All Forum Posts by: Lisa Widdowson

Can someone provide the typical terms of a property management agreement for a long term rental? We have always taken care of the property management ourselves but now are buying out of state and need to hire a PM. Are these agreements typically based on a % of rent or are there opportunities to structure an ad hoc model where you pay for the services you use? I am thinking that I want to maintain the tenant marketing, tenant screening and rent collections and would need a PM firm to do ad hoc items like engage maintenance folks if there is an issue with the property. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Hi-

Does anyone have recommendations for companies who provide homeowner's insurance on short-term rentals?  The insurance company that we use for our long-term rentals doesn't provide insurance for STRs.  TIA!!

Thanks.  I will reach out to Steve.

@Todd Dexheimer.  Thanks.  We are looking for commercial properties (4+).  Would you have any recommendations there?

@Matt Motil- Thanks.  Do you have his contact information?

Hi. I'm currently an investor in VA but we are looking to buy multi-family properties in the Cleveland area. We've had a hard time finding a lender who can lend to out of state investors. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!

Great post.  Does anyone have experience with lenders who will lend to out of state investors who have no prior properties in the Cleveland area?  For some reason we are having a hard time finding financing b/c we are out of state!

Yeah, I get your point.  I was just using this as an example b/c I'm honestly really trying to understand this metric b/c it's very difficult to find a decent property in the DMV for less than $500k but the market doesn't support rents of $5k/ month.  I think a lot of the high cost markets are like this which would mean that there are no good deals in these market.   This surprises me b/c investors are swarming around everywhere, so I'm trying to understand whether this metric is just a rule of thumb or if it's really critical to making a decision.

@Brent Coombs to your point I am looking at investing in Cleveland b/c my husband is from there and the FMVs are much lower there so we can diversify our risk with more properties than we can in the DMV area.  I'm pretty interested in Ohio City given it's growth.  Would you be willing to recommend a good real estate agent or property manager in that area?

Hi. I am new to BiggerPockets but this post intrigued me as I also live in the DMV area. My question is about the 1% rent to value ratio. I'd like to understand a bit better why this metric is so heavily focused on. I purchased a townhome in the DMV 10 years ago, lived in it, and then rented it out. It has obviously appreciated since then but it rents for $3,750 and the FMV is about $600k. This would make the rent to value at about .5%. However, I cash flow $950 a month. Can someone explain why this isn't a good investment given that the rent to value is less than the metric everyone is stating is acceptable?