All Forum Posts by: Chris Seveney

What would you say is the leading cause of the loss of capital of the people/funds you mentioned? Aggressive underwriting/leverage? 

How many people go into the space without experience in investing and underwriting?

@Chris Seveney first off, thank you for your response! You're right - there’s a lot of competition in the PM software space. But one of the issues I’ve seen is that most tools require tenants/landlords to communicate through in-app messaging to track conversations, submit maintenance requests, etc. If a tenant texts their landlord outside of the app, there's no way to easily track or manage those texts unless you're using an expensive PM tool built for large landlords/property management companies. Otherwise, these texts can get lost in your personal phone, mixed in with your family and friend's messages, or accidently deleted.

As a small landlord myself, I'd rather not force my tenants into an app - I’d rather keep it simple with texting while automatically logging those texts in a central place (landlord dashboard) for record-keeping and a clear paper trail. For example, if a tenant texts me saying the washing machine broke, this tool would auto-log that message under the tenant's and property's profile as a maintenance request in the landlord's dashboard without me having to do anything extra or have the tenants submit a request in an app.

That’s exactly who this tool would be built for - small landlords who prefer texting but need an easy way to stay organized, along with lightweight tools to manage other aspects of their properties. Most landlords I’ve talked to thus far love the convenience of texting but struggle with tracking these conversations, and tenants also overwhelmingly prefer texting over using an app which is the area I am trying to address.

How about you? Do you use PM software with in-app messaging to communicate with tenants (outside of email), or do you still rely on texting for most tenant interactions? If you still use texting as one of your communication methods, would you use a tool that auto-logs all those messages?

I'm looking to partner with a builder to raise funds for a syndication holding long-term rentals. We've worked through most of the financial aspects, built in buffers, and taken a cautious approach.

One key priority is setting up checks and balances to reduce the risk of fraud, especially when it comes to handling funds. I want to make sure there are multiple layers of oversight to prevent issues caused by a bad actor or rogue employee.

Here are some ideas I have so far, but I’m looking for more:

1. Two signatures required for checks over $1,000 – Does the bank actually enforce this? And what happens with electronic payments (Zelle, wire, ACH, etc.)?
2. I hold the account in my name and grant them access – Would this create any liability for me?
3. Legal agreements – Of course, I’ll have an attorney draft and review them, but I want to come prepared with ideas to strengthen protections.

What other safeguards or ideas do you suggest?

Let’s talk. I am open to exploring more options. We are looking to buy 3 properties minimum in the next 2-4 weeks.