All Forum Posts by: James Morgan

1. Do not change software without familiarizing yourself with how the business works first. We have converted from PW to Appfolio for two of our markets, and it's not an easy task.

2. Again, you'll probably have to spend some time getting a feel for this. My office has ~280 houses under management. I run the office, I have two full time maintenance guys, a maintenance director, someone to communicate with tenants, and someone that does leasing. Everyone is consistently busy.

3. This probably depends on what your area calls for. Here in TN we don't go below 8% and that's on the lower end from what I've seen.

4. Also probably depends on your area. 1/2 month to 1 month leasing fee is pretty standard across the board for the industry. We have plans that charge 1/2 month leasing fee or no leasing fee.

@Kyle Mccaw Pulling Back the Curtain is great. I went to one earlier this year

Thanks for the response Alex... So we don't manage any houses- we only manage multi-family buildings. Not sure if that changes the management percentage fee. Would love to hear your thoughts.

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Originally posted by @Peter Tverdov:

4-5%...I don't even know how you survive at such a low rate. I would increase your rates. You'll lose customers but your revenue will likely make up for it.

All the buildings we manage are multifamily in the heart of Los Angeles... So rents are much higher.

Does that change anything in terms of what we are able to charge..? I have to do a survey of the market but I wanted to come here first to feel the forum out.

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Hey @Kenny Dahill,

Thank you for taking the time to provide me with this valuable information.

I appreciate it,

James

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Hey @Kyle Mccaw,

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Thank you for pointers.

Any recommendations on which conferences to look into?

Best,

James

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Hey Everyone!
First post. I'm super new to the real estate world so please forgive my ignorance.

So I just started working for my parent's property management firm and things seem to be done super mom and pop style aka inefficiently. I would love to utilize this forum platform to get some pointers on how to boost the company to a great and efficient management firm.

A little about the firm. We are based in the heart of Los Angeles, CA and manage about 300 units. My parents' really care about all the buildings they manage and their clients and tenants LOVE them (not just saying that). I'm convinced they aren't charging enough/doing things the best way possible. Would love to hear your answers to the following questions...

1) We use Propertyware as our software. It seems to be inefficient and dated... is it worth making the switch to another software? Does anyone feel Propertyware does a good job for them?

2) We currently have one bookkeeper and one admin assistant. The majority of the other work is done by my dad and mom. Does it make sense of having this many employees for 300 units?

3) We charge between 4-5% of the buildings monthly income as our monthly management fee. Does 4-5% make sense or should we charge more?

4) We currently don't charge a leasing fee for filling a vacancy... Should we be charging this?

Best,

James

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All Forum Posts by: James Morgan

James Morgan has started 1 posts and replied 5 times.

Post: Taking over a Mom/Pop Property Management Company

Post: Taking over a Mom/Pop Property Management Company

Post: Taking over a Mom/Pop Property Management Company

Post: Taking over a Mom/Pop Property Management Company

Post: Taking over a Mom/Pop Property Management Company