All Forum Posts by: Michelle Bright

Does anyone have a company they like or two  that does a good job with a RUBS set up in Chicago? Thanks! 

If I have a LLC that is registered in another state (Indiana) that I want to put a house in Chicago into. Do I need to apply for an Application for Admission to Transact Business to register the LLC in Illinois? Thanks for any help!!

Hey! We are looking for a property manager located in Charlotte. We have a three bedroom, two bathroom single-family one story home with an outdoor kitchen and storage shed in Whitehall. It’s currently furnished and rented out on Airbnb but we are thinking we need to turn it into a long-term rental or just rent to traveling nurses, etc. (mid-term).

Airbnb hