All Forum Posts by: Greg Weik

@Amal Bhatnagar, I think you are wise to seek out professional management.  Yes, it costs money. 

But the residential property management industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, not because as @Charles Carillo puts it "they are just calling their own handyman" but because there is incredible value to be added when you hire a good PM. 

-PM Leasing - should not be done by a "realtor on the ground."  They will have no idea what they are doing, what they are looking for, or likely the laws surrounding credit reporting. 

-PM Marketing - should be good enough to reduce days on market significantly. 

-PM Turnover processes - again, designed around reducing days on market and limiting landlord exposure/liability. 

-PM -The lease itself - you're unlikely to have a bomb-proof lease if you buy it online.  PMs know what needs to be in the lease, and that constantly changes with legislation. 

-PM -Cashflow - people hire PMs specifically to INCREASE cash flow, not to decrease it.  It's not a luxury, any more than hiring and paying a CPA or an Attorney are luxuries.  Good PM makes you more money than you could on your own. 

But to your question - I would check Google Reviews as a good starting point.  Check out all of them for a company and try to see if a pattern emerges.  Are they consistently accused of being unresponsive?  Are they consistently praised for renting properties quickly?  Do they respond to their reviews?  The company culture matters, that's a big part of what you're hiring.   

Hey @Jason Eiceman, in our market (greater Denver) that decision often comes down to the price point and demographic for your rental property.  Our analysis breaks down as:

-Higher-end property, we suggest w/d hookups only. 

-Lower-end property, we suggest leaving them for the tenants as a value add. 

You can add a clause in your lease requiring dryer vent cleanout/maintenance to be done by the tenant.  Those vent wands that attach to a drill are cheap at Home Depot. 

As you alluded to, keeping them in the property will mean two more items to worry about covering if they break, fail or even "seem to fail" as is the case with a dryer that "doesn't dry fast enough"...  Keep in mind also that tenants can be very hard on washers and dryers that are not theirs.  

I don't suggest leaving them "as-is."  This is often a deterrent to would-be tenants and would paint you as the kind of landlord who may try to get out of fixing other things.  Also, "as is" really needs to be clearly spelled out.  Can they sell the w/d on Craigslist the day they move into the property?  Do they have to store them if they break?  Do they need to keep them and get them fixed?  

Last - if you are going to keep them, I would suggest exploring a reputable home warranty that will cover their repair and possibly replacement.  I don't like American Home Shield (but maybe they're better in your area), but there are a few home warranty companies that could add some peace of mind.  

Nothing is simple in property management lol :) 

@Daniel Lao, a few things

-Your PM is right in the sense of accepting rent while the 10 day notice clock is ticking, voids that particular 10 day notice.  If you want to accept the rent, you need to immediately re-deliver an updated 10 day notice. 

-Section 8 properties have specific rules to deal with non-paying tenants.  You need to reach out to the tenant's section 8 case manager first. 

-Best bet is what @Kelly Sennholz said - simply non-renew.  Your tenant is on a month-to-month lease, so give them notice and non-renew.  If they fail to vacate, it's probably going to be a much more straightforward eviction for failure to vacate, vs. partial rent paid/unpaid over time.  You do not need cause to end a lease (month-to-month or at the end of a long-term lease.) 

Good luck!

Hi @Bob Foglia with the current state of the rental market (very tough to rent most things), I would strongly discourage attempting to rent the property out furnished (short, medium, or long term.) It's my opinion that the pool of tenants is simply too small to make the vacancy time worth the effort. 

We have experience managing furnished "house hack" properties and within a couple of years, our clients nearly always decide to go the traditional route of an unfurnished property and a single lease.  Many reasons for this (some of which you touched on), and I'd be happy to discuss them in detail if you would like. 

The most competitive and profitable strategy, this time of the year and with current market conditions, is to have a vacant home in excellent condition, priced competitively. Hire a management company with excellent marketing and processes in place to rent properties quickly and to the best tenants.  I may know just such a company :) 

@Zack Dasbur I believe your first contact should be with a real estate attorney to ensure you have an elevator addendum specific to your unit.  

