All Forum Posts by: Ford Bennett

I think this is a win for the STR crowd - both sides of it, too.

Thanks Julio! 

I will be sure to follow up on this thread in the future. 

Thank you, Drew!

That's a good mindset—instead of looking for investors, look for those who are connected to investors (as a BDM, clearly this is my goal). 

I know there's no quick or easy answer, and I'm not looking for one, I guess just reassurance that getting out there and attending as many meetings as I can is the best method. 

Hello BP!

I started my career in property management 6 years ago as a leasing agent, and moved up the ladder into my current position - Business Development Manager. I've done a little of everything, leasing, AM and PM hats, single family and multifamily, marketing and sales (not home sales, selling PM services), and I'm a licensed broker. 

I've done some networking in the past, BNI, Chamber events, Business After Hours from various hosts, but I never really felt like I was generating a consistent stream of business. I don't want to give the impression that I was lazy, I was active in my BNI chapter and even held a leadership role. Some of those members will be lifelong friends of mine, and several of them assisted me with purchasing my first home. 

My question - where do you see the biggest "bang for you buck (or time)" in regards to networking avenues? I'm looking into a few investor networking meetups, BNI of course, IREM and NARPM, and others. BNI is almost triple the cost of other groups. One local investor group seems to be holding strong, and they are a smaller org, not national. 

What are your thoughts?

Hi Matt!

I'm a PM in Washington state and I also work with investors to discuss handing their property over to professional management. You're pretty much right on the money. I mostly see investors that are moving out of town/state, or have the fear of managing a bad tenant (not necessarily already having that bad tenant experience), are those contracting with a PM. Very few of my clients, or those I speak with, are waiting until their portfolio grows to a unmanageable size. 

 Agreed. Adverse action notice is the proper channel. 

In-person walkthroughs can be a great way to get off on the right foot with your tenants. If you're nervous about the screening and finding a well put-together rental agreement, give a call to your local property managers. Some of them will likely offer a Tenant Placement option where they will do all the marketing, screening, and will put a rental agreement in place and then hand everything over to you to self manage!

I agree with Richard. Check your local laws to see what requirements there are. Here in WA you can be a property manager or a leasing agent with no broker's license. Find a Leasing Agent position and work your way up!

Hi Kyle!

Good question, I'm a property manager so I'd like to give my perspective. Adding your PM as an additional insured allows them to file claims on your behalf, it also protects your PM in case a tenant brings a suit against the PM (they usually file a suit against the owner and the PM) and your management agreement likely limits the PM's monetary liability to a certain amount, in which case if that claim exceeds that amount they could try to come after you for the overage (if they do business like that, some might not). Hope that helps!

Thank you Mark and Scott!