All Forum Posts by: Brandon Kamm

Look for obvious signs of abandonment, utilities tuRned back in your name, no furniture, etc. Make a record of when you are there and document exactly how the place looks, video works best. Some states may require posting a letter and a given period of time, 7 days or so. If it is clearly abandoned you could change the locks etc, but if any doubt I would let the eviction or abandonment period take it's course.

Are you thinking that you can deduct 100% on personal and then an additional amount for rental, that's got to be a no go.

If anyone on here has the lives on one side of duplex and rents the other I am sure they would know

Just another thought thar crossed my mind reading this. I have seen a number of buildings in the area that were bought in that range here With that rent amount expected. Many were foreclosed on within two years of owning. That should answer your question.

That's way to high without even knowing details. For $2,200 a month rent I am not looking to pay more than $90,000 or so these days

I would average out 12 months of bills and just have it added to rent each month, hn advertise as water included. You may win some/lose some but without the headaches of collecting it separately it may save some time.

We deAl with this all the time. Keep the bill in your name and you pay it. When you move the tenants in a part of the lease includes an addendum that states you will get the bill and will in turn send them one. When the bill comes make a copy and send them a bill for their amount.

Review the building and break it up based on size, etc. Water is usually 50/50, gas and electric can be based on sq. Feet. One may get 60% the other 40%. Just make sure all tenants are aware of the plan before signing a prt of the lease and if they don't pay itncould be grounds for eviction.

We do have trouble collecting on low income buildings with this plan but if your units are $500 a month and up generally you have no problems.

For tax reporting you have utility expense to write off but also utility income to claim. In a perfect world they offset

Bryan,

You make good points as well. One thing to always keep in mind. I am managing property to make a living, I have to earn a profit, ultimatey in some way shape or form this will be at the owners expense. The tough part is trying to balance making a fair profit and keeping a property profitable.

I have always thought that the number one thing investors overlooked especially in the book years of 2004 to 2007 when purchasing was factoring in the cost of having a manager. Most of these properties were purchased for too much anyway.

You HAVE to account for a property manager when purchasing a property if you are not self managing.

One point to add, in the scenario of I make money when the investor makes money. As I believe Allen pointed out, let me pick out the property, assess repairs, complete repairs, find the tenant, run the property and that's no problem. When we take over a property that someone paid too much for, hasn't had repairs assessed and taken care of correctly, already has a tenant we didn't screen, etc. It is difficut to align those goals. If am in involved from the very beginning and you pay me to renovate, I can warranty the work, I pick the tenants and it doesn't work out I can be more accountable, etc

I do enjoy the discussion of this thread btw.

Bryan,

You make money off of volume. In the scenario of rent evict in a couple of months etc, we don't charge commissions again, we will not charge more than half a months rent in a twelve month period. 75 bucks a month for a house doesn't sound like much, but with 100 it adds up fast. With that you can reduce fees for those with multiple units, with some only paying $25 a door. We have a 1,000 units we manage and with volume we have been able to reduce a number of costs that someone with 100 or 200 wouldnt. With that volume of mgmt fees I don't need to rely on maintenance for the sole source of profit, I can do as you say and cut costs to where I make a small profit,
but the owner sees cost savings vs. What some others may charge. Volume is the key. You try to make a nickel 100 times vs. Making a dollar once.

I do completely see where you are coming from though, many managers don't have a problem when things go wrong as theybsee that as an additional source of revenue. Over time though when owners have increased expenses they will look to go somewhere else

@ Jeff,

You can make a profit, albeit not a large one. We pay out the you know what in insurance, workmans comp, and vehicle maintenance. If you keep tabs on productivity and overhead you can make a small profit on that work. Thats not bread and butter, but if it cost me $9.00 in labor and $8.00 in overhead and i bill $21.50 that's a good margin...when you have the volume. This is NOTHING along the lines of "picking a guy up on the street" labor. Its unskilled probably high school dropout, but need a job labor

@Bryan - This is a cost of doing business. When the manager lets a tenant in a unit that had no business being rented to you may have an issue, thats a conversation an owner should have with the manager. A reputable company would probably agree to eat some of the expense if they put someone in the unit that never should have been. But if the person was qualified to rent the unit, that's a cost that would have to be incurred