All Forum Posts by: Amber Hardy

Hi Jason, 

If you have a contact for Alabama, I would appreciate it. I invest in LTRs, usually that need to undergo major rehab prior to being converted into LTRs (not a flipper, fix & hold). We currently use an insurance broker that covers while in rehab and then adds loss of rents later once applicable, but communication is difficult when there is a broker involved. I would appreciate recommendations as well. Thank you so much! 

Amber

Hello all, I am located in Florence, AL and looking for deals either in Florence or the surrounding areas of Huntsville.

When creating a leads funnel, I know there are a few common methods of finding leads such as mailers, cold calls, knocking on doors, etc. In Alabama, it is difficult to find pre-made lists because title companies don't create those here. Most of our current leads come from driving for dollars to find off market deals.

What is the most effective way you have found to get quality leads? How do you stand out from others when it comes to mailers? What is your favorite book about finding leads for off-market deals or creating funnels?

Thank you all in advance for any advice you may have 😊

@Trevor Davidson Hi Trevor, I am located in Florence, AL and found your post while searching for answers to your same question. My husband and I would love to connect with you, we just moved back to AL from WA State and would love to start meeting other local investors. Reach out if you'd be interested in grabbing coffee with us, look forward to hearing from you!

@Russell Brazil they are still hoping to have the value changed so they can prove they have more equity in the property than originally thought based off the incorrect appraisal. So if I understand what you're saying correctly, the LTV will not change even if they prove the value increase due to the purchase price being lower? Thank you for helping me understand, I appreciate your time.

Thank you all so much for your feedback. We decided to start with him because he was also a personal friend, who also happens to be the real estate agent who sold us our home. However we realize now after reviewing all the responses and understanding what services other property managers are capable of providing that he was not the right fit for us. He did a wonderful job placing tenants but everything else was not up to my personal standards. Thank you all again, it is definitely much appreciated!!

Hello, I'd love to have some advice if anyone can help. My family member purchased their home less than a year ago, and the home was appraised at the time of the purchase. There were a couple thousand sq ft that should have been included on the appraisal, but they were not. The tax assessor noticed the mistake when they came by. The appraiser has already admitted fault, but the home value was never corrected. How can I help advise my family member in which direction to help get their home value corrected on the previous appraisal? Since the appraiser admitted fault, I feel it should be corrected by that appraiser rather than having to pay for an entirely new appraiser.

Currently they are paying the additional taxes as well as PMI. If the home is worth more, then they shouldn't be paying PMI as well. Is there any way to hold the appraiser accountable for this since they have currently been paying increased taxes and PMI?

Thank you so much in advance for any advice.

Hello everyone, this is my first time posting in Bigger Pockets. I used to be a State Trooper in WA State and my husband was recently medically discharged from the US Navy. I am originally from WA and we purchased a Triplex as an investment rental property in WA. We started out house hacking, then eventually we decided it was time to move to Alabama to be closer to family.

I was self managing our rentals prior to moving out of state. Once we decided to move, we thought it would be easier to hire a property manager due to being across the country and unable to personally show units, do inspections, etc. We have been using our new property manager for about three months now.

Since this is our first time working with a property management company, I am unsure if my expectations are too high, or if our property manager is under-performing. I would love some advice and feedback.

One of our main issues is the lack of handling the property's expenses with the rent received. We are still personally paying water/sewer, trash, and electricity between turnovers. These utilities are currently included in the rent, therefore are not directly paid by the tenants. Our most recent problem is with the landscaping expense. We were originally informed that the property manager would deduct the expense from the rents received and pay the landscaper directly. Now, since the landscaper cannot accept PayPal (he can accept cash, check, venmo, debit or credit), our property manager asked us to take over paying the landscaper directly as well. The problem is that the property manager stated they are only set up to pay expenses using PayPal and no other means of payment. They stated they cannot pay any of the utilities with the profits due to the need for them to be in the owner's name. I do not see any reason why I could not add the property manager as an authorized user on the utility accounts though to allow him to make payments only, but maybe this comes back to the PayPal issue.

Is it too much to expect a property manager to pay utilities with the rental profit? Now that he is having an issue paying the landscaper as well, it feels as if I am handling all of the monthly management myself and they are only collecting rental payments.

I am strongly considering taking management back over myself and finding a solution for remote showings and inspections at this point because I do not feel I am receiving the value from a property manager that I thought I may receive. I would love feedback though regarding if my expectations are just too high, and also how to manage remote inspections/showings if I were to self manage from across the country. It is difficult to relinquish control of management, especially when I do not feel it is being managed to the same standard.

Thank you so much in advance for any feedback.