All Forum Posts by: Jordan Becker

About a month, I believe.

Thanks, @Michael Smythe.  That's kind of what I thought, too.  The PM has been very vague about why they can't put the unit back on the market.  Wondering if maybe they just don't want to go through the hassle.

I have some vacant units in Columbus, Ohio for which we have approved section 8 applicants.  But the local housing authority, CMHA, is dragging their feet approving both the units and the tenants for section 8.  Meanwhile those units are sitting vacant and earning me no income.  Can I put them back on the market and rent them out to a non-section 8 tenant if we get a qualified applicant before CMHA completes their approval process?  My property manager said no, but it doesn't seem fair that just because we approved a section 8 tenant, now we have to keep the units off the market indefinitely while CMHA takes their good ole' time to approve.

Thanks, all, for the responses, especially @Chris Davidson and @Richard F.  Good tips!

Hi all, I could use some advice on how best to track my income/expenses from RE investments in a way that will facilitate tax return prep by my CPA, but which is not unduly time-consuming or tedious.  I'm still a novice at RE investing, currently own two small MF properties that I bought in late 2021.  I have a professional property manager (PM), who sends me a monthly statement detailing all income/expenses and will send me a form 1099 for tax purposes. But there are other expenses the PM has no knowledge of, such as insurance, property taxes, loan interest, remodeling costs, etc. -- so I can't rely only on the PM's monthly statements and 1099 to track my overall income/loss from the RE.  (My PM uses Rent Manager software, in case that is relevant.)

Last year I manually input all the income plus every individual expense into an Excel spreadsheet, which I then sent to my CPA to prepare my tax returns. But it is becoming way too tedious and time consuming to input all that data, as there always are so many individual expenses, even for just 6 units. 

Any suggestions for a better way to track income/expenses in a way that will facilitate tax return prep, but which is not unduly time-consuming or tedious?  I've considered simply inputting into the spreadsheet the total income/expense from my PM as a single lump sum every month, and then adding only the other expenses (insurance, property tax, loan interest, remodeling costs) as individual line items, since there aren't as many of those.  That would greatly reduce the amount of data I need to input, but I'm not sure if it would be sufficient for tax purposes, or from a general business record-keeping perspective.

Any help on this would be appreciated. Thanks!

@Drew Sygit:  No, I have never posted this question before.  @Nathan Gesner: Thanks for your response, good points you make here.  After a bit of quick research, I believe it is actually possible, in at least some situations and in some states, to contract out of being financially responsible for something that is your own fault, through indemnification.  I also believe you are correct that not every contract provision is necessarily enforceable, and some states won't enforce such a contract provision.  But I prefer not to enter into a contract based on an assumption (or hope) that a particular provision in it will end up being unenforceable in court.  I would prefer that the contract be fair to both parties on its face and be sufficiently clear that it is never the subject of any dispute.  I guess I could pay a lawyer in the states where I own property to advise me on this, but wanted to get the perspectives of other investors who have dealt with this issue.  Again, thanks!

I have a few doors in small multifamily properties and am looking to hire a property management (PM) company.  Most PMs I have contacted have an indemnification clause in their contract, which says the Owner (me) would have to indemnify (reimburse) the PM for any and all losses PM incurs relating to any injuries that occur on the property.  That makes sense to me EXCEPT if the injury was the fault of the PM -- why should I have to indemnify (reimburse) the PM if their negligence caused the injury?  But none of their contracts have any exception for cases where the injury/loss is the PM's fault.  Of course the PM will be named as an additional insured on my property insurance policy, but that contract clause still seems inequitable.  Should I insist on modifying that language to *exclude* cases where the loss/injury is the PM's fault (which the PM may or may not agree to), or am I making an issue out of nothing?  (Needless to say, I am more interested in the opinions of other property owners here, than of PMs :-) ).  Thanks for any help!

I can see how this benefits the property manager, but don't see how it benefits the landlord.  Seems to me the property manager should carry their own commercial liability insurance.

Is it reasonable for a property manager to insist in their contract on being added as an "additional insured" on a landlord's property insurance policy?  This relates to small multifamily investing.

Hi Alliya, did you find a good group?  I also live in the Bay Area (South Bay) and am looking for a good RE mastermind group.  There are quit a few on MeetUp, but it seems like most of them are not very active right now.