All Forum Posts by: Donald M.

I am moving out of state and am trying to decide how to manage a rental. I have spent a lot on maintenance and improvements over the past few years so I do not anticipate any major issues. I have a list of trusted ppl I have used over the past few years, including a plumber, handyman, electrician. I am planning on screening and finding the next set of tenants for a one-year lease, who ideally would renew in 1 year, but otherwise finding new tenants hopefully won't be an issue until that time.

I thought about paying a person as a property manager but it doesn't seem like there is much for her to do. Even if I only paid 5% of rents/month, I would have to pay 5% + the cost of any necessary work, but if I self-managed it, I could try to diagnose the kind of problem over the phone and instead use the 5% to actually pay for costs and use the existing team that I have. I cannot hire the current handyman I use to manage the property as well as he is well paid and is always booked several weeks out so he couldn't see the property on short notice. 

So if I pay a property manager to not do very much, how much should it be? I know someone who manages rentals nearby and also lives nearby that I could ask for this position. She is more knowledgeable about handywoman sort of stuff than I am, so potentially she could also fix things if needed but I would have to clarify as I don't know her skills.

This might be out of your control if you are using a PM company, but it can make a big difference if you are renting to undergraduates vs. graduate students, who tend to be more mature. I am very careful in screening. I look for evidence that a person is academically serious and not there to party. 

Whether it is too late depends on many factors, which is mainly summarized by supply/demand in the area. I would not expect a purchase to go through by when you want it to, I would definitely plan a buffer. Because you have not even found a property you want, you don't want to buy something that you are going to have only regrets and problems with later.

So we are up to 5 definitions! If there is not clearly a real estate or MLS rule, then I am going to decide the number of bedrooms and see if the real estate agent or MLS contests. It is obviously impossible to reconcile 5 different definitions.

After conversations with an appraiser, my city building inspector, and my lender, I have discovered that all 3 have different definitions of what is a bedroom.

My question: If I list the property for sale, can I use my own (reasonable) definition of what a bedroom is when I determine the # of bedrooms/bathrooms? Are there any real estate rules/conventions, or does the real estate agent decide the number?

Why doesn't the @ symbol work in my posts, am I not doing it correctly or maybe my computer cannot recognize it? 

Thanks for all the terrific suggestions. I have some research to do looking into these markets and have reached out to some people, apologize if I haven't responded to one of your messages, will try to get to it this week. 

I am a passive real estate investor and have 1 rental, do not have experience in flipping. The 5.2% I mentioned requires no work and is low risk. I realize that I will need to take more risk to get more returns and am very tolerant of risk. 

@Joe Villeneuve, I think that is a very interesting idea and I am going to aim to obtain data on various zip codes, it might be a bit difficult to make sure it is comparable but should provide a starting point.

@James Reynante, that is a great point about factoring in travel costs and something I did not think of but very important to do.

Let's say I have $70,000 to invest. I have a chance to get a 5.2% return outside of real estate. As a buy and hold investor, if I can get more than this return, where should I invest/what is the best strategy in order to maximize cash flow? 

The Boston market is extremely expensive; if I am willing to invest out-of-state (which will require my finding a great management team), should I use this as cash for a single property, use it as a down payment for one property, or for multiple simultaneously? How should I identify potential markets? The number cruncher in me would like to obtain national zip code data on rental prices and median purchase prices to calculate where I can the best deal, but I don't want to pay for such data and go through the calculations if it won't be remotely feasible or if there are obvious markets I should be looking at.

Thanks for the all the great information and clarification regarding the HOA vs. management company. It does seem that desirability of living in a high rise is vitiated by needing a car.

@EricFernwood, you mention single family homes in gated communities and also townhomes in nice areas, can you tell me specifically which geographic areas I should consider? Thanks!

How do units in luxury las vegas condos on the Strip look like in terms of a real estate investment for a buy and hold investor (as a rental)? I believe the places that have units for sale are the Signature, Panorama towers, trump, and there is one by circus circus.

For me the main issue is the condominium fee. As I understand it, in general the owners cannot take a vote and hire a management company (which would be preferable). Instead, the management companies are permanent and can charge whatever fees they want, thus making a big profit? Even if I could achieve positive cash flow, I would not consider it a good deal if the management company is profiting unreasonable (ie more than the market rate). 

I plan on living in Las Vegas initially but renting out the unit afterward. If the above units are not good deals, what areas should I look at? Am interested in distance to the Strip and safety. Also, is it a hassle to park at casinos? Thanks!

I have heard bad stories about property managers, which is also attested to by this post: 

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1539...

It seems that there are many good, hard-working individuals that could do property management. I have 1 rental and am considering purchasing a second one within the next week and I have no desire to continue self-managing. What's to prevent me from advertising for and hiring an individual with no experience in property management, and then training him? I have not decided about screening/finding tenants, as I have a lot of experience in this and may continue to do this. I would also have rent sent to me directly (or my company), so the property manager field all calls from tenants, troubleshoot problems, and I would find someone who is handy so she could do any small fixes in the units (I am not handy).

Has anyone done something like this? How would I determine a fair compensation? As I have invested a lot into improvements/maintenance I do not anticipate that there would be much for the property manager to do.