All Forum Posts by: Michael Phillips

I am managing currently but may bring in a service if it feels like I am not doing the job well enough.  Feels manageable for the moment though.  Always glad to have some contacts for the future though, thank you

the building is older, 1923.  Just went through a pretty heavy renovation, plumbing, gas, electric, new tankless heaters, floors, paint inside, windows first floor, HVAC first floor.  Still need windows and HVAC 2nd floor.  units are 1,200 sqft and I cover water with 1 reserved street spot for each unit and a large nicely maintained backyard and a front room with great views of down town. $3k total per door.  Love to hear where you can get tenant placement for $500-$700 as I am using rental girls which ask 1 month rent for a 12 month lease.  I travel extensively (250 + days a year) and they landed me great tenants for the first floor unit pretty quick with zero effort on my behalf.  Would love to save $2,300 dollars however to have it done more affordably...

Hello all, I am trying to build out some spreadsheets to model costs and am curious as to the groups thoughts around vacancy, maintenance and management rates. I have often heard these numbers expressed as a percentage of rent and or property value . Vacancy around 7% of rent, management around 10% for a SFR, maintenance at 1% of property value. My question is if this makes sense in a market such as Los Angeles. I own a duplex in Echo Park that has two 2 br/1 ba and rents are $3k. This seems to be significantly higher than other people on the forum in other states using the same percentages for these costs. It would seem that given the high rental demand for LA vacancy would be lower, given the extreme home cost, the maintenance would be lower as those costs are not as inflated as the home prices are, and similar for management costs on higher priced units. Should these numbers be lower in my calculations or is do all of these costs still scale?

I have a duplex in Echo Park and I am looking to install HVAC.  It is a top/bottom style duplex with a flat roof and a basement so there should be no issues around ducting. each floor is around 1,100 sq ft  Any idea how much I should be looking to get this quoted for?  I may break the job into each floor separately if the numbers come in high.  I would also appreciate any recommendations for people to work with, thanks! 

Hey everyone,

I am getting close to the finish line for a duplex in Echo Park.  New floors, plumbing, etc...  and looking to get HVAC done as well but starting to run low on funds.  Has anyone heard of or tried using the REEL program to fund any improvements on properties?

 Thanks John, that's what I had assumed but it is good to hear from others how much of an outlier CA is.  For the price I could have probably picked up 6 doors or more in Memphis or another appreciating market in the south east but out of state was just too big of a leap for my first purchase and I wanted to A. stop paying rent and B. be able to leverage air BnB for more cash on all of my travel in a way I could not with my previous rental due to lease restrictions.  Assuming rents don't fall through the floor or I loose my job and can't find something else for several months I should be able to weather most storms but anything is possible...  Hopefully you've made some gains in all of those states you're rolling through!

Also, apologies for using the quote function in all of these replies, I cannot figure out how to reply to specific comments or @ people yet... 

 Glad to hear people are digging in on the neighborhood, my portion (Glendale Blvd and Alvarado) certainly has room to improve...  I'll reach out when I am back in LA, coffees on me

 I am certainly looking to get to a meet up or two and start learning from those in the know in LA.  I signed up for one in South Pasadena in mid April by the FIBI group that is hosting Bruce Norris.  Will definitely look into your suggestion as well, thank you!

 I spent 6 years in Chicago running training for Intelligentsia, loved that city. My company may be going there in 2019, I look forward to getting proper hot dogs again!  I am on the road for a bit but would love to catch up when i am back in LA!