All Forum Posts by: Bob Beach

I have a handful of doors in TN but now, one in Jackson. 

My PM is telling me something I've never heard of. I rehab the house, they found a tenant, I had new appliances installed and the tenant didn't know how to light the pilot on the new stove. He called the PM and the crazy story begins. I was charged a total of $450 for them to go out to help the tenant. "Their" story is, since it was a new stove, they had to pull a permit ($150), from the city, have the electrical inspected, the stove inspected before it was "safe" for someone to work on it. In the invoice, they did not find anything wrong, (other than they leveled it), but it did work when they turned the stove on. They say this is a "Normal procedure". I asked to see the permit and for over a month, they have not come up with it. Only the permit that "my contractor" got for the gas meter. I contacted the city and got copies of every permit for the past 6 months and theirs is not one of them. 

I've never heard of this, and my contractor has never heard of this procedure. Has anyone with MS experience gone this route?

Thanks,

  Bob

I'm just starting out in Jackson and researching property managers. Looking for suggestions.

This one seems to have all good reviews but only from tenants: Evernest Property Managment. 

Another one with good reviews but buy/sell and not related to management: Overby

And another with few reviews: Horizon

Anyone know about these or know of others that are excellent? Not looking for a mom-and-pop team but one with reliable repair/rehab people, owner's portal, website, etc...

Thanks in advance

Is there a management co. taking care of the property?  If so, they should have people to tear it down and haul away.  We've done this in the past. I don't recall cost but seems in the couple hundred range. If you're in Memphis, try craigslist for "handyman" but that needs a lot of luck. In my area of CA, there are guys hanging out in front of Home Depot waiting for work. 

Best of luck

@Chelsea Canning Yes, they do.  That was our first house in Memphis.  Then decided to buy houses that were not turnkey at much lower prices and rehab to rent. I believe, that's why their pretty much invisible since the house is, for all practical purposes, new. So not much goes wrong.  Those are the kind of houses they seem to like.  Less headaches for them. 

@Chelsea Canning  The two PM's that have been trouble free lately are RJ Property and Midsouth.  Midsouth is more picky about the houses they manage but are a fine-tuned machine.  90% of the time, these two companies are invisible.  The only time I notice them is, once a month, I have two deposits in my account. 

@Chelsea Canning  So far, we've been lucky, not to replace any roofs. So, no idea.  Let us know, when you find out.  But flooring, yes.  We did a couple houses with vinyl plank flooring instead of cheaper carpet. Last longer and tenants have more trouble ruining it. Never did a whole house but a 1200 sq ft house, for 3 bedrooms and the hall was in the mid $3k area. But cost us a little more due to more expensive prep work (old flooring removal). Hope this helps. 

@Don Gouge Yea, I kinda understand, this falls into the category of "you get what you pay for". I guess the definition of "fair" could be different to different people.  I'll try and clarify.  One PM gave me an estimate to get a house rent ready of around $2400. (not including flooring which another estimate had flooring as a steam cleaning only). The final cost was close to $9000.  and many expenses, they would not explain other than "materials" and "Labor".  So, to me, Fair would be somewhere in between. Another case, one PM gave an estimate for a rent ready repair at $5400 and another PM for the same house at $7400. Another guy I used had good prices but wouldn't paint the final project or finish it at all.  Well, I could go on.

  But back to my original question. I'm a bit surprised that no one wants to share a good experience with a rehab team.  If I have a house in a neighborhood that has some trashy houses and someone wants to rehab them, the whole neighborhood would improve and we all know what that means to us. I had one person tell me, they worked with a good team but wouldn't tell me because I'm from CA and they had a bad experience with someone from CA in the past. I don't mind writing a check for a fair amount to get a good job done correctly and on time. I understand hidden expenses as long as it is presented to me "honestly".  But it seems, they don't exist?  

Thanks for the feedback.

Bob

The PM's I've had the best luck with are Midsouth and RJ Property.  Midsouth is more picky about the houses they manage but have been trouble free in pricing, repairs, communication and honesty.  They want to manage a more perfect house in a better area.  RJ Prop. gave me issues in the past but a new manager seems to have solved that, (so far).  Pricing is "middle of the road" and communication is good.  The PM's that are substandard are to numerous to list.   Best of luck!

  We've had rentals, in Memphis, for a handful of years and now want to do a first flip.  One problem, I've had with the rentals in the past, is finding relaible contractor/handyman people for rehabs and repairs. So, that's what I'm looking for now. Can anyone point me in the direction of someone that's reliable, honest, reasonable (a fair price) and does what they say they will do and can do an inspection?  I have found people that are relaible but expensive, inexpensive but not honest, unreliable, don't show up, need to redo the work, don't complete the work, etc... 

I should be in position to move forward on a flip in late winter/early spring, so I thought I need to start laying the groundwork now. (Since the last 7 years hasn't produced much in this area).  And it makes it more difficult being out of the area.  

Thanks for any info or leads.

Bob

I've always bought MLS, low end houses in Memphis and Realtors were reluctant to go out and look at the houses. They would have you make an accepted offer, contingent on inspection, then go check it out. Smaller dollar amounts, less commission. If you have a property manager, they would send an employee/contractor out to inspect (for a fee of somewhere in the $150. range).