All Forum Posts by: Marc S.

I plan on using Stessa to manage my 1st property, I know most of you said it's not needed, but it's free and keeps everything simple for me. It is making me sign up for their banking account in order to send my tenant the ability to make payments through their site.

But what I think I am realizing is that I can have my tenant make payment through Zelle which is connected to my Chase Business Account. I then have my Chase Business Account linked to Stessa so it will import the payments and still run all the features that I like (Tracking Rental Income, P/L statements, Tax form simple print outs) because it will sync with my Chase Business account.

Would love some advice from previous owners and users of Stessa.

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Can someone confirm my understanding of using Stessa and what I plan on doing.

Would love some advice from previous owners and users of Stessa.

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Dallas, Texas

Quote from @Randall Alan:

@Marc S.

Hi Marc,

We self manage our 37 properties. Usually tenants don't reach out on the real little things...they just ignore them, so it seems... the drippy faucet, the weatherstripping around the door, etc. So when they are reaching out, it is usually something impacting them... the AC, the hot water, the stove, the refrigerator, etc. We have our tenants trained to text us with any issues. Almost every issue that needs an immediate response we can dial a phone number and schedule an appointment for. I don't think you need to worry about telling them what your response time will be, as long as you can handle the big things immediately. Otherwise if it is something really minor I would probably say, "Ok, thanks for letting us know, we'll take a look at that the next time we are close by." (presuming it doesn't require a quicker response). Just try to be a good landlord and pretend it was you calling on the phone with the issue. If I'm going to lose all my groceries, or can't take a hot shower, or it is 97 degrees in the unit, it is a priority and I expect as close to immediate action as possible. Realistically, how hard is it to reply to a text? Takes less than a minute. Barring leaking water, a tenant won't freak out if it takes you 20 minutes to an hour to reply to a text. But don't leave a tenant hanging for days on an important request.

What we do is call the service provider and say,"We need you to contact our tenant to schedule a time to come out that works for them." This way we aren't playing 'landlord in the middle' trying to coordinate a service call. (Obviously we are paying the bill, but I don't want to have to handle it after I call for service.)

All the best!

Randy

This is great advice. Thank you!

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I would like to get some advice on a topic that I will be handling with my 1st property. I purchased my first out of state property and decided to self-manage for the time being. Currently there is a tenant in the property for at least the next 10 months per the lease. I have introduced myself to them and the property was re-done in 2022 hitting all the big Capex categories. With that being said, can anyone provide some advice on how I should let them know how I want them to handle small maintenance request and what time frame should I expect to tell them they will be addressed? Do I say I will reply back to you within a few hours, a day or 2 etc. Obviously, this will be a case-by-case basis on the size of the issue, but if it is not urgent or an emergency. I've already let her know in the meantime if there are any legitimate emergencies to contact me via my cell phone. Everything that I've learned so far about them, I've been informed they are quiet, non-complaining tenants that don't reach out to the landlord very often. I've been provided a list of handymen (electrical, plumbing, HVAC, do it all, etc.) and contractors from the area by my real estate agent who is from there.

I was going to go the route of stating that if you have any maintenance request that you may send them to me via email or text and I will respond at my earliest convince or should I establish a time frame to make it seem like I'm not going to just ignore them for a few days.

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated!

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Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $275,000
Cash invested: $68,000

Contributors:
Victor Steffen

First property under my portfolio belt! Property appraised for 290K and required no rehab. This is a long-term equity hold with the focus of this property on path of progress in its location. I'll make up the cash flow in unrealized gains through the equity growth from the appreciation and of course the amortization of the loan. Purchased with a tenant in place for the next 10 months at market rents.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The location and research into the area of the property.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I had a great team and fantastic agent I connected with after listening to a podcast episode of Bigger Pockets.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Steffen Investor Real Estate Agent.

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Quote from @Randall Alan:

Quote from @Marc S.:

Quote from @Randall Alan:

Quote from @Marc S.:

Good evening BP, I have an escrow question.

I will be closing on my first property next week and although I am nervous and freaking out still, I am excited! As I'm sure everyone felt when they closed on their first property, I don't know it all but I'm taking it day by day.

I plan on speaking with my Mortgage Lender about this question but figured it can't hurt getting some advice. I was asked during this process if I plan on paying my property taxes all at once at the end at the year or placing the funds into escrow along with my monthly mortgage payment. So from what I understand I can either the money in my business banking account and pay it when it's due, which in TX you pay after the year or and this is where I'm unsure, I would pay my mortgage and a month's payment of my property taxes, once a month. If for example my property taxes were 5k, it would be $416 a month plus my mortgage, and I would have it on auto pay.

