All Forum Posts by: Jen Kurtz

I used to work in a cubicle where everyday I felt like Peter Gibbons from Office Space lol

Everyone I worked with was 25+ years older than me which left for a very boring and dull environment for me. Not that I thought work was supposed to be one great party, but I had not one thing in common with anyone. They were there to clock in and out and do their work in quiet. I went stir crazy. I am far too extraverted for that job. Additionally the company played this same iPod of terrible songs that repeated the whole 2 years I was there (think Michael McDonald). 

It was around that time I read Pamela Slims' "Escape Cubicle Nation", which is a funny and motivating book, that's when I realized for the first time that that sort of work is not for me!! :)

Definitely call the local housing authority there- they should be able to tell you more about their participation numbers and also you can let them know if you are a landlord that would like to participate in the program. Most HA's will maintain a list of landlords or communities that they know participate and actively accept sec 8 vouchers, so that they know where they can refer their clients (your future residents) to!

@Eric Fernwood your reply here was my favorite because I love to think about the big picture economics situation. It ALL comes down to demand. Like any industry, if there's no demand for your product, you make NO money. Our demand comes from people, and the highly qualified tenants will only be in need of housing where our housing supply is- IF there are (GOOD) jobs there. No good jobs = moving population to where opportunity is! Declining population equals less demand equals all housing prices declining. That's the long reason as to why I could buy a 4-plex in the southside area of Youngstown, OH today for 22k. Houses next door to that building are boarded up or falling in on themselves. There is zero demand from a highly qualified tenant to live there. 

I enjoyed reading all of the replies highlighting the pros and cons are buying turnkey! Thanks everyone!

I was thinking about this recently. Those are who are not fully self-employed as a real estate investor, what sorts of day (or night) jobs do you have? 

I was curious to see if there were any types of jobs or industries in common that seem to be a trend, or how far different professionals we are in our full time jobs?

So if you work a steady job for an employer, in ONE sentence or just a couple words, what do you do? 

Ill go first-I currently am a community manager, but I have also had previous work in payroll and accounting.

OK, now YOU go! :)

Hi @Jerry Kisasonak 

- I agree with @Ian Hoover and @Eddie Werner , bad residents WILL blast management companies. However, there are some bad ones in general too. I think that most of us in property management, do it because we love real estate, and we usually own rentals too. No one person is going to have all of the properties of course, so if we like what we can do and provide that same great service (managing the asset like it were our own), why not make a business out of it right? The best business people are the ones who love and obsess over their industry- we talk about it and read about it in our free time too. We eat, sleep, and breathe income properties :)

Hi @Sheri Ulm 

I have been on this site for about 2 years or so, but I finally have just realized how wonderful the keyword alerts are. I always read on here and sometimes contribute, but now I can talk to people directly in my markets! Which brings me to this post- because I am in Ytown and have been working as a property manager for also about 2.5 years. I am glad you found a handyman to take care of repairs and collect rents for you. If there is anything else you may need in the future, please feel free to reach out to me. :)

hey @Lester Scott 

Just an FYI- I think you are having a hard time tagging other users in your post because maybe you are typing a space between first and last name? Like for me, start by typing "@jenk" and as you type you will see a name and icon show up in the bottom of you post so that you can pick them if thats who you want to to tag. Kind of like facebook ;)

Hey @Lester Scott 

I am in the Ytown area too! Welcome! I am a prop manager by day (for the past 2.5 yrs or so). This is how I have learned a whole lot about the landlording/managing side of investing. I have wanted to own income properties since college. I am currently working on building up some capital for that first purchase. I have thought about doing a little wholesaling, but I htink to be really effective that has to be something you work on full time and since I am employed full time- I dont know if I could compete with other wholesalers. I want to go the buy and hold route. I also plan to get licensed and work with other investors. Id love to connect with you on here, maybe we could help each other out in the RE world!

Welcome to BP! This site is awesome. I just started listening to the podcasts, which I HIGHLY recommend because I usually listen to them now while out for a walk or jog! I also love them because aside from reading posts (which can get overwhelming sometimes since there is soooo much info available), they remind me that the investing community are ordinary people like me. It makes it feel more real as you listen to their conversation topics! :)

@J. Martin

I agree! We are on the same page :)

I think this is an excellent question. While this likely won't create any measureable ROI, it is just something nice that people will enjoy and that does say something about customer service. A lot of people do enjoy festive and seasonal type of decorations, it's simple enjoyments in life. Unfortunately, I too, am wired to first think "will some insufferable person give you grief and say this is religious discrimination?" Well, I think referring to lights or any décor as "holiday" or "festive" would be the best way to go. Stick with snowmen instead of santa or the nativity scene, for instance. In your lease, you should have rules about what you can hang and what alterations they can make- so this would obviously prohibit people from hanging anything on the exterior of the building which would warrant using a ladder. Make sure cords are not exposed if you do lights. It is unfortunate that some people are unhappy in life and just have to create problems, but there are ways you can still make things festive and fun without it having anything to do with protected classes.

Or, you can send them a nice holiday card and keep it real simple :)