All Forum Posts by: Gil Wildridge

You have several solutions. First thing I'd do, though, is get new AC people. They're overcharging you. 

Second thing I'd is make sure changing filters are the tenant's responsibility in the lease and communicate that to them. Tenants should be paying for electric and gas in any case.

Third thing: make sure that you're scheduling tune-ups, once in the Spring and once in the Fall. Those can catch issues before they happen. 

I would not open myself up to the liability of temperature settings. With weather getting more and more unpredictable, it just seems like something a tenant could complain about that, even if you didn't do anything wrong, could land you in hot water. 

 This. Decently likely she's trying to pull one over on you, and even if she's not, collecting rent by card in general comes with a lot of things that could wrong and hardly any upside except convenience. With a card, there's a third party involved in the payment, which means chances of something going wrong have just gone up 33%. 

From the lender's perspective, yes they are. Lenders in the RE space aren't the healthiest right now in my opinion and need some stable wins on their balance sheets. That means clients shooting for LTRs with one or two year leases. There's also growing regulation risk for the investor, thanks to the hospitality lobby convincing local Karens and pearl clutching city officials that short term rentals are nothing but drunk college kids and constant crime. 

But doing short-term is also a flexible thing you can fit into your strategy on relatively short notice. If done right, it's highly profitable for the owner, but requires constant management. There's also higher overhead. Standards are higher and things break or need to be replaced more often.

Do you have a short term track record to show the lender? If you're in Vegas they have to have had this discussion with people before with people and negotiated their way to a deal.

 A good property manager should be able to negotiate with contractors and shouldn't just accept whatever rate is handed to them. One reason they should be able to do that is literally because they manage a lot of properties and can toss contractors business on a regular basis. Another reason is just market knowledge and knowing what a repair of a certain type given material and labor rates in an area should cost. 

PMs do handle this, but speaking as a PM, if this is your only issue, just get a good handyman or lawn person and build a relationship with them. They will become invaluable if you grow your portfolio. You might not even have to look far; I've had owners who have made agreements with tenants to cut the grass, handle trash and keep the weeds back for their properties. For a multifamily without a yard, that might honestly be your best option.

A thousand dollars seems a little high but it does depend on what's involved. I would check state law; in some states, if your property is in an LLC you actually have to have an attorney for the eviction process. The attorney can explain their fees pretty accurately. Might be good to speak to them separately and see how much they actually charge.

In the future, if possible, I'd suggest putting the tenant on a payment plan with a deadline and once the payment plan is signed sending that to an attorney. At least from my experience, that allows you to still collect some of what you're owed and is something you can show the judge if you need to evict which helps to speed the process. That way even if you have to cut the tenant loose, you're not taking as much of a loss.

Rates are part of it. I wouldn't say that they should be a major factor, but the more deals one has done, the lower rates many lenders are willing to offer. But one can often save on the actual price with more limited competition. 

I would have offered to install it myself and kept the fan. It looks like you do a favor to the tenants that way, you can make sure the light fixture is properly stored and the fan is properly installed, and you get to keep the fan, which I agree with Keven is seen as an upgrade to many tenants. I guess there's nothing wrong with the general principle of letting tenants install things once in a while in a rental unit, but I generally like it when they don't. As a PM, I can be a little paranoid about things. Sure, its not likely that the next tenants move in and the fan drops out of the ceiling because it wasn't properly installed by the prior tenants and then the new tenants are mad at you, but that's where my mind goes when I hear about tenants installing things they want without help or supervision.

You could call a couple of agents and tell them that you have a listing (don't mention the address yet) at x price with y requirements for the tenant. Ask if they have a prospective tenant for that and if they genuinely do, you can give them the address.

Definitely check your price and features vs the other rentals in the area. 

Check around to see if anyone relocating needs a place. If I recall there's a pretty big healthcare company headquartered in Bluffton or thereabouts. They might need housing for people relocating to work at their headquarters and would want to point employees in the right direction. 

I'd say join your local REIA or a similar group where you can get in front of people. Don't ask for fifteen minutes of their time necessarily. You can ask to meet up for coffee or something and pick their brain about the market.

Maybe use here to ask for book recommendations.