All Forum Posts by: Amber Forkey

@Charles Kahl What type of services specifically?

I worked with one and that experience is the reason I now own my own PM company. 

You can ask all the questions you want but 6 months will tell you what you need to know about the company you go with. Are they tracking your financials properly? Is there transparency with billing? Do they share leases with you when move-ins occur? What is their eviction protocol? All questions they can give you the right answer to but only time will show you if they're able to deliver on what they said they do. 

Best of luck to you. 

Had a USPS worker cold call me about their online services and one of them was the online certified mailing system called, "Simply Certified". After a fair amount of research I wasn't able to find much on them, does anyone currently utilize the system and have there been any issues with the court accepting the receipts as proof of mailings? 

 Have boundaries and just as @Nathan Gesner said, post notice (according to your State specific laws) and move them out. Expect it to get worse before it gets better. As soon as the notice is served that's when they'll start threatening to drive by your house on Thanksgiving. 

It's best to not spend time getting upset over the gibberish they will inevitably blow your phone up with. Reiterate that if it's not about paying rent or maintenance, they are not to contact you. 

Understanding we're all emotional creatures helps but at the end of the day this is business and if we can't communicate like adults, it isn't going to work. 

@Jill F. hit the nail on the head with "Your careful questioning is probably saving you from expensive problems".

Just encountered a similar situation myself. Not only did I start questioning things that didn't make sense, I was hung up on twice on the phone and then the "professional" proceeded to text me paragraphs about how "maybe we should go our separate ways". Huge red flag. 

That's a contractor I'll gladly not work with again. Listed to your gut people lol 

Just curious if folks send a 1099 to their bulk trash removal companies like waste management or city comptroller's for bills like water/sewer 🧐 

I can tell you that won't solve your issue either. Tell them that's their issue to figure out, they should buy a lockbox if it's that big of an issue. If you don't set boundaries over silly stuff, you'll constantly be playing in the weeds with tenants that have nothing better to do than whine about toilet paper. 

Spend your time figuring out how you can get them separate bathrooms instead...

As long as you can show that there are separate metering systems in place, there's no law I'm aware of around who can be charged (although tenants will tell you differently). 

For example, as long as there are separate meters for National Grid, I can legally charge tenants for gas and electric without an issue. But if there is a shared meter between units I can't charge them for it. 

Hi Randy ~

All PMs are going to tell you the same thing, and every question can be lied about when answering. If you ask for references, who do you think they're going to give you numbers for? The clients that are the happiest with them so that doesn't really help you. 

Look at their reviews online and ask other local investors their opinion. 

However, one crucial bit I would ask is if any members of the company own investment property. This sets them apart from all the others because there will absolutely be a different mindset on how they manage your property. 

 This is a great idea as well. Once I qualify someone and I add them to my calendar, I stack appointments around that time so I'm not doing a singular showing.