All Forum Posts by: David Elefant

Hey All,

My partners and I have done 3 rounds of direct mailing using envelopes, but are starting to expand and are looking at the possibility of using postcards due to the price difference. From our understanding, postcards aren't usually sent with envelopes, but we're not sure if there is a legality issue with sending out personal information like that without being enclosed in an envelope. Any feedback would be great, thank you!

-David Elefant 

Hello @Omar Khan

I read Loop Holes of Real Estate by Garrett Sutten (part of the Robert Kiyosaki Rich Dad books). I thought this book did an excellent job of explaining several tax and legal strategies used by real estate investors, but I am also fairly new to investing so the information offered might seem elementary to others depending on their investing experience. Definitely recommend checking out at least. Hope this helps and good luck!

Hey All,

My partners and I are possibly looking into investing in the Binghamton area. We would specifically be looking to cater to Binghamton university students. We previously were focusing our efforts in Syracuse Unvierstiy, because we had a strong understanding of the market rents and ideal areas. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Binghamton. From our initial research, it seems that Binghamton students are spread out throughout the city varying from Johnson City, vestal, and east of the downtown area. If anyone has any recommendations of real estate agents or property managers that would be great. Also, if anyone has a better grasp of the Binghamton university student off campus layout, any input would be great! Thanks

Hey All,

My partners and I are possibly looking into investing in the Binghamton area. We would specifically be looking to cater to Binghamton university students. We previously were focusing our efforts in Syracuse Unvierstiy, because we had a strong understanding of the market rents and ideal areas. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Binghamton. From our initial research, it seems that Binghamton students are spread out throughout the city varying from Johnson City, vestal, and east of the downtown area. If anyone has any recommendations of real estate agents or property managers that would be great. Also, if anyone has a better grasp of the Binghamton university student off campus layout, any input would be great! Thanks

@Andrew Johnson

Yes definitely a typo, meant property management agreement. Everything you said makes a lot of sense. My partner and I are planning to invest in University housing at Syracuse University.  Since we recently graduated from this university, we felt that we had a strong acumen on the overall market rental rates. That being said, we haven't had experience in screening tenants, which I know is a make or break aspect to the overall success of the business. Hopefully we can find a hybrid property manager where we can market for the tenants, and they screen the tenants. If not, then we'll just have to prepare for this expense in our operating costs. Thanks for the advice @Joel Wilmoth, @david younts, and @Andrew Johnson. 

@Andrew Johnson I know you mentioned the seat charge for Buildup, do you have any other examples of fees that property managers have charged that weren't on the lease in your experience.  

 Thanks everyone for the input!

Hey all,

Just have a question in regards to property management. I'm currently looking to invest in university housing, so I understand that these property management companies can charge a premium. That being said, I feel like the property management companies I've found thus far are charging too much. From what I've read, a owner expects to pay 8-12% of rent to a property management company. The companies we have seen so far charge 15%. We also are charged a tenant acquisition fee of $400/tenant or half of firsts month's rent, which is significant because there is a high probability we will have new tenants each year, and we're looking at properties with 8-14 bedrooms. As far as repairs, they hire their people to do the repairs and we pay them an hourly rate, ranging from $35-$115/hour. If they need to outsource, we pay for the services plus a 10% fee to the property management company. They can do any repair less then $500 without needing to notify us.

I am new to real estate investing, so this might be considered normal pricing in a niche market such as university housing, but would love to hear back from the community for confirmation of whether or not these prices are to be expected. Also am curious to see if people have been able to do more a hybrid experience, where the owner can do the marketing and find the tenants, while the property manager just manages the property. And if there are any repairs, he finds the contractors who we pay, but without giving him a percentage. Any advice will be great. Thanks!

Hi All!

My partners and I are investing in rental real estate in the city of Syracuse and I have a question regarding the legality of selecting certain tenants over others from a tenant pool. Specifically, how can I go about making sure I select the best tenants without breaking any laws relating to discrimination by race, gender, age, etc.? Because I heard there was a particular law that states you have to accept the first qualified tenants who apply, but I have also heard there are ways around that so that you can pick and choose your tenants from a group of qualified applicants. Can anyone add some clarity/knowledge about my situation?

Thank you for the information Nathan!