Quote from @Richard F.:
To put a finer point on it, everyone has their own opinion of what "ready to rent" is. You need to define YOUR requirements as to what, exactly, that means. Walk through the unit with your PM, and talk it through so that they understand what you want, and you also listen to their recommendations. As a newb, you probably do not know, what you do not know. Ask questions about their suggestions, they might make sense. Or not. Then, actually look at a couple comparable units, with your PM if possible (assuming they have other vacancies?) and see how your idea of rent-ready compares.
Your "home inspector" is doubtfully looking at the property with curb appeal and wow factor in mind. He is looking for functional and physical defects primarily, that affect the appraised value. Typically, when I take over management of a new property, ASAP I at least do a brief walk through of occupied units, taking a few photos, and upon vacancy, I send a lot of photos along with my recommended repairs and upgrades. If possible I meet with the owner at the property, but of course some are out of state owners. Once we are in agreement of what needs to be done (and often with me explaining why it should be), if it is mostly small, routine, turnover items, we will just have it done based on a verbal estimate. If it is a major reno, the Owner will need to sign off on a written contract with the vendor. Either way, I check on the projects at least weekly, documenting with "in progress" photos shared with the owner, and a final, RTR series of detailed photos. With regard to shortage of vendors, I 100% understand that, but they should have warned you up front.
If you have no cap on expenditures that can be made without prior approval, that can be dangerous. We recommend our clients limit it to either $1500, or a full month rent. (For all of you investor's screaming NO, should be only $250, that is absurd. You can't get a toilet changed for that in most markets.) It is shocking how expensive a cleanup and remediation for a large water leak, especially sewage water can quickly become. Of course, hopefully insurance would cover some of this, but my point is you should get information long before any "invoice", and I do not understand why the invoice would not provide relatively adequate details (to be fair, most contractors are horrible about writing down much in the way of details,even for routine service calls. Find someone good at it, and treat them like gold!). I would add that failure to respond to an email within one or two business days is NOT a good sign. Is PM the primary business of the companies you have used? Or is it secondary to sales,or managing their own properties?
Hi Richard,
Thank you for the great information. I am sitting down to write out my questions for the PM. Im pretty sure PM is the primary business. I’ll ask them when I’m up there this coming weekend.
