All Forum Posts by: Michael Lang

Chris, I have actually been amazed at the favorable feedback that I have received from the people that I have told about what I'm interested in and how many offers of help I have received. The interesting thing about it is many of these same people that offered help and advice have already done what I'm interested in and what I want to get involved with. Kind of a "pay it forward" mentality which makes me believe it's genuine. Try just having a normal conversation with people and not looking at it as I'm looking for someone to teach you how to do whatever it is that you want to do with your real estate. I think when it comes to having a mentor many people look at it like having someone to hold their hand every step of the way but it's really more about having a person/people who understand what you're doing that you can bounce ideas off one another. You'd be surprised how strong your relationships with people will become. I hope this is helpful to you.

Being a commissioned sales person myself, I understand there is a certain amount of time that you must invest in someone to build the relationship before you can really claim them as a client and claim ownership of that person amongst my peers at my store. On the other side of the coin, if all things have gone well during the interview phase, the customer has to be willing to eventually make a commitment for the amount of time that salesperson has invested. 

Since I'm brand new to this, I will need a lot of hand holding as I sort through this process and I'm sure I might seem a little "flaky" as I figure things out, particularly in deciding what is the right deal and how the numbers work. So my question is geared to the real estate professionals and I'm interested in finding out, what is the best way to find an agent that will help me find a beach rental property while being considerate of their time knowing this process could take months? I consider myself to be fairly patient with my people and their is a point in a sales relationship where you realize it's time to move on and you fire that customer. Bottom line is I don't want to waste anyone's time but don't really know how to approach a Real Estate Agent abut this. 

 what a great website, thank you for posting this.

Thank you Patrick, that was really helpful. Although it looks like the article was written primarily for long term rentals, I can see where a lot of the same issues that were discussed in the blog could be related to vacation rentals which typically are one-two weeks at a time.

I like that, thank you.

Thank you for all your input. It certainly does give me some awareness of the decisions I need to make when I decide how the rental property will be managed. I am not really in the position of buying a full time job as well so PM will probably be the best way to go at least in the beginning. 

In going with a property management company, what at some questions I should be asking in deciding which company to go with? Does these people negotiate on their fees or are they typically set pricing? I would imagine you have to sign a contract, so are these or a set time period or they renewed every year? I understand that one company will vary from another but something like this I would think the basics in the industry is fairly standard across the board, or I am way off mark on this and it really is one company is totally different to another to another?

Thank you everyone for the kind words and encouraging sentiments. Needless to say, the unknown is scary, but it's intimidating as hell. Just poking around this forum and listening to the podcasts is helping me start understanding just the basics. I can't even imagine how many levels of complexity real estate investing has, which is where the intimidating part comes in. 

I am not so naive to think this is the be all to end all and that I can quit my job and still be able to maintain the same lifestyle. Since I don't yet have a rental, I don't even know if I will like what comes with owning a rental. One of the biggest benefits that I've received from this website and listening to the podcasts is opening my mind to things that I did not know existed and what kinds of things to ask about or what to expect in rental ownership. 

From a renter's standpoint, all you really see is the realty management company's website listing all the avail properties and you can click on each individual one to view the calendar and determine if that rental will meet what you are looking for, then after you go through the reservation process, all you do is show up to get the keys and hopefully you have a wonderful vacation. At the end when you go home, you put the key in the early bird box and about your business you go until your next vacation. I guess what I'm trying to understand is what is their role in the whole process from getting renters to billing reservations to taking care of the property if you are an absentee owner. I guess it depends on the management company and how they structure themselves but what is the relationship like between property owner and management company? Would I likely be better off refining my plan to closer to my home so I can deal with things easier?

The area that I am interested in vacation rentals is not near my home so it's not realistic for me right now to think I would be able to run a rental myself and with my day job, dealing with any issues with the property/s would be a little difficult. 

My questions are: how do realty management companies work? How do they bill for their services? Do they do everything to finding vacationers to housekeeping to property maintenance/repair? Are you able to pick and choose what services you want them to handle and what services you will be responsible for or is it an "all or nothing" type of contract?

Thanks in advance for any and all input that you can provide.