All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Rysdam

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all of the advice and ideas!

@Ahmer Zaidi Yes! Thank you! That's exactly what I need! I was just telling hubby that I wish someone made metal pieces for them so that the holes in the top and bottom don't get broken.

@Account Closed That's what we were thinking of doing this spring when we can get outside and make some cuts. There are just SO many doors, lol!

@Dawn P. Those are beautiful doors!

And to those that suggested taking the doors off, I definitely think I may do that in some of the units. Some people just aren't worth the effort to fix them when they are constantly needing things fixed that they "didn't break"!

@Jennifer T.  OMG! Definitely classy, lol! I like the idea of just doing the sliders. You are right about it being worth the extra cost. I'm starting to wonder if maybe I could turn the bi-folds into sliders???? Hmmmm...I'll have to think about that one. Maybe with some flat brackets on the back, top, and bottom, and a nice thin trim piece down the middle front. Each apartment has 7 doors so it adds up so fast.

Thanks! :) 

All of my apartments have bi-fold closet doors. It seems like I'm constantly replacing the pins on the tops and bottoms, and replacing/fixing the wood that they go into. Does anyone have any solution to these to keep them from constantly breaking? It's driving me nuts!

Hey BP. What do you do when every apartment building you look at has such a high price that you couldn't even turn a profit if you tried? I'm trying to purchase in a certain area and everything that comes up seems to have a 5-6 cap rate on it. Some are even top dollar for value-add properties. Why would I pay top dollar for a property, just so I can raised rents and meter utilities in order to break even? After 20% down, my payment is still more than the income on every property that comes up. Do people just put these enormous prices on these buildings just to see if someone will bite? Do you just make an offer at what makes sense, or just pass?
Right now I'm looking at a 23 unit for $1.8 mil. Total cash flow after mortgage payments would be about -$10,000 per year. At a price of $1,371,000 (8% cap rate), I'd net about $21,000 per year on it. How do you guys make it work? 

I used to require 1/2 of the deposit as a non-refundable holding deposit. After a couple of times having people still walk away, I now require that plus a signed lease. The lease has the date signed and the date of move-in. That way if they back out they're backing out on a lease as well, which they don't do. I live in MN and we don't have time to screw around or our busy season is over.

I direct them to my website to download and fill out my application before I'll show it. If they can't do at least that then I know they aren't that interested. Then I'll review it, check references, and check them on the MN criminal record website and Facebook. If all of that goes well I'll show it to them. If they are still interested then I'll send them the SmartMove email so they can pay and get their criminal/credit background check sent to me. I'm very clear on my website as to what my expectations are. That way if they don't pass the criminal/credit check it's only their own fault for applying when they knew they wouldn't qualify.
If I didn't do things this way I'd be there showing it every day to people who will never live there anyways.
Another option is to do an "open house" on a Sunday for 1-2 hours. Tell them all to show up at that time if they are interested. Have some applications and pens available.

I feel your pain. I self-manage my 8 plex. We are about 40 miles from a big city. I put my property on Marketplace and get about 300 people who will message me with "interested". Usually at 2 am. I'm always sure to reply when I get up at 6 am with "great, here's the link to my website". I'd like to just say, "Good for you", lol! Then they'll ask a bunch of questions, which were already answered in the listing, only to then ask where it's located, which is ALSO in the listing. Then I never hear from them again. They are big city people looking for a good deal on rent and pay NO attention to where it's even at, lol!

I always try to find the ones that plug into the current wiring. Saves a lot of time.

Are you sure they aren't fruit flies? Are they biting? Gnats would bite. Fruit flies or mold mites would be in the air and around fruit and other food. Take a small bowl, put apple cider vinegar and a squeeze of dish soap in it. I also like to add a piece of banana peel. Cover with saran wrap, poke a few small holes in it and set it on the counter. See how many they catch.
Mold mites may also be in plants. If I get them in my plants I'll put a small squeeze of dish soap in the water when I water them. Then I'll grab the bubbles in the water pitcher and smear them on top of the dirt in the plant. That takes care of it.

Another place for the mold mites is the drains and toilets(up under where the water comes out). Have them put baking soda and vinegar down the drains(as it bubbles up it gets into all of the cracks where they are hiding) and clean the toilet really well up under the edge. I often find them in the toilets when people move out that don't clean their toilets much. It's SO gross. You open up the lid and they just fly out. Nothing like a bug going from the toilet to the fruit bowl! Yuk!