All Forum Posts by: Michael G.

I may be the only one with these property management issues but it seems to be a recurring theme.

I've owned 4 rental units in a particular farm area. Almost without fail every single property management company I've hired has had issues with at least one of the following:

a) Creating repairs and invoices for ficticious repairs.

b) Charging us for repairs done to another property.

c) Not managing the tenants properly in terms of them paying the rent late. ie - US- What happened to Mays rent? Them - Oh, we forgot to tell you that the tenant is having some issues and said they wont be able to pay til June.

d) Not communicating the cost of repairs and charging us for them unexpectedly. ie - the stove broke we had to replace it.

Im sure I will think of some other things after I write this memo but Ive learned that the property managers need managing. I thing that if left unattended the tendency is for them to use your rent rolls as a license to print money.

Ive gone through 3 different property mangement companys and it almost seems like there is a common theme amongst them which is that they know you are an out of town investor and the likelyhood of you showing up to inspect your property is very, very low. The further away the better it seems.

I've taken some precautions lately like asking for a phone call prior to making any repair more that $100. Asking for before and after photos of repair work that needs to be done. Closely watching the expense column for charges (hidden, mistaken and otherwise)

Please share your prop mgmt thoughts and experiences with me. I'd love to hear them.

Try www.findtheseller.com. There is a cost per search but they give several telephone numbers and addresses where the owner of the property may presently be located. Also, if the tax records give you the addrress of the owner thats different than the subject property try www.intellius.com. Its much cheaper but doesnt give as much info.

Sweet car right? White is a nice color too. Listen...if you do your investing the right way and buy your houses right you wont get stuck. Most of the people who Ive seen get jammed up in this game went about it the wrong way to begin with. They bought the house at full value or even worst yet paid more than what they were worth and when the rents couldnt cover the expenses (PITI + utilities, vacancies, maintenance and management) they wound up stuck like chuck and out of luck. Ive had more than a few phone calls from "investors" who said they have a house to sell me that they were upside down on. PM me and I'll give you the skinny on how to make sure you buy houses the right way and how to find deals. Can they be found on the MLS? Yes. Is that the best place to find them? No. Some of the best houses Ive bought were word of mouth referrals or Craigslist private owner or bandit sign marketing.

Hi John - I think yu are already a good bit motivated because you are on here writing about it, Staying motivated is without question sometimes a difficult task. There were some valid point posted on this topic. Jackie mentioned having someting that drives u to success. For me its Automobiles. I love Mercedes Benz's. I have a picture that I use of an MB CLS 500. That picture keeps me focused because I wont be able to buy it without doing deals. Thank goodness you are very young which is great. Keep at it and you will prosper! Happy investing!

I think the steps are in order. I wouldnt use zillow. Try http://bankofamerica.cyberhomes.com/ Its free and its more realistic.Also, if you are getting good results with a realtor thats great but usually that means you and every other newbie and oldie investor are looking at the same deals unless he's sending you pocket listings (listings that he gives you BEFORE they hit the MLS) which I suspect the ones you displayed are not. I buy properties alot of times that are no where near where I live so I can't drive by. Ive gotten to know the areas where we like to buy so I can tell if a property is in a war zone or not and even if I'm sure I'll still get a colleague or my property manager to do the drive by part. Dont get me wrong, I still drive neighborhoods looking for distressed or vacant properties but I dont do it as much as when I first started. Bandit signs like Jaremy mentioned will get the phone ringing but you have to put out a good amount and they get expensive. And when code enforcement or the angry resident or your competition takes them down they are gone for good. A good cheap way to get the phone ring is flyers. You can pay a HS kid 25 cents per flyer to distribute flyers in the neighborhoods you may be interested in and capture the attention of motivated sellers in your market. It helps to drive by and check after they are done so half your flyers don't end up in the garbage. Like Dan mentioned ..."channels". If you like you can target fed up landlords. There are a slew of them out there that bought houses without doing due diligence and their investment properties are a living nightmare. One mans trash is another mans treasure. Good luck

I would instantly refer it to an attorney. I was under the impression that unless the person you wrote the contract with is the executor of the estate they don't have the power to sell the property. I dont think its much different in CA but I would absolutely run it by an attorney.

I've learned to build rapport with the seller. Look for talking points that will probably put you both at ease. Pictures of kids on the wall or table. Talk about your kids if you have any. See a familiar item in the house. Talk about it. If you are in your own home town it should be easy to find a common thread. If its a guy, you could go the sports route . The idea is that buiding the rapport relaxes both buyer and seller alike. As you get further along you will learn how to use NLP (NeuroLinguistic Programing) when face to face with sellers to help you get deals done if you choose.

I ran into a guy like that. He was a total jerk. I left him alone because I was convinced that he would be that way throughout the entire deal. Now if the deal is fat enough go get some transactional funding it but just know theres a cost for it.

Hey Mike - Once you have a signed contract contact the escrow company. The escrow company will usually work hand in hand with a title company that they know to handle both title and escrow issues and keep you in the loop.

Hi Curt,

I am a wholesaler myself. I hear your concern about loyalty of other wholesaleers. As you know its hard to find good buyers. Finding a good buyer that buys houses in groups almost never happens. Its a tough one. If I put myself in that position I dont know if I would ask "Hey Curt - Can I sell house to your buyer that's buying all these houses from you"? I might call you up and say Hey Curt "I want to market this property to your buyer. Do you wannna JV on this deal on a 60\40 split"? Thats just me though. Obviously you cant go around assaulting other investors but sometimes a kind word goes a long way. Talk to them about the JV'ing with you on some deals if they wanna piggy back off your buyers list. Hope that helps...