Please let me know if I'm misinterpreting this or I am correct in my thinking.

@Marc S.

Hi Marc,

We have 37 properties in Florida. Usually what happens in our state is that at the time of closing, you split the balance of the property taxes with your seller. Since they are paid in arrears, you will get a credit from the seller for the months he/she owned the property in the current tax year. In addition, your mortgage company will set up an escrow account for you (presuming you go that way) - but that involves having a certain amount of funds in that account so that you will have enough in reserves to be able to pay the property taxes when they are due. So the math on that varies by when in the year you close. But the short answer is that you have to have extra money in the escrow account that will get factored into your closing as well (usually). I personally find it is easier to have the mortgage company collect your escrows. One nice advantage of that is that you never know what your next property tax amount will be. If you are escrowing, your mortgage company will take any shortage you run into and divide it across the next 12 payments (raising your combined mortgage payment, but minimizing the need to come up with the whole amount at the property tax due date).

Also know that in year 2 your property taxes will likely go from what your seller was paying (say it was based on $200,000 purchase price), to what you paid for the property (say it was $400,000). So in year 2 your property taxes will likely double in that scenario (give or take). So be sure to anticipate what your taxes will be based on YOUR purchase price, versus what your seller paid for the property. This can often be a big surprise when you get a bill that says you are thousands short on taxes for your second year!

Outside of possibly earning a little interest on your money, I don't see an advantage to doing your own escrows. It's a lot easier to let the mortgage company handle it in my personal opinion. But the advantage of splitting amounts due across 12 months outweighs the interest possibilities to me.

Hope it helps!

Randy

@Randall Alana

@Randall Alan thank you! That was actually very helpful. To give a bit more insite. I'm closing next week so it is basically the start of the year. In TX taxes are due Jan 31 for the previous year. In October, the tax assessor’s office starts mailing out tax bills for the property taxes due the following January.

So based on what you said I would pay my property tax bill in escrow during this year (2024) based on last year (2023), wait for my tax assessment in Oct, and if it goes up which it probably will, then be responsible for the difference?

That’s pretty much it… but also will also usually have to pay a full year of property insurance as well at closing.

it’s all pretty easy. Your title company will provide you with a closing document t that will lay all this out (they do all this every day, so if you have questions they are probably the best source of answers for your specific situation.)

After you do it the first time it gets easier (less worrying, and more trusting the professionals around you to pull everything together for you. But definitely check over your closing statement. What can happen is that the title company is t always looped into all the inticricies of the deal and may not write it up correctly. That has happened more than once with us. So if you have any questions about specific charges just ask your title person. You are paying them for their services so they should cheerfully answer your questions.

if you are taking over existing tenants in your property both prorated rents and security deposits go into all that closing as well.
All the best!

Randy

@Randall Alan. Thank you!

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Quote from @Randall Alan:

Quote from @Marc S.:

Good evening BP, I have an escrow question.

Please let me know if I'm misinterpreting this or I am correct in my thinking.

@Marc S.

Hi Marc,

Hope it helps!

Randy

@randa

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Good evening BP, I have an escrow question.

Please let me know if I'm misinterpreting this or I am correct in my thinking.

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Question to the users who suggest using a payment method like Zelle or Venmo. If I was to set that up for my first tenant owned property, would you suggest then I use a service like Quicken to keep track of everything and create a P/L sheet? and simplified excel sheet to be given to my CPA at the end of the year? Also, if anyone does recommend that can I streamline my Venmo or Zelle account into Quicken so it automatically records each monthly transaction and bills I have to pay?

@Liam Naughton

@Michael Smythe

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Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Why not go pick it up in person? It will allow you to see the property and make sure all is right....

One of my friends who owns 8 rental houses has his tenants put the check in their main electrical panel on the first of each month, no later, no excuses. While he's there he pokes his head in the back yard, checking for animals/people/things not on the lease. etc, things like that.

I thought it was brilliant when he told me about it....works for him..

I'm an OOS investor. I think the drive from NY to TX will be a bit much lol.

1 Vote

All Forum Posts by: Marc S.

Marc S. has started 42 posts and replied 111 times.

Post: Stessa as a Property Managment Site

Post: Any rent collecting softwares that accept zelle

Post: Self PM for now on my 1st property

Post: Self PM for now on my 1st property

Post: Got the 1st one finally under the belt...goodbye analysis paralysis!

Post: Escrow Question for 1st Property

Post: Escrow Question for 1st Property

Post: Escrow Question for 1st Property

Post: First Time Landlord- rent collections: Check, money order, cash, or software?

Post: Rent collection suggestion?