All Forum Posts by: Andrew Schultz

One of the alarm companies in my area offers an alarm system that can be moved quickly from home to home, and uses cellular networks to contact the alarm company. The basic setup is 2 sensors (door and window), a motion sensor, siren, and key pad. They all attach to the wall with the double sided wall strips from 3M.

When we start a reno, we make one room our "tool room" where we store tools and supplies, and make sure we have that room secured with the motion sensor. This room is always locked at the end of the day. We put the contacts on the front/back doors or windows, and call the alarm company with the address where the alarm is located. I think the equipment was like $400, and I can add on to the system if needed. The monitoring is just a cheap monthly fee. I love it!

I was using RingCentral for about 2 years - $9.99/mo for unlimited inbound and outbound faxing attached to a toll free 800 number. Dropped a digital PDF right in to my email. When i upgraded to a better cloud based PBX for my growing operation, they offered me the same service as a free add on.

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It sure did!

Hah! I think in our area it has to have a window, an outlet, a light, and a door. The window has to be a certain area, based on the square footage of the room, and it has to open.

We were going to convert a finished basement in to a bedroom with its own bath, and a separate game room/office area. The code requirements blew the budget out of the water, so we scrapped the idea.

@Pat L. , thank you for your insight! The software I'm using (Buildium) is capable of generating detailed monthly reports based on category and notes entered for each line item, and I can upload every invoice/receipt for ease of access. The big advantage is that it's cloud based, so I can access everything wherever I am.

That's how I'm set up currently, but I feel as though it isn't detailed enough. For instance, the IRS doesn't care if an expense was relating to a turnover repair or a standard maintenance item. However, some owners like to track those subsets individually.

How do you break down your property expenses in to categories? For instance, Repairs, Bank Fees, Utilities, etc. I'm looking to improve the chart of accounts that I use to give the property owners I manage for a better break down on their monthly reporting.

I agree with everything said! I've made the mistake before of stopping my ads once I have a deposit, only to have the deposit holder back out at the last second. Sure, they lost their deposit, but I lost valuable marketing time.

Hi Karolina

Welcome to BP, and to the Buffalo market! I manage property in the Buffalo area, and have worked with Section 8 in the past. The Section 8 tenants can be really great, or really awful. It's all about tenant selection, which your property manager should be able to help you with. The tenant base also varies widely based on the area of the city you are purchasing in. Have you already selected a property?

Not familiar at all with SIG, but it's pretty common to see foreign investment groups buying property in Buffalo because the returns can be very good.

Feel free to ask away. I'm sure you'll also hear from @Michael Sherwood , @Pat L. , and @David Niles

@David Niles

Good point. We have a flat percentage that we mark up all maintenance jobs. Our clients see the contractors invoiced price, followed by a second line item for our administrative markup. They seem to like it, and honestly it makes my billing way easier because everything is above board and honest.