All Forum Posts by: Marty G.

Hi all.. bumping this thread as I recently am dealing with this. The house was purchased for $325k and was going for an HELOC of $290k. This was reduced to $240k (through TD Bank). They did a walk through inspection and very surprised that this was this low.

As they did a hard credit pull, I'd rather not start the process with another bank (and get another credit pull).  The house is in a flood zone (AE).  The house across the street is just now on the market for $374k and about 300 sq feet larger but not as tastefully done.

Curious to see what the thoughts are on switching banks (if that would really matter) or somehow appealing the decision or just sticking with the $40k less?  

In truth, because it's in a flood zone, the cost of insurance for the $250k is high and bumping to $290k required me to get an additional policy to cover the $40k difference between the maximum $250k flood and the requested amount.  So it may be a blessing in disguise, but wanted to check with the brain trust.

I'm more leaning towards letting it be as the supplemental insurance would be an additional hit and as much as I'd like the extra 40K of spending power, I wasn't sure if it was worth it to add the supplemental insurance on top of the already expensive flood insurance.

Thanks!!

Hey Bruce - thanks for the advice!  She's probably best suited for in-person classes as well.  Do you know if those classes are at varying times?  She has a regular full-time day job.  

Out of curiosity - how long did it take for you to get your license through LAH?  Any recommendations on trying to join an established brokerage or try to freelance?

She's so excited and motivated to jump into it and definitely the right person for the trade.

Thanks so much for the reply!
Best,

Marty

Hi group,

Posting for a friend who is interested in becoming a realtor in Birmingham, AL.  She's looking for where to start, etc.  I've known her for several years and she is very determined and hard working and incredibly detail oriented.

Looking for someone who might be able to help get her started and offer some assistance.

Thanks in advance - she really is awesome!

I think we all need to just say we're invest in cryptocurrency.  Makes it much simpler - especially if you want to exit the conversation quickly.

Hey Steve,

Thanks for the excellent reply.  You are correct in what you say - my existing PM's way of handling things isn't suiting my needs.  Unfortunately, I have put ads on various local sites and word of mouth in attempt at finding someone, with no luck.  

A block watch association that I belong to recommended the company I'm currently with and even a PM that I had for a short time.  I had hoped he would work out but soon after taking my contract, he had some personal issues which prevented him from continuing the management, so we had to part ways.

The ironic thing was when I met with the current PM company, I asked many of the questions you quoted (and thank you for that list!  It's awesome!) and was (likely) told what I wanted to hear rather than what was happening in practice.  Since they were also a referral from the block watch, I had hoped they would work out.  They've been in place for over a year, but the only thing I've seen is money going out in fees and me having to repeatedly request things or mediate between the contractors and them when they have been unresponsive.  Hasn't been ideal.

I thought I did my due diligence with explaining what I expected in return for their management fees and they've had a huge turnover in their own agency from people leaving.  One of their employees who was asked to step in and help with getting my account back in order, sent me an email saying she was leaving due to the dysfunction in the office and lack of follow-ups and responsibility.  She hit the nail on the head.  I had thought about sending her an email separately and asking if she would want to act as the property manager now that she's left the company, and was the only one who really did step in to help.

I'll check out the website you provided - many thanks - and hope that there are some PM's that can help locally.

I know you are much much larger of a company than me, but have you had any luck with any of the DIY management sites that assist with PM issues?  I'm sure you use a much more robust platform, but was just trying to think outside the box and make things as least complicated as I possibly could (cozy.co is one that caught my eye).  Seems to have a lot of features and might be ideal for a smaller need like mine.

Again, thanks for taking the time to reply and offer your guidance and suggestions - I truly appreciate it.

-M

Hi BP!

First off, thanks for reading this and any help you can give would be appreciated.

I own 6 units in 2 houses and going through my share of headaches with a property management company (I know this is, unfortunately, too common).  

Mainly the issues with the PM company are their lack of responsiveness to both me and the tenants, issues with deposits being made on time (moving to electronic soon) and a host of other issues where they don't even visit the properties once in a while to make sure things are ok.  I've had neighbors email me about lingering issues when they haven't been resolved in weeks...

Both houses are easy to manage.  I used to do it myself, for years, and maybe get a call or two every month.  With a job change, I'm just not in state enough (or even in the same time zone as I travel internationally too) to handle it myself.  With the property manager, I like having the buffer between the tenants and myself, so I can have someone act as a mediator if there's an issue.

The problem?  They just aren't handling what they should and I'm hard pressed to continue to spend the money on a manager when they aren't doing what they should and there's probably a better way to handle things that I may realize.  Suggestions?

I was thinking of hiring a handyman and have him be on-call for the minor things and any larger projects could be handled by the contractors I hire.  When vacancies come around, I might ask them to show the apartment for a fee, or just use a realtor to handle that if need be.  

As the PM company is moving towards handling payments electronically, which I can handle with or without them, I'm just trying to figure out a way to get my sanity back without dealing with this non-sense and maybe coming away spending a bit less but getting better responses.  

Unfortunately, I've called around and there aren't many PM's locally (CT) that I can find willing to manage two 3-families (most want business accounts, etc.).  

Just wondering if anyone can think of any arrangements that might work that would give me the buffer between the tenants and myself and maybe make things run smoother without a PM?  

I tried to keep things as brief as possible as I know everyone is busy -- if you need further details, let me know and I'll gladly expand.  

Thanks in advance for any suggestions - I truly appreciate it!

Hi Peter, This is what I try to do as well with the rentals. It does keep things nice as simple when doing any renovations. There is one property that I own that is a bit trendier, so that is the exception to the rule as when it "pops" there is also a nice value to a different color scheme. As for the other properties, it's easier to use a neutral color and keep things simple. Marty

@Matthew Rollo a fellow nutmegger.  I'll send you a private message in a bit.  Monday's are meeting days for me.  Thanks!!

@Account Closed hi Steve -- I did, thank you. Monday's are meeting days for me so I'll review as soon as I can.  Thank you so much!! Look forward to reviewing!

Stephen Anderson Sounds good. If you want to send me a connect request maybe you can shed some light on what you offer, etc, and we can take it from there. Thanks!