All Forum Posts by: Cassandra Swanson

I manage homes of all kinds and many come with unique appliances.  We had an all in one unit once that had two hot coil burners, a fridge and a sink and could only find replacement parts for this kitchenette at RV part suppliers. 

The sensi-temp burners are only from GE and Hotpoint, they are more expensive and you cannot plug in a traditional burner into these stoves, although any stoves from GE and Hotpoint older than 2012 can use the sensi-temp burners.  

I wouldn't recommend to any of our investment owners to go out and get these for use in a rental, as most tenants are very use to just replacing a burner themselves and this could cause damage to the new stoves.  

Tenants have complained that it is hard to learn to cook on them.  Usually you get this for tenants that refer gas over electric or electric over gas.  For me until the technology is across the board in many brands it is a bit of a waste of money.  Tenants don't care about the new tech and ask for it, and replacement is more, and then the risk of a tenant pugging in an old burner type and breaking the appliance is higher.  We have had no problems with our repair vendors, but they have certain supplies in stalk all the time.  

So if it was a great deal and on sale, I would buy it and just keep note that it took these burners and make sure the repair vendor listed as preference for the unit kept these burners in stock, but right now I wouldn't buy one as it would slow down the repair process, while costing more money, without any gain from tenant appreciation.

Yes, property managers will offer this, but depending on your contract they may have an hourly rate or charge for the time they spend with the appraiser at the property.  If the vendor is licensed then it may not be necessary for them to accompany the appraiser at the property, but they would need to make sure the tenants were notified.

I agree with Air B&B not being landlord friendly.  I manage vacation rentals in our area as well, and Air B&B was often far more trouble then they were worth.  We ran into problems with their customer support, escalations and timely responses.  As a private provider they can choose to not work with these property owners, but it is interesting since it was ruled that the moratorium was ruled as unconstitutional.  https://www.jdsupra.com/legaln...

I imagine this is their political move so that they can attempt to not look like "part of the problem in areas where there is a housing shortage"

Recently Senators Chris Coons and Kevin Cramer S. introduced The Choice in Affordable Housing Act.   This bill is focused on voluntarily incentivizing for the participation of the rental housing industry in the Section 8 Housing  program. The proposal does not include a source of income mandate through the Fair Housing Act. Instead, it  maintains the voluntary nature of the program and concentrate on incentives for rental home providers that participate in the  program.  As a property manger over the years, the owners that lose the ability to chose what programs they participate in, have been investors for a shorter period of time.  Locally our section 8 program has requirements on landlords to keep property in passable condition of their inspections, while having no guarantee for investment owners when damages exceed the security deposit in a unit.  For owners that have one home, or are new to the industry Section 8 requirements can hurt their ability to grow and reinvest in rentals.   This bill, written with input from housing providers, is designed to speed up tenancy approval processes, reduce duplicative inspections requirements and provide better ongoing support for housing provider participants.

Curious if any investors in BP are apposed to this type of bill.  Am I missing any investors that have a reason they would want it to be mandatory?

Does that area have access to OnSite Pros?  If you do decide to manage it yourself I recommend them for the turns.  https://www.onsightpros.com/

This is pretty standard, however if you were referred to this company by your realtor they may have an agreement to send the sale back to them.  If this is the case then you should be able to negotiate this clause out.

I am a property manager and have been for 15 years.  Your need is going to be based on your skills and your personality.  There is a huge difference between a good property manager and an ok one, and even more difference in a bad one.

If you are the type that likes to research a subject and go all in then you wont need a manager, until you have enough doors that you have to start watching the changes in Fair Housing Laws and State and County, and City Laws.  If you don't mind handling calls for property questions after hours, or going after rent, or time in small claims court, that you really don't need one.  If you like to do things your way and you would rather hire a handyman to run repairs after you have inspected, rather than delegating these duties, a property management company will be a hard fit.

If you prefer to manage your portfolio and keep an eye on markets and your ratios for each rental, then it is time to have a professional handle the day to day items.   A professional manager will:

1) Limit the risk of lawsuits and risk on tenant safety

2) Perform home turns between tenants quicker than you can

3) Screen tenants with advanced knowledge on Fair Housing Laws, identity theft, and filtering false references

4) Be able to monitor and handle scams

5) Provide you with the quickest eviction process if needed

6) Have problem solving skills, so that most days you don't even know there was an issue because it resolved with little or no involvement from you.

7) Have resources that include eviction attorney, repairs, cleaners, appliance repair, screening companies, mortgage properties, emergency line coverage.  Ideally if you go the professional route, you need to go with a manager that knows the area, and how to deal with all types of people.  The other mistake I see individuals make when hiring a manager is they hire a Realtor that doesn't really do management, but will as a side hustle.  You want to have the managers focus even when sales are good in an area.  

Once you own more than 4 doors in a community or 2 in states you don't live in, it is worth it to have a professional, as that is when new legislation in areas will have a higher risk for you as a landlord.

If you are a personality that does your own business, and private taxes, repairs your own car, manages your own rental flips and finances properties on your own, then you more than likely don't need a management company.

I am not a huge fan of Legal Zoom.  The rate at which they pay their attorneys and system for hiring means very low pay and low priority for their contracted attorneys.  I really prefer working with an attorney that you have built a relationship with locally that will take time to answer your questions based on court experiences in your counties and cities.  

LLC requirements vary from state to state. So an attorney conversation is worth having, even though setting up the LLC is simple. You may also want to see if their are advantages to incorporating in a state that you are not working in. My experience with Legal Zoom is that if you know what you want to do, you are good to go, but if you are looking for information on strategy and best business practices it would be better to hire and build your relationship locally.

@Kevin H.

I have never installed a fence at a property and regretted it. With funds going into the project from the tenant it sounds like a win-win

@Matthew Ribera

The biggest gift you will give your children is their ability to achieve on their own. With that said there is nothing wrong with preparing some assets for them. The real challenge is not giving them this sort of gift before they are ready. At 18 they can start learning about house hacking. They need to have a safe area to fail and make mistakes. Sometimes under a parents watchful eye is much harder than failing on your own.

As your kids grow you will get an idea of their responsibility levels and what they can take on. Look into placing these properties into trusts that can be taken over with time and gives you some flexibility.

I think it is an awesome idea, and I think if they learn like you have they will have a great path to success and knowing what they are capable of too.