All Forum Posts by: Deirdre Lizio

 

Thanks! Just emailed you.

 Hi Heath, I would so appreciate an intro to your owner if you don't mind!  

I agree with you that there should be more hype.  I remember when they put this is place in Portland, OR and there was a ton of interest.  I didn't follow the impacts on the housing market though.

Great website.  I think you're on to something!

Amazing perspective from all.  Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom!

Thanks, everyone.  It sounds like this is a lot about getting the core services done right and following through on what's promised.  Although as @Drew Sygit asks, what have those PMs that pledged to do it better now learned that may bring them back into line with main stream service providers?  I am wondering what it takes to deliver a higher customer experience, equivalent to receiving a warm wash towel at a restaurant table before you eat.  Is it worth it to deliver an exceptional customer experience if 1) no one expects it and 2) it could impact profitability?  I would like to think it is worth it, and that I could run a business model that serves fewer customers really well rather than deliver basic services at scale.  

I’m working on building a property management company in Boston that truly solves real problems for owners and tenants, and I’d love your insights. Here’s the big question: Is property management all about profit, or should it be more of a customer-focused experience? What makes a property manager actually worth it— having more freedom, peace of mind, saving money, reducing risks, or something else entirely?  Is the experience still important to you, even when your property is thriving financially?  Do expectations vary by property type or asset class?  Thanks for any thoughts on this!  

Maybe you could go a less traditional route and split a down payment for an investment with friends or colleague who share the same goals.

Most brokers in the Boston area will charge the tenant the leasing fee, so the landlord usually doesn't pay this.  You can get a great tenant with the help of a thorough broker without committing to property management.

I agree with @Joe Scaparra, selling is a very sensible option.  Aside from the benefits he mentions, @Greg Friedman, you absolutely must be familiar with how foreign income is to be taxed in your destination country.  Having lived abroad myself for many years, I can say I underestimated what a pain taxes would become.  There is often a time limit on how long you are exempt from paying local taxes on foreign income, and of course you will owe the US for life.  Last thing you want is to decide to sell after you've been abroad for a while, and then owe both the foreign and the US government on the capital gains.  Also note, as I learned the hard way, different governments define and calculate capital gains differently! :/

Hey Greg,

I think part of this depends on how far away you are and whether you have neighbors or relatives that can visit you property in the event a visit is required.  Full disclosure:  I am a property manager in the Boston area.  What we find is that owners in your position can do well in a set of ideal circumstances:  the home is in great condition, they find excellent tenants who treat the property with care, and nothing crazy happens.  If you think you can put that in place, yes, you will save the cost of a property manager and keep more in your own pocket.  On the other hand, if anything unexpected happens, you want someone who is going to watch out for your investment.  This starts early on with preventing what could potentially go wrong by attracting an awesome tenant and looking at what vulnerabilites currently exist in your property.  Do you want to keep the property to return to later?  Is the move abroad sort of a "trail" to see how long you want to stay away?  How important is profit vs protecting your asset for a future use?  These questions really matter.  A guy recently came to us for advice: he rented his house in MA and moved across country.  When the tenants moved out, he discovered they had utterly trashed the place and the cost to bring it back to market standard (and thereby get a more desirable tenant) was beyond him.  He had to sell.  So you can see, of course it is possible and you can manage most things remotely, but you will be introducing a higher level of risk.   It just sort of depends what your goals are, how important this house is to you, and what level of risk you are willing to take!  Also, I highly recommend doing an analysis of how much you stand to make with and without property management, then see if the difference in profit justifies the risk. Some people are surprised by what they learn when they do the math.  Hope that helps!

Deirdre