All Forum Posts by: Brandon Kamm

On an average day our office will schedule 25-30 showings for various properties. Some days we have two no shows, some days 12. There may be no rhyme or reason. They may have been busy, something came up, drove by and decided against it. Its just a part of the business, one that can more easily frustrate an owner doing it themselves as its an other wasted day.

GOt a chase one from this week. We got a notice of foreclosure on a duplex we own. I found it odd as we haven't missed a payment in 7 years of owning it. I checked the statement and there was an escrow amount due. This was odd as no taxes and insurance are escrowed and never have been. Apparently in 2010 they " charged" us $4,000 claiming we did not have insurance for 2008 and theybhad to place coverage on it. The charge was being escrowed and we were to pay $430ish per month on top of payment to cover it. My partner never read the statement he just cut the check each month when the bill came as the mortgage payment never changes. We never got a note on this "missing insurance". For two months that escrow was not paid and they intend to foreclose.. Of course all we have to do is send in the docs showing we had insurance, but I feel like this sums up many of the issues on big banks. Its just a waste of our time that they can't keep up with docs, and how this came to be is ridiculous.

It will probably depend on state law. Each state is different with what is allowable. I would refer to your states Tenant/Landlord Act

We had 4 quad's that the owner was letting go. He had a contract for $300,000 but the buyer would get a credit of $100,000 for repairs (so $200,000). The property needed it badly and the banks net would have been $50,000 per building. They were qualified buyers ready to close. I cant tell you how many BPO's were done over 9 months, probabaly 12. To this day I have no idea why a new one was needed over and over again. After 9 months of waiting on the SS staff the buyers walked. A few months later the banks foreclosed, the properties were listed and sold for about $15,000 a piece, not including any upkeep the bank did, agent fees, etc.

After that, it wasnt even worth it to deal with a SS BOA was involved in no matter how good the deal

One thing to remember to is neighborhoods change big time from 9am to 9pm. A property and area can look decent on a Tuesday at 11am. Saturday night at 2am it may look completely different. We manage in several areas that look great during the week during the day, no one is out, looks decent. At nights and weekend the area has had gang killings, drugs, etc. If you came in from out of town and looked at it during the day you would think the area was ok

Sammy makes one point that many overlook. There are a number of " mom and pops" out there. Make sure you use a firm with proper state licensing and insurance coverage. Every once in a while you will encounter a situation where if those things are not in place you could have a serious issue on your hands.

Yes they are, if you have a reputable one. Definitely get referrals from those who own similar properties to yours. The first question when asking if you need one is time. Do you have time to lease, oversee repairs, handle an unruly tenant, deal with an eviction, handle a problem at 9pm on a saturday.

Property management is 24/7/365, not 9-5 m-f. Do you have a desk job or a flexible schedule that would allow you to work around a problem at your rental.

Many people think they are throwing away 75 to 100 bucks a month using one, but it's the couple of times that you need them that they are worth while.

With that being said, not everyone is a good one. Screen and interview several. Find one that works your area and you are comfortable with. They should be licensed and insured as well.

If you have one house in a good area you can probably handle yourself. These are often homeowners that couldn't sell so they rent. The houses are in owner occupant areas. When you get into more rental areas more problems tend to arise. That's when a manger becomes more beneficial.

We manage over 1,000 units for 200 individuals, many with just one, some with dozens. If you have any specific questions on basic management services I will be happy to answer.

I wanted to throw this out there. With the number of investors on this forum, some who use a PM some who don't i figured i could get a good response. We are always looking to improve things with regards to our systems,I was curious as to what things you wish your PM did that they currently do not. Feel free to add in anything they do that makes things very easy for you (outside of the obvious that all companies would).

Really just looking for feedback on some things that we could implement to make the business relationship easier for the investor/property owner.

Thanks David, I am going to run my numbers and see if i can find it beneficial. I know Bryan A does think like that, we have had some discussions on other posts and there are some truths to it. You can argue both sides of it

However, many times it is much easier for me to have your $1,000 month house and collect my $75.00 fee and just deposit the rent for you. NO maintenance, leasing, tenant issues, etc. Yes, i may make a dollar on those items, but they often cause many headaches and secondary expenses on my part.

The thinking is that i would rather make $5,000 on managing just depositing rents than $8,000 with leasing, maintenance etc. While i may have made an extra $3,000 it required a lot of work, communication, and time (frustration) to make that $3,000. It requires a minimal amount to just deposit a check.

Yes, i would like to make $8,000 over $5,000, but the question is what could i better do with my time than making that the $3,000 off of extra work on a rental. I would many times be better served looking for better rentals to manage than looking for extra maintenance work etc on currently held units.

I would not want to work under your 10% arrangement with C and D properties, way to many issues and time dealing with them. With A and B i would be inclined to use 10% and remove any leasing fees. I will have to run numbers though

James,

i agree with your post, one point to add with the gift idea is that when working in several parts of town with a tough demographic you would love to have the tenant mentality of "my landlord is good and gave me this xxx" vs. "my landlord is sh**", even when you do fix what is neccesary.

This is keeping in mind that the tenant mentality in certain areas is one that thinks that instant tax refunds are amazing and worth paying 10% for in return for getting them a week ahead of time, if you get my drift

You have to think on the tenant level sometimes.