Very Frustrated with REI

[Jason B.]

I closed on 4 properties over a month ago. Three already had tenants upon closing. One was vacant and I spent 3 days doing cosmetic work. There were only a couple things that I wanted and still need my property manager to take care of. The property manager must manage about a million properties because they still have not taken care of these things and got the place rented out.

I am under contract for my 5th property. The listing agent/bank owned property canceled my inspection two different times before just finally allowing my inspector in. The day before the inspection the listing agent said I have to overnight a check. I did not do this bc I am out of the country. My wife was sick but dropped it in the mailbox 2 days later. That was too late for the bank and they said I have to wire the money now. I had my realtor put a contingency upon passing inspection in the contract. Well, I just got the inspection report back a few hours ago and the property needs a new porch, has two minor leaks, broken windows (which i new about), and some of the bricks on the top of the chimney are loose. I know I cannot count on my property manager to get me any estimates so I am thinking about trying to find a new property manager. I'm really frustrated and am thinking about just canceling the contract. I am thinking about holding off on buying real estate until I can find a dependable property manager. O and one that will give me reasonable estimates when they actually do give me estimates. I just vented and would like other peoples opinions on my situation.

Thank you

[J Scott]

I apologize in advance, as this is going to sound harsh. But I'm a huge proponent of people taking control and responsibility for your situation...

What you describe -- a bad property manager -- is probably the most common issue among buy-and-hold investors, and if you don't know how to deal with that simple issue (both emotionally and tactically), you're probably not ready to be buying as many properties as you are.

You need to learn to take control of your deals and the people you have working for you, instead of letting them control you. Stop complaining about your property management company and just fire them and find someone else. It's their fault that they aren't doing their job, but it's YOUR fault that you're still sitting around waiting for them to do it.

In the time it took you to write that post, you could have fired your PM. That would have been a step towards solving the problem...not just venting about it...