All Forum Posts by: Chris Irvin

 Hi Chris, I’m a real estate agent, investor and PM in Atlanta. I currently have 7 doors personally. Would love to connect and know more about your goal and criterial. 

Hi Chris, 

I love to see another fellow house hacker thinking about ATL real estate. We currently own 6 single-family rentals and work with a lot of investors such as yourself. We do GC work for the city of Atlanta as well as our own fix and flips. Let me know if you’d like to set up some time to chat this week! 

@Chris Irvin, have you thought about investing in your local market first? You've mentioned that you're currently house hacking, are there no BRRRR opportunities in St. Louis? I don't mean to steer you in the wrong direction, however, I always advise newer investors to explore their home market first and see how other investors are acquiring deals. What makes you want to invest in ATL? Albeit, if you do decide that OOS investing is the most suitable/realistic route for you, then read David Greene's book, "Long-Distance Real Estate Investing." Furthermore, I'd be happy to connect and chat about the ATL market with you. Feel free to reach out via cell, text, email, etc. (contact info listed in my bio).

Remember: cheaper doesn't mean you'll make more money.

Start by going to www.narpm.org to search their directory of managers. These are professionals with additional training and a stricter code of ethics. It's no guarantee but it's a good place to start. You can also search Google and read reviews. Regardless of how you find them, try to interview at least three managers.

1. Ask how many units they manage and how much experience they have. If it's a larger organization, feel free to inquire about their staff qualifications.

2. Review their management agreement. Make sure it explicitly explains the process for termination if you are unhappy with their services, but especially if they violate the terms of your agreement.

3. Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers. It may sound nice to pay a 6% management fee but the extra fees can add up to be more than the other company that charges 10% with no additional fees. Fees should be clearly stated in writing, easy to understand, and justifiable. Common fees will include a set-up fee, leasing fee for each turnover or a lease renewal fee, marking up maintenance, retaining late fees, and more. If you ask the manager to justify a fee and he starts hemming and hawing, move on or require them to remove the fee. Don't be afraid to negotiate, particularly if you have a lot of rentals.

4. Review their lease agreement and addenda. Think of all the things that could go wrong and see if the lease addresses them: unauthorized pets or tenants, early termination, security deposit, lease violations, late rent, eviction, lawn maintenance, parking, etc.

5. Don't just read the lease! Ask the manager to explain their process for dealing with maintenance, late rent, evictions, turnover, etc. If they are professional, they can explain this quickly and easily. If they are VERY professional, they will have their processes in writing as verification that policies are enforced equally and fairly by their entire staff.

6. Ask to speak with some of their current owners and current/former tenants. You can also check their reviews online at Google, Facebook, or Yelp. Just remember: most negative reviews are written by problematic tenants. The fact that a tenant is complaining online might be an indication the property manager dealt with them properly so be sure to ask the manager for their side of the story.

7. Look at their marketing strategy. Are they doing everything they can to expose properties to the widest possible market? Are their listings detailed with good quality photos? Can they prove how long it takes to rent a vacant property?

This isn't inclusive but should give you a good start. If you have specific questions about property management, I'll be happy to help!

@Chris Irvin Ultimately, once you're in the 5 + space, there's no real weight behind a Pre Approval letter drafted based on your personal financial statement and tax returns because the loans are so subject property based. Typically when I write letters for these types of properties I usually include some wording like "based on the proposed DSCR of the subject property @ ______" and "this approval is contingent upon a review of x, y, and z on the subject property".

The point of the letter is essentially for the lender to express that the borrower has the assets/credit to close and based on a preliminary review of the property it should debt cover and yes we're okay with this property type/market but we still need to due our own due diligence. 

I often size a few "hypothetical" deals with clients shopping in this space so that they can get a feel for how we're sizing them up and that way I can basically have a letter template ready to shoot out minus an address once I do a quick scrub to make sure DSCR will pass.