All Forum Posts by: Chris DeTreville

In Columbia there is a city ordinance that states no more than 3 unrelated people can live in a single dwelling.  Management companies usually stick to that ordinance, but from what I can tell most owner/landlords do not care and there is really no way for the city to know.  However, they are proposing major changes in Columbia regarding rentals.  http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article36699174.html

That being said, there are variances for student housing where that ordinance does not apply.   I am unsure however how this variance is determined. 

I see you are in NC, here in SC obviously we have had a ton of rain the last month and high humidity.  Add to the fact that the temperatures have been very pleasant...I think the problem is simply air circulation.  It is a damp climate right now and since its 65-80 degrees most days people are not using their ac or heat.  I have seen this a lot here as well where people can "feel" the dampness and rush immediately into the "M" word.  That's my 2 cents

 How much of the deposit are they keeping?

That sounds like pretty minor stuff cost wise... did they keep the entire deposit? I believe the City of Columbia water department charges a reconnect fee so you were probably required to give the landlord notice of when it was to be turned off so that they could have it put back in their name.  That may be what that is about. As for cleaning, I've seen a lot of apartments that tenants claimed were clean where cleaners had to go back in and it could be for a variety of reasons.  The landlord should have given you a specific set of instructions on what they expected.  As for it being cleaner than when you moved in, hopefully you had some sort of move in checklist or inspection where you documented where it was dirty.  I'm not sure about the drip pans. 

I've had success in Richland County getting the taxes lowered on some of my family's multi-family properties.  The assessors there are actually pretty nice and easy to work with if you are straight up with them.  I basically pulled comps and did my own appraisal based on rents and conditions of the buildings...they had them assessed in some cases 30 or 40K higher than what was realistic.  They looked over what I submitted, did their own appraisal, and in most cases agreed with me.  But last year I found that they lowered a bunch of them on their own and a lot of the properties that we had pinpointed as assessed too high came down to a realistic value that wasn't worth arguing over.  One of the appraisers told me that they do the assessments in 4 or 5 year cyles, so expect them to go up again in 3 or 4 years.  And the ones I talked to are very aware that the taxes are insane here, therefore willing to help for the most part. 

 This.  There are plenty of multi-family properties in Columbia and West Columbia.  But the taxes are going to eat your lunch.  The market is steady so I think it is maybe better in terms of risk...but you need to buy right and rent your stuff in the Summer to reduce vacancies since we are extremely seasonal (as I assume most markets are around college campuses) 

Forgot the most important one 

12.) How are you paid? What % do you charge? Do you have a leasing fee? How much?

This discussion is intended to gain some insight on how property managers from around the country run their business.  I am going to ask a bunch of questions- and if the property managers here on the site can answer them I think it will help future property managers who are looking to possibly start a business, and it will help the investors on the site see how PM's operate (maybe outside of what they are currently using).  Non- PM's are free to chime in maybe if they know how some of their PM's operate, but I'm particularly interested in the property managers that run their own business.  That being said, here are my questions:

* First please let us know how many units you manage

1.) What management software do you use?

2.) How do you process applications? How much do you charge? Do you do it manually or do you use a service? If you use a service, how does it check rental history? Please elaborate. 

3.) How do you handle maintenance calls? Do you have an employee that just handles maintenance calls and assigns it to vendors? Do you do it all by phone or can tenants put in requests online?  How about after hours? 

4.) Do you charge for repairs? In other words- do you take a cut from a repair bill?

5.) How do you show the units? Do you have leasing agents? If so, do they schedule by appointment? How are they paid? If not, do you check out keys to potential tenants? Please elaborate.

6.) How do tenants pay rent? Some management software can be used for rent payments- do you do that? Or can they pay online? Do you accept cash? 

7.) How do you handle keys? Do you keep several sets of keys in the office for vendors/leasing agents, etc to check out? What kind of system do you use to keep track of that? Do you have your own key machine?

8.) How do you determine which properties to take on? Do you prefer certain types? Small multi-family, commercial, SF homes, low income, etc? Do you believe its best to specialize in one type?

9.) Do you prefer to steer clear of accidental landlords? 

10.) How many employees do you have? Is there a certain # of employees you should hire based on # of units managed?

11.) How do you do property inspections once a tenant moves? Do you use an app? Do you have an inspection form you fill out and take pictures? How about inspections during a lease term? Do you schedule walk throughs every 3 months, 6 months, yearly? Not at all unless requested? 

That's about all I can think of right now.  If anyone else has a question they'd like to have answered please add it to the list.  Thanks!

Good point.  We come across that a lot and while we always win that battle- it is certainly unpleasant.  

I would just say that inconsiderate or mean tenants are the biggest issue.  It causes all sorts of problems and can make the entire experience miserable.  The worst part is, it is not something that you can really screen for.  They can be pleasant throughout the initial process and as long as they get a good rental reference(landlord may want them gone) they will check out.  Maybe they fall under the sociopath category.  

 Eric, have you and your mentor set up a company? How did it go?