All Forum Posts by: Jason L.

I grew up and lived for a couple of decades in Highland Park, just a stone's throw away from the corner of York & Fig. The neighborhood has a rich history and is home to many proud, hard-working families. 

Still, it was a gang-ridden, economically depressed neighborhood one typically aspired to one day move out of, when one had the means.

It's always a surreal experience for me whenever I return to visit my old stomping grounds now.

There's now a gastropub on York? Mind. Blown. 

A Starbucks around the corner? Mind. Blown. 

People bidding up home prices in an effort to move in to the neighborhood? Mind. Blown.

Highland Park, fertile ground for real estate investment? Mind. Blown.

As @Francis A. alluded to in his original post and as @Will F. asks in this thread, the question now is, where will be the next Highland Park near you?

@Curtis H. Here's the link, by the way to the podcast mentioned earlier. And welcome to BP!

@Account Closed  I generally share your viewpoint. "Trust, but verify," as the saying goes. Just needed to see if I could be convinced otherwise, as I shore up my rationale.

Thanks all!

@Account Closed 
Thank you all for weighing in. Maybe it is as simple as you all say -- reach out to and touch base with my tenant. My instinct tells me to do the same thing.

My only hesitation with that approach, and the reason for this post, is the strong owner sentiment I've detected from previous posts that owners hired PMs to do a job and thus should not be reaching out to the tenant him or herself. 

So I'd be curious to hear from owners who feel strongly about not reaching out to tenants directly. How do you ensure that their needs are being met by the PM? Or is the tenant's perspective simply not a concern of yours?

Let's assume:
1) I have a quality tenant who pays rent on time
2) PM responds promptly to my emails/calls
3) I live far from property so cannot drive by for first-hand look at property myself
4) I do not gather feedback directly from tenant regarding PM (e.g. survey, etc.)
5) the tenant does not have my contact information

How would I KNOW that the tenant's needs are being addressed by the PM? 

On the surface, the property is performing well. I collect timely rent and I receive prompt communication from the PM. That's perhaps enough for many property owners. But for me, I'd also like the the reassurance that my tenant is satisfied.

But how would I ever know if the tenant happens to be dissatisfied with the PM (e.g. perhaps the tenant's maintenance requests aren't responded to promptly)?

How would I ever know if the PM is taking shortcuts instead of working hard to make sure that the tenant's needs are being addressed (e.g. perhaps the tenant has some other issue that they wish to have communicated to me but instead of passing along the message, the PM simply tells the tenant that the owner hasn't yet responded)?

Or all of these questions irrelevant, as long as rent is being paid and PM communicates great with me? (Obviously, I find this viewpoint unsatisfactory, but feel free to try to convince me to think otherwise.)

@Sharon Young welcome aboard!

In a previous life, I was a high school teacher just outside Compton.

Hey @Daigo Kurosaki , lots of sage advice already. I'll just share my experience.

I was pretty much in your same shoes last year. 

To help alleviate my fears, I flew out to meet the seller and his team in person. We spent a few hours talking. My purpose wasn't to fire off a lengthy list of detailed questions, because I'd already gotten those out of the way in the numerous emails and telephone calls with him and his team in the weeks prior to the visit. I just needed to see if I felt comfortable could trust the team. 

Seeing the property and the surrounding neighborhood first-hand also gave me the kind of reassurance that Google Maps and digital photos were not able to for this first-time, out-of-state investor. 

Congratulations on the finish, @Rolanda Eldridge !

You're right, there are lots in common between preparing for a race and real estate investing. I'll add in a few more:

1) In both, you envision what your end goal is (e.g. finishing a half marathon injury free or closing a particular number of wholesale deals in a year) and then you map out a plan working backwards that will get you there. 
2) There's a tremendous community available to lean on for their support and expertise in both the running world (e.g. local running clubs, training buddies, etc.) and in the real estate investing world (e.g. BP). 
3) Crossing that finish line and reaching those real estate goals can be euphoric, because only you know the fortitude required to get to that point.

I wonder whether someone who invests primarily in turnkeys, has found success in doing so, has no real desire to try any other form of real estate investing, and isn't a marketer, would tend to frequent sites such as BP.