All Forum Posts by: Caroline C.

• My husband and I own a rental unit in a condo building in Jacksonville, FL. It is currently rented, and we are bullish on the building and plan to keep the unit in our portfolio.

• The problem is the Board. Owners were charged an assessment (several thousand dollars) in 2023 to put into reserves, as per the new rules after the Surfside collapse. Board collected those funds and put them in Operating instead of Reserves. This allows the Board to spend the funds on anything, and if they do, the owners would need to restock the reserves!

• The Board already spends funds on things owners disagree on, such as expensive vendor contracts where a Board member gets a referral fee or is part of the contract.

• So far, Board hasn’t spent the funds from 2023, but they also didn’t move funds back to Reserves after it was pointed out at the annual meeting that the funds are in the wrong place. 

• The building's Property Manager is sympathetic to the owners at large, but says they can’t do anything until instructed by the Board, and they indicated the building’s lawyers would only respond to Board members.

• Is there an ombudsman or some central HOA agency that can help non-Board owners? Any other ideas on how to ensure our funds are protected?

 We just had our 3-year loan mature on 2/2/24. Interest always paid on time, and principal was returned with bonus right on schedule. I have only had good experiences with Norada to date.

We're interested in both PMs who list and manage long-term rentals (1+ years) and vacation rental/ AirBNB PMs. Target property is Wausau, WI near Marathon Park. Thanks!

Hi BP Community, my husband and I have a rental (~15 years old) in the Oakley area of Asheville, NC. Since about May, we have had various tenant complaints, all electric-related -- no electric at one point, HVAC not running at full, now a musty smell when dryer or oven run. 

We have a property manager who handles maintenance and they send out electricians when there is a problem, and they do keep us updated. 

But given that this is the 3rd straight month with different, but related issues, we want to get a 2nd opinion. 

We're out of state landlords but could take a trip and meet someone there. 

Any recommendations on a good electrician/ contractor/ handyman who might be able to do a comprehensive diagnosis, rather than a whack-a-mole, fix this-then-that approach? Thanks so much!

One of my investment properties in Jacksonville FL is an apartment in an 8-unit condo. It's essentially 2 quads and I own one of the 8 units. We need to find a new company to do HOA Association management. I know the bigger names and they focus on bigger condo complexes and will be too expensive for us. Any recommendations for smaller HOA management companies that focus on managing small associations? - ie: 8 units.

Thanks!

@Adrian Santos One of my rentals is a condo in that Fairfax area (32210) and we really like that area. It has been a little slow to rent when vacant but because I think it is a condo and most people want a house. But I've got a great tenant in there now. Location is quiet and very convenient to downtown as well as the nice surrounding communities. Most properties over there are SFH, and the prices are hard to make work for an investor.

@Ali Jamal great topic!

Geographic diversity is important as well. I'm in 3 markets across 2 countries. 

I would also say it also depends on how much money you have to invest. Having 60% of your real estate in just a single multi-family, for instance, is not very diverse.

@Jacob P. do you get the BP newsletter? It was the subject and headline article in the newsletter from Aug 9. 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/no-longer-brrrr-method-for-now

@Jason L. as someone who has been through several pms in several markets over many years, that experience is unfortunately pretty typical. Some are better than others at communicating these sorts of delays, but good communication won't make it go faster, and you'll be equally as frustrated as the excuses keep coming. Best thing you can do is research several other companies so that if you find you need to make a switch down the line, you are all ready to go. 

It's hard, but in the research, you need to get prospective pm's to provide customer references that have been through meaty turnovers - because investors typically don't know they have a bad pm until there is a costly turnover or tenant stops paying rent, etc.

@Snehann Kapnadak great lessons here! Although I think you are being a little too hard on yourself especially for a first purchase. If you took more time to research sub-markets and find a duplex that worked, and do it on your own instead of TK, it may have been a long time until you were able to jump in.

At the end of the day, the success of the investment has to do with your tenant - do they stay a long time and pay every month? Then you'll do great. Do you have turnover every 2 years, a long vacancy and a big bill each time they leave, then not such a hot investment. That is why your property manager is so important. Not sure if you went with TK company for PM, but I'd have another one in your back pocket just in case you need to make a switch.