All Forum Posts by: Steve Maginnis

Hey @Dan Biber.  Good idea checking out reviews.  However, in my experience, reviews from owners will give a better understanding of how the management company will provide service.  Tenant reviews can be important too, but I have found that many tenants do not understand the business side of property management, or know what to expect as a resident.  Most Landlords do a lot of homework preparing to be a Landlord, but tenants do little of the same prior to renting a property, so their expectations can be very unreasonable.  

For example, we recently received a negative review from the father of one of our very new tenants.  The tenants are two young female roommates.  They had an issue with the HVAC where it was not cooling well.  They set the thermostat at 72, but found temps would get up to 80 or so during the day when it was over 96 degrees outside.  They reported this on a Saturday.  We attempted to send someone out Monday morning, as it was hardly an emergency.  However, one resident fielded the call and said she would not be able to meet them, and rescheduled for Wednesday.  We went out Wednesday and got a quote for cleaning the outside unit.  I had to get owner approval, which I did about an hour later.  However, the vendor had left and told them he would be back to perform the work in the morning.  The other roommate sends me an email around 4:30 stating this was unacceptable and she expected it to be fixed immediately.  I explained we would be back in the morning.  She also stated her power bill was $300 and she did not expect to pay it as it was our fault that the system was dirty and that is what caused her high bill. I stated we could consider a credit, but we needed to see the current bill and a couple of the following so we can see how much it decreased(establish a baseline).  When I saw the bill, it was their first bill so the service period was for more than a month.  They charged a connection fee and also a $79 previously unpaid bill.  Plus, the bill was only $266, not $300.  So her total charges were only $155.  I went back and forth with her, but she was not buying any of it. So her father gave us a one star review.  Even though I replied to it with a satisfactory explanation, the tenant is wanting to move out right away.  I think she was looking for an out.  The roommate is fine with things and would like to stay.  Regardless, this caused my otherwise superb rating to drop. It is completely unfounded, untrue and frustrating.  Just an example of how many tenants see things for what they want and not how they should be.  Despite my best efforts in explaining how things work.  How we responded is perfectly reasonable from the owner's perspective.  But the tenant has different thoughts.  Of course, not all tenant reviews will be unreasonable, and many have valid complaints. Even on the negative reviews, I would look to see how the manager handles and addresses their response.  On the other hand, some owners will post negative reviews of a management company because they did not understand or read the management agreement, and do not like some provision they agreed to initially.  Just my two cents.  Best of luck.  

Hello @Terry A..  Congratulations on your first deal!  That is exciting.  I am a property manager and can provide some insight.  If I had easy access to a bank that offered interest on trust accounts, I would absolutely sign up for it.  We would need to disclose it to both the owner and the tenant.  Deposits are the tenant's money.  If we can offset some of our expense to have the accounts reconciled monthly, and the time it takes to do so, then the little bit of interest would certainly help.  Bottom line is that it does not affect you or the tenant negatively, so why not allow them to take the interest?  

Late fees are a big issue between managers and Landlords.  We choose to retain late fees to help offset the extra work and expense it takes to try and track down the delinquent tenants.  Mailing, emailing, texting, calling, etc.  Driving by to knock on doors, etc. can be demanding.  One argument is that managers may advocate for tenants to pay late, but that is not the case with us at all.  We prefer tenants to pay on time. It makes our work much easier.  Responsible tenants will do their very best to pay on time regardless, and those not as responsible are willing to pay the fee.  One aspect I like is having control over whether we charge the late fee.  If we have a very good tenant who normally pays on time, I like having the ability to credit the late fee without having to negotiate this with the owner.  It gives us a little extra flexibility to promote good relations with our residents.  We know the tenant better than the owner, and are better suited to make those calls.  

We can also share the late fee with the owner if it ends up affecting their disbursement.  For example, if an owner normally gets their disbursement on the 15th each month, and the tenant pays late, but prior to this date, the owner does not suffer and can still have access to their funds as if the tenant paid on time.  However, if the tenant still has not paid by the time we disburse, then it can negatively affect the owner's use of those funds.  If that is the case, we have the ability to share the additional income with the owner.  

We also do not collect late fees unless the tenant catches up.  For instance, if tenant is in eviction, but they pay all they owe except for late fees, we do not take the late fees out of the owner's funds.  I think that is only fair.  We would apply tenant funds to rents first.  If there are any excess funds, we can apply towards late fees.  We also put any other fees ahead of the late fees.  Many companies don't do this.  

There are a lot of variables, and unfortunately, experience is the best way to figure it all out.  I hope this helps.  Best of luck with your investment.  

Hello @Matthew K..  My company has been in business for over 20 years.  However, I went to work with another management company for about six years and just started my own back up in August of 2018.  Starting again with no properties, it has taken me right at two years to acquire the 115 doors we currently manage.  Note that of these, 78 are apartments owned by three different entities.  So, we still only have about 30 owners we have attained.  Put that in perspective: 30 customers in 24 months.  Does not seem very productive. However, for only one person, I have my hands full and am perfectly happy with the income generated, at least until I'm ready to expand. 

I have done many creative things to try and pick up new business. Attending/joining local Meetups, REIA's, etc. and networking with Realtors who sell investment quality properties. Networking with commercial RE companies that sell investment properties. Posting a lot on BP with helpful advice helped a lot. I even used to go to eviction court and do some "ambulance chasing" by following individual owners out of the courtroom who just lost an eviction because they did not know what they were doing I have marketed on Yelp, Google Ads, etc. I have paid upwards of $1000 per month to an SEO company who promised my rankings would go from page 10 to page one within six months (never happened. I still rank around page 4 after two years).

