All Forum Posts by: Eric Weireter

@Tomas Baxter - I wouldn't get caught up in those items. Their request seems pretty reasonable to me. When I managed 30 branches across 4 states here in the Southeast we had our building equipment standards that we would implement at each location. So, when we would open a new location in an existing bank we knew there would be an "equipment" cost because we wanted to install the same/similar equipment across the portfolio... as it would help our support staff train new CSRs and troubleshoot any issues across the portfolio. Even if they were to leave the equipment you're most concerned with (under-counter vaults / ATM / VAT) there is a maintenance cost that goes along with them. If you were to deliver the space to a new financial institution your lease may/or may not say you have to deliver the equipment in working condition. It may be easier to let the seller take the items in question and have the new financial institution install their own so that none of the responsibility would fall back on you. 

For my personal portfolio I use Cozy.co which is free to use.

For my client's commercial office portfolio I use Yardi Breeze which is more of a Property Management, Maintenance, Accounting, and Leasing platform that has a $100/mo minimum.

I currently operate a property management company in NC, managing 170k SF of office space. We are expanding to Richmond, VA and I have a few questions:

***In VA, do I, personally, need my real estate license to perform property management services?

*** What do I need to do from a licensing standpoint to collect leasing commissions for vacancies my team leases up?

***I assume all leasing brokers under my wing will need to have their VA Real Estate license? Will we need a firm license in VA?

Also, any recommendations for real estate schools would be appreciated. 

Thanks!

@Jenna W. - While each program has their quirks some of the bigger players are Yardi Voyager and MRI... which are expensive decisions as @Laticia Braxton eluded to, but become necessary once you reach a certain level. I am currently utilizing Yardi Breeze which is a dumbed-down version of Yardi Voyager that only has a $400/month minimum. It certainly handles the job for the $36M AUM we currently have, but we are looking at Voyager or MRI as we plan to quadruple our AUM in the next 12 months. Yardi Breeze does not have an API that you can plug into, which is part of the reason we are looking to switch software programs. So, it would not solve your Sage Accounting interface issue. 

While Yardi Breeze, Yardi Voyager, and MRI each have maintenance programs built into their software directly or via "extra" modules, they each have limited functionality. My favorite work order system that I have used in the past has been Angus Anywhere.

I hope this gives you a few items to research. Best of luck!

@Taylor L. - So, currently we have hybrid employment arrangement. The owner has me on payroll (W2) and the management agreements are between the building entities and my LLC. I recognize that he could rip away the management agreements with a 30 day notice, but being a W2 employee as well I feel a bit of protection. Though in theory we are based in an "at-will" state, so I could be let go from the W2 position without cause. The owner is looking for protection in terms of if I got struct by lighting tonight, he would not have anyone with prior knowledge of his properties to manage them seamlessly if a catastrophic event occurred.

@Greg Dickerson Thanks for the advice regarding not tying up the PM company in any deals or giving up any control... I definitely don't feel comfortable with the latter. We've discussed participating in some deals, so I'll make note of developing a partner entity. It seems that may be the path we are heading down...

@AJ Shepard Thanks for the insight. The owner does have me on the payroll (W2) and pays for the management software and my CoStar/LoopNet access for his properties, among other things. So, it is definitely a "different" relationship that we have than I have with other owners. We are in the midst of discussions regarding expanding headcount and bringing maintenance in house. I can foresee the owner wanting to have a say in potential hires. 

@Jerel Ehlert Yeah, my wife has been echoing the same! Any recommendations on how to go about finding a commercial transactional attorney to discuss this with? The only commercial transactional attorney I'm familiar with is the one the owner uses. Obviously, I don't want to use the same attorney the owner will be using to draft this agreement. Other than that, I know plenty of residential attorney's but I would feel more comfortable speaking with a commercial attorney. Thanks!

Hi @Vik J., happy to assist... I manage both residential and commercial. I'll send you a note. 

Ideas needed...

I've been working with a particular owner (a syndicator) for ~1 year managing his multi-tenant office portfolio of ~170k square feet (made up of 6 buildings across Raleigh and Durham in NC & Richmond, VA). He's got another 600k square feet under contract that would increase the building count in both Raleigh and Richmond, but also expand our reach to Atlanta, GA... 1/3 of that square feet is scheduled to close by year-end.

As we are discussing employee growth and bringing maintenance in-house, the conversation on Friday revolved around developing a partnership. While he doesn't want ownership in my Property Management entity, he does want to create some form of control/protection.

Does anybody have an idea of how a property management company and a syndicator should structure a longterm agreement? What are some scenarios you've witnessed/experienced? 

Thanks, @Nicole Heasley Beitenman. We've got a demo of MRI scheduled here in a couple of weeks. If I have any questions after the demo, I'll reach out. 

I currently use Yardi Breeze Premier to manage our AUM. We currently manage 6 multi-tenant office properties totalling 170k square feet plus a handful of residential units. The Breeze platform was developed to assist the small to medium-sized real estate companies that don't need to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a platform per year, but still need all the features. With our plan, we pay $400/mo which includes unlimited users. Though, I know there is a plan/tier below what we subscribe to. 

While there are many factors that play into the software decision, I think part of it will also depend on your long-term goals. Do you intend to stay a small portfolio? Will you take on the management of other people's properties? What type of assets do you intend to purchase/manage?

I totally understand what @Soh Tanaka and @Drew Sygit are stating. I just feel that all commercial property management software is antiquated. Changing platforms certainly would not be a decision made on a whim, nor expect to be implemented within a month. I've done 2 Yardi implementations myself that both took over a year and were a work in process.