All Forum Posts by: Jordan Myer

Google Reviews are mostly from nonpaying tenants upset they are being evicted. Many use maintenance excuses to justify nonpayment.

 I forgot to add that we had an agreement that the PM has license to spend up to $300 without my prior approval. So what I'm mad about is that 1. It's over the approval threshold 2. If they were going to charge me 2-3x the market rate for this service I would have like to know in advance because then I would of made the cleaner arrangements. 3. If it was a cleaning crew of like 2 or 3 people then it would not have been a 6 hour clean. If it was 1 person cleaner their hourly rate would of been like $30ish ( on the high side). 4. Like I said I lived there & it was not a pig stye to begin with. It just need a regular cleaning with a few added things like cleaning appliances, cupboards, baseboards type of stuff. It was by no means trashed and dirty like a lot of tenants leave it.

I'm debating buying a 3 unit where the existing tenant in the top unit clearly smokes in the unit (cigarette in ash tray in listing photo). Do I ride him out and take the guaranteed money, then mitigate after he leaves? Or do I set a no smoking policy, evict him, mitigate, and hope to find a non-smoking tenant now? I'm out of state, so I can't smell it. 

He's referring to setting boundaries for your renters so they don't call or text you at all hours of the night.

I recommend you keep communication in writing via email so you can read it and respond during normal business hours. Text and phone calls should be reserved for emergency communication that requires an immediate response.

Hi all, I am curious who here has an internal property manager (meaning someone on YOUR payroll who works for you and only you). I self-managed up to 25 units (over half mid-term rentals) until I hired someone for 10 hours per week to help me with the admin side of self-managing. After about a year of that, I turned that position into a full-time job that was half property management and half project management. This full-time person has now been with me for over 6 months and while it was a scary decision at the time, it was absolutely the best thing I could have ever done for my business. 

I pay the same amount to my internal manager as I would for a PM company but I get exponentially more benefits. On the management side easily I get exponential quality and have been able to move my management into a proactive phase rather than reactive (I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off my first two years in real estate!)

Also having a full-time person has allowed me to not only manage 4-5 rehab projects at once, but also eliminate paying a General Contractor. I've found that my manager GC's better than any other GC I have previously worked with. So now we work mainly with subs and pay significantly less for our labor. And because I now have someone to manage my projects I am able to do more flips  to pay for this employee and much more.

I share this because I think there is a myth that you either have to self-manage and run around like crazy OR shave 8-10% off the top of your rentals to get a PM company who can't give you the time or attention your portfolio needs. So I am curious- has anyone else structured their team this way? Or thought about it?

If you are reading this and not quite there yet I highly recommend following this route if possible. Of course, this won't work for everyone but I do think it's a great option! 

@Jordan Myer

Thank you for the advice, I think that is what I am going to do as they are good tenants generally, they just need to comply with the occupancy requirements which can be fixed by updating the lease and ensuring there is no fourth occupant.

Thanks again!

Hi BP, 

I've run into an unusual situation and am debating ending a lease early. A company has guaranteed a lease (the company pays but a single employee is on the lease). Now, the single employee on the lease has moved out and four different employees have moved in (city ordinance permits 3 occupants max). This violates the lease, but rent is paid on time each month, neighbors have not noticed anything unusual, and the tenants are hardly ever there so overall, they are good tenants to have.

I am debating ending the lease due to the clear violation, OR adding the new employees to the lease for a fee with regular inspection to ensure only 3 people are staying in the unit. 

Any advice or thoughts is appreciated!

Who is self-managing their rental properties?

Who uses a property manager?

Why/why not (either way)?

Pros/cons (either way)?

-John Williams

Property Manager

Clarksville, TN

Hello BP, 

How are PM companies finding properties to manage and what are investors looking for in a property management company? The current company I work for provides both renovation/make ready as well as management services. Looking to connect with more investors who would benefit having all the services they need for rentals under one company. 

Hello all, 

          I am a new investor. I am looking for a property manager in Alabama. I am leaning towards going with Atlas rental properties. Does anyone have any experience with them? Does anyone have any other recommendations? Below are links to Atlas' terms. Do their terms look appropriate? Thanks for your help.

https://ldavis.my.salesforce.com/sfc/p/#5e000000JIAs/a/Uc000...

https://ldavis.my.salesforce.com/sfc/p/#5e000000JIAs/a/Uc000...

https://ldavis.my.salesforce.com/sfc/p/#5e000000JIAs/a/Uc000...