All Forum Posts by: Dave E.

Thank you for writing such a through response!

I have mild experience from renting our properties in my tenure as an undergrad. Most of the tenants were friends or friends of friends. So I will not say I know what I am doing! Haha

I have had pretty good experiences with tenants so far. I put in wood floors and tile all around, there's not much they can break. And they (parents) almost always pay on time

I can tell you from my experience, trying to even get a hold of a local management company is difficult. When we first purchased these properties I didn't want to deal with it. Made calls around and never heard back. The good ol boy network is strong here, but a property owner could care less about the politics. The management company that I pay HOA fees to, owns about %30 of the condos. They are much more interested in getting their property filled than a other owner who they most likely see as competition.

My proposal is quite basic.

I currently own and manage two properties ( 4br/4bth). They are both condos in the same building, not a difficult tasks. I do everything my self, and it takes about 20 hours of work a year to gain a 10% return. I am able to be a hands-on type LL due to my close proximity of the campus.

As I have began to research other proprieties in my condo, I noticed that a minimum of 65% of owners lived out of state. This can be explained very simply, out of state students who have families able to purchase a house wil in turn make a much better investment.

But, a guy living 6 states away doesn't want to deal with the difficulty of managing a property that far away. Usually makes sense to sell, some still rent.

I want to provide a quasi-co/op property management service. I would provide tenants with the amenities that the large corporate groups can afford. Stretching one service among the same place is a win win for everyone.

So I really am just hoping to gain insight into the world of a PM company. Tenants are not difficult to find, our supply of housing has far exceeded demand thanks to a dip in enrollment after the recession. This year the university had the highest enrollment in history with next year projected to be even higher. College students are great, tenants I think.

My Goal is to start very small, only catering to properties that I know very well. The condos in the building could be easily maintained as they are all fairly new. Anyway, this is a ramble and if you have read this far then thank you!