Said addendum will incorporate everything from the operation, maximum weight limit, whether it can or cannot be used for moving furniture, how repairs are handled, exculpatory language in the event the elevator is out of service (i.e., you are/are not required to provide any rental credit), how power outages are handled, etc. Your addendum will be part of the file for this townhome and can be used with all future leases.  

It's not just a question of insurance coverage, it's imperative that tenants sign off on the property usage of the elevator, permit routine maintenance inspections, a requirement to report any potential repair issues with the unit, etc. 

If the leases only go for another 7 months, I'm not sure there is all that much risk.  I would verify the presence and operation of smoke and CO detectors, ensure there are no apparent safety hazards in the home, and make a plan to non-renew the leases when they come up for renewal. 

Another consideration is to review the leases.  There may be language in the lease permitting termination of the leases for specific situations related to habitability.  If the property cannot be insured due to the non-conforming bedrooms, it could well be argued that this is prima facie evidence of a habitability issue and you could terminate the lease(s) needed.  

I voted against it.  As the owner of a Colorado PMC, I know my clients are fed up with government meddling in the rental world, as am I.  Re-directing tax funds to "affordable housing" is a very nebulous concept, short on specifics, and likely to not move the needle.  I'm not convinced any of this is really about helping people or providing "affordable" housing, however that term is actually defined...  

These programs steal money from Peter to pay Paul, and for people who work hard, pay taxes and do it right, it is frustrating to have tenants get handout after handout to "help them".   That so-called free money comes out of the pocket of people working hard, hustling, and paying taxes. 

I've seen multiple tenants in our portfolio get over $20,000 of completely free money "cuz covid" (yeah right).  The more you give people, the more they will take. It's not like making housing cheaper will suddenly cause the recipients of this subsidized housing to save money or budget properly or "get ahead" as is the common vernacular. They will still be broke. The cycle of people receiving handouts of any kind is extremely difficult to break.  I've yet to see any tenants get off section 8. 

Rant over! :) 

Happy to help.  We did direct marketing a lot back in the day when we were trying to get our PM business off the ground.  It's a long, tough slog.  At this point, I don't even recommend direct mail (in my industry) to franchisees, as there are a lot of other ways to reach your target audience for less money and spending less time.

Again, I don't know much about the buy houses for cash industry, but it seems like there are probably facebook groups and next-door posts you could follow/search to place the right comment at the right time to generate interest. You could target FSBO listings on Zillow and elsewhere.

My experience with direct mail has been that you have to hit the right people at the right time with the right message - and even then it's a small percentage of people who will pick up the phone.  

Hey @Sam Spoerl, while this world of "sell your house fast" is not my lane, some things jump out at me from a marketing standpoint that may help. 

1) Your personal photo.  I'm not sure this helps.  Maybe it does maybe it doesn't, but the idea is that this is a quick, cold transaction of money for keys.  The personal touch seems contradictory. 

2) Your email.  I would suggest changing the @gmail.com to a domain.  Cheap and easy to setup through Gmail, but will give you credibility.  Your target audience needs to believe you actually can close.  Anything that seems "small time" isn't going to help you. 

3) Offer for people to text you.  Most people don't want to make a call, get a spiel where they feel sold to.  You can have "soft contacts" with people where you can evaluate them and they can evaluate you, via text message.  I would suggest creating some templates you can send off (that don't sound like templates) via text. 

4) I would stick with a more professional font.  

Take it or leave it, just my $.02.  Good luck! 

Hi @James Ross, we would be happy to chat with you to see if RES is a good fit. 

I own the company and we've been in business for 15 years.  I own multiple rental properties and I can say with confidence that my team knows what it's doing.  My office manager is also a broker and also an investor who owns properties.  This dramatically impacts company culture around here.  We understand what our clients are looking for in terms of value and wealth generation because we are looking for the same things. 

We will always steer you and all our clients to their highest ROI.

That said, if your tenants have weeds, you will always hear from the HOA before us. We are not on-site and we are not likely to see issues of that nature before an HOA that is cruising the neighborhood looking for issues like this. If we are made aware of issues, however, we always act swiftly and competently.

The process of switching PMCs is pretty simple in our experience.  We take on doors from other PMCs almost every week, and we will be in the Springs this afternoon picking up another 10 units from another company.  

Please feel free to drop me a line or contact my office directly and we can go from there.