All Forum Posts by: Grant D.

I am a bit late to the conversation I started.  I ended up going with David Terbeek at Re/Max Haven, and have been mostly satisfied with their management.  They have been great on everything other than turn around time for getting a vacancy back on the market, but have re-worked that process, so hoping it will be better now.  Overall, it's hard to find an out of state manager that is going to take care of a property in the same way that you would, so you have to recognize that and stay on top of everything.

@Sunny D. What management company do yo work with?  I am seeing significantly longer turn around times.

I know this is a tough question, because every project is different, but can anyone that works with a management company in Cleveland give me an opinion.  Typically with general repairs (cleaning, paint touch ups, etc.) how long are you seeing it take for your property to go from vacancy to being marketed for rent?  

@James Wise You should call them, judging from the POS reports, it would be a good revenue source LOL

@James Wise  You are probably right, but some of the cited work has to be done by a contractor that is approved by the city (based on a list that they have), and it isn't that long of a list.  Just saying it isn't outside the realm of possibility.

Agreed that is is very inconsistent, I actually had a clear POS then get cited when I applied for the rental certificate (cause the POS had been done more than 6 months prior.  They cited a bunch of other things...it is just so subjective.

This is great news for owners in Lakewood.  

I think it would be great for other cities to do the same thing, or at the very least limit/standardize the things that the inspector is looking for.  It seems to me that almost every POS report I have looked at in Euclid asked for a driveway repair/replacement...and most of the time it was based on some small cracks.  Has the markings of a racket.

Not exactly a quote, but I had a tenant send me a 2 page long email of things wrong with a unit a week after he signed the lease and moved in...and this is after he did a full walk through and signed off on everything being in fine condition.

I let him break the lease, and kept the security deposit for my wasted time. 

@Michael Plante  I think that was the PM's point, cause my first question I asked was what would you do in an emergency (like a burst pipe) if the tenant wasn't there to let them in, and they said they would then go and place an access notice to advise the tenant maintenance is required so they will be rekeying to enter, they would rekey, and then would bill the tenant for the rekey.  It makes sense to me, and I have never had to use a key at any of my income properties before as well....but at the same time, might be worth simply asking the tenants to make a copy of the keys.

Seller said they never had keys, as they inherited the tenants as well (they are long term tenants).  

I just closed on a few single family homes out of state that are currently tenant occupied.  I was told by my real estate agent after closing that they previous owner did not have a copy of the keys to the house, as the tenant had always let them in.  I asked my property management company, and they did not seem to think this was an issue.

My question, am I crazy for finding it strange that neither my property manager or I have a set of keys to the house I own?  How important is this?  Is it worth re-keying the houses now...or just wait and do that when current tenants move out?  Any thoughts?