I started in 2018 with over $30k in savings to keep afloat and build the business.  Boy, was I underestimating what was required.  It took about 8 months to generate about $60K annually, and cost about that much to cover my expenses up to that point.  However, this was my tipping point, where I started generating income over my expenses.  

By far, the number one method of generating business leads is Google Ads!!!  I would not waste time with anything else again.  If you want to move up your rankings on Google, you just have to pay them.  I did find a catch though.  I initially was set a budget of $500 monthly and had a pretty creative way of setting up my ads.  It was very  effective.  I had ads showing on the first page of search results right away.  After several months, I noticed my ads slipping.  Eventually, I did not see the ads at all. Google essentially told me that if I want to maintain the same results, I would have to pay a lot more.  I had to compete financially with the biggest management companies in town.  They would not give me a number, but I got the feeling I needed to pay at least four times what my current budget was.  What a scam!!!   I stopped marketing altogether at that point.  Fortunately, my efforts at this point had paid off, and now I get solid interest from my organic search results, BP and other website referrals.  I think the reason my website moved up so much was because we had several low income apartments for rent.  With the affordable housing shortage, we had so many inquiries.  Probably 40-50 per day.  I decided to direct them to our website for additional information, and these increased clicks helped move me up the rankings. 

At any rate, sorry for the long post, but this has been my most recent experience in starting back up.  Granted, I had done it before 20 years ago, and had a LOT of experience when I started back up, but I feel the premise is pretty solid.  Best of luck.  

Hello @Shawna Hilton.  It can be a Catch-22.  You get good business from referrals, but you can't get referrals until you have good business.  I have "started new" a couple times now in the business.  I have spent countless hours networking.  Going to Meetup groups, Realtor functions, Real Estate Investor association meetings, etc.  I have networked with Realtors who focus on investment properties.  Searching tax records for displaced owners and sending mailers, post cards, etc.  Reverse searching these addresses for phone numbers to cold call.  I've even read negative reviews for other management companies and tried to track down the posters.  

This certainly has worked, but the time put in is huge for the returns.  The most efficient has by far been advertising on Google Ads.  I paid for SEO, and had very limited results.  Google Ads costs, but that is where the majority of investors looking for help go to first.  Create a good website that is free of pop-ups and clutter, and add pertinent content.  It helps to run some very attractive discounts or market something that may be high on someone's want list.  For example, an owner who just had a bad experience with an eviction would be drawn to your ad that states "1% eviction rate, and we offer eviction protection".  

I will ad that I do not advertise on Google anymore.  Partly due to the fact that I have established enough business to get those referrals mentioned earlier.  But also because Google pulled a bait and switch on me. I started out with a budget of around $600 per month.  Once I dialed in my key words to my liking, I was getting a lot of good activity.  Then, after 6 months to a year, I noticed I was not getting the same activity.  I had gone from page 35 on search results to page 4, but stopped moving up.  After reaching out to them, Google basically told me that I had to start spending more money to be competitive and get more activity.  I was not happy.  At any rate, if this is how they conduct business, it is still worth it to take advantage of the good activity you get to begin with to jump start the business.  

Any time you get new leads, keep track of where they came from so you can dial in what works best.  I hope this helps.  Best of luck.  

Hey @Danny Lambert.  I ended up going with MC Granite countertops.  We have 38 sq. ft. of countertop. Total charge is $1400 with tax, installation, double bowl undermount sink, old countertop removal and haul away.  The next best price I found was $1600, and did not include countertop removal.  I went with Luna Pearl.  

Thanks @Account Closed  Good insight.

Thanks @David Glass  I will give them a call.  

Hello. Does anyone have a contact for a decent granite countertop installer? It is for a house we are going to sell, so price is my biggest factor.  I have a quote for $41(tax, labor, material demo included).  I only have 38 sq. ft. split among four pieces with one double sink.  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks, Steve. 

Hello @Ivan Ng.  I am a local property manager.  We handle single family and multifamily up to 100 units.  We also have a good many investors looking for buyers and sellers.  I would be happy to add you to our list and help with any management needs you may require.  Feel free to IM me.  

Hello @Alex Silang.  There are some pro's and con's to having a large company vs. smaller one.  Regardless of how many units the company manages, the important part is how many your specific manager is handling.  Sometimes larger companies will have each manager manage maybe 50-150 or so units him/herself and be responsible for most all aspects of management.  Other times, your manager may manate 150-400 units, but only deal with the owners. If you have a question about how many showings your vacant has had, or an accounting or maintenance question, he/she may not know anything about it and will need to reach out to that department for answers.  

Many times, a larger company will have better resources, such as the technology you mentioned, and may have better systems in place to assist with staying on top of lease renewals, insurance renewals, following up with prospects, and so on.  Smaller companies are easier to over look some of these topics if they stay pretty busy.  Larger companies are typically more expensive due to their larger overhead for office space, marketing, dedicated accounting and HR departments, training costs, etc.

Smaller management companies typically will know more about the property at the drop of a hat.  This gives Landlord's more confidence that they are handling things properly.  Smaller companies may be more flexible in how they manage your properties.  Perhaps you want to file eviction on any tenants who do not pay by the 10th, but larger companies may have policies in place to not file until the 15th and cannot accommodate your needs.  

Since you were so happy with your manager(which seems to be very rare on BP), I would do anything you can to stay with the brother.  Sometimes your management agreement will have provisions for them to assign the contract if they sell, so you may need to adhere to your agreement in order to terminate.  If you are far from your window to be able to terminate, you may want to give the large company a shot to see how they do.  Transferring from one company to another can be a pain and there is a learning curve.  Since you are not a new investor, you should know what aspects of management are important to you.  Have an honest "discovery" conversation with your new manager to see if they can meet your expectations.  Best of luck.