that is most vital thing to your success or failure. I know this because before I created my own PM company I almost went BK because I had no idea how to run my properties like a business and get the needed / desired return from my properties. Which really is the reason we are all doing this.

Feel free to look at my other posts I have helped give some good information to other new investors because no one was there to hlep me when I first started. I would be glad to help you anyway I can.

As for the PM questions below is a good list of questions to Ask prospective management companies

• What are your average days on market for vacant homes?
• What is your average rent amount for all properties managed?
• What is your average work order cost for the owner?
• What is your average make ready cost for the owner?
• Are all my invoices uploaded to my owner portal?
• How do you advertise your vacant units?
• Do I receive video of my pre and post make ready?
• Do you have a setup fee?
• Do you upcharge on maintenance?
• When do you make owner payments? How often?
• Are you a Certified Property Manager?
• Are you a member of NARPM?
• What is your Guarantee?
• Do you provide move in and move out reports
• How many pictures do you take of the property prior to tenant moves in and after the tenant moves out
• Do you get weekly reports when the property is vacant what prospective tenants are saying about your home
• Do you provide monthly newsletters to your tenants
• Do you hold investor education classes to help me become a better investor
• Do you have single point portfolio based management services?
• How many properties do the owners actually own themselves?
• What do you do to ensure that the tenant is responsible for security deposit disputes since that is the largest reason for owner lawsuits
• How familiar are you with the newly changed laws that can affect you the owner if they are not used correctly?