All Forum Posts by: Amanda Lindsay

Hello, I recently started a property management company and currently manage around 80 properties. I also have a rental property that is paid off and in my name. I would like some capital to fund my bank account and pay off some personal debt as I take on this new venture. However, without having W2s or 2 years worth of tax statements for my business, I'm having trouble finding a loan. I initially tried a HELOC so I can pull that line of credit when paying contractors, etc. However, I'm struggling to find anyone to do a HELOC with an investment property. I tried for a second mortgage but couldn't qualify without paystubs and income. Am I missing something? It's frustrating to own a house with 100% equity and there's no way to pull that money or use it as collateral.

Quote from @Nancy Truong:

My law partners story - she use to buy tax liens and tax deeds for only a few thousand dollars at foreclosure sales. Put up a for sale sign while fixing these properties.  She would sale them and repeat.  Eventually she made enough to buy to buy a multifamily. Anyway,  start small, and grow your nest.  

 This is the same plan I'm hoping to follow. My fiance, daughter, and I already have our forever home and are not interested in house hacking. Although, I did technically start that way by renting my first hope which is almost paid off. My fiance and I have solid experience in remodeling on our own but don't want to do huge flips. 

Quote from @Theresa Harris:

They are his properties and you are effectively managing the properties for him.  9-10% is pretty standard for property management along with a fee to find new tenants.  Add in the leasing fee and see what he says.  The leasing fee varies, from as high as 1 months rent to a flat rate (eg $500).  With a PM, any repairs come out of the rent money and the owner does his own insurance payments, etc.  Look up what some local PM companies charge.

Thank you for your reply. We charge 10% flat fee with no signing fees. It seems silly to send him 90% of his rents when I will be paying the insurance and expenses on his properties while he’s retired. 

Quote from @Drew Sygit:

@Amanda Lindsay So, 72 doors total?

Who is the broker for the company? 

Does he want you to take over and still pay him his salray or is he selling/giving you the business?

Thanks for your comment, Drew. Currently 72 doors. He is the broker as I’m working on my license. I will take over the business, not buy him out. He will receive a salary of sort but we haven’t decided on terms. I will still be running the company so keeping 10% for myself and giving him the 90% seems silly will I’ll still be paying for maintenance and expenses on his properties.

Hello all! 

I'm new to the business, coming up on year 2 of property management. I work solely for a property owner; we are a two person team. He owns 36 doors and manages for an out of state company that also has 36 doors. We also have two contracts with individual owners for managing their properties. I have learned everything on my own and through him but without any outside mentors. He will be retiring soon and we've been discussing how I will take on the pay scale. Right now I get paid an hourly wage only, as he has not taken on any new contracts since I started. He makes a salary through our business and reinvests the cash flow from his personal properties back into the business. We make 9% on the out of state company and 10% on the other two properties. 

How would you recommend this being split when he retires? If I'm doing all of the work and he's on a boat somewhere I don't feel like he should make commission. I will be doing all of the work from here. I've toyed with the idea of paying him his "rent to property owner" check that I send the other companies but then would still need to pay insurance and repairs, etc., for his properties. How have you heard companies doing this? Does anyone have any recommendations?

Quote from @Drew Sygit:

@Amanda Lindsay curious about which softwares you evaluated to select Rent Redi?

@Patrick Drury what did you think of Propertyware and Rent Manager?

 I reviewed Rent Redi, Appfolio, Buildium, TurboTenant, and Yardibreeze. Obviously price wise, Rent Redi was the lowest. We have a solid system in Quickbooks and want to stay with that for financials. We are hoping to streamline tenant communications, maintenance requests, and payment records.

Quote from @Patrick Drury:

@Amanda Lindsay
If you are already at 50 doors, you should use Appfolio. They are the best property management software there is, but they have a minimum portfolio size of 50 units. If you meet that requirement, I highly recommend it. 

 At $280 a month, it's far from $9... What makes it better than Rent Redi?

Quote from @Shannon Smith:

We just started using Rent Redi at the beginning of the year. I really like it so far. I was originally drawn to it because I wanted to have one place where all my tenants paid rent and where they had the option to set up auto payments. If I recall correctly, Rent Redi even gives them the option to pay using a credit card. The part that I can see being the most beneficial to us, personally, is the "REI Hub" which is the accounting piece that you can opt to pay for as part of your monthly subscription. It links to our business bank account and our business credit card so come tax time, deductions should be easier. I just go in at the first of every month and code each line item to the corresponding property and note what the expense was for (Repair, HOA Fee, Mortgage payment, etc). The only thing I will say that I wish they offered within the app that they don't is a way to track mileage.

That is so helpful, thank you!

I'm currently managing our properties (about 50 doors) through my own created system between Google and Quickbooks. But as we are looking to add more employees to our team and expand our doors I'm looking into the best managing systems. As far as features, Rent Redi obviously blew everyone else out of the water. Curious as to whether anyone uses them and has anything negative to say.

It's 45 days in Indiana. I recommend doing a move in and move out inspection with the tenant. Then at move out, any damage, unpaid rent, etc, is documented and I provide a copy of the inspection and a receipt of costs along with the deposit. I'd gladly send you over my template if you'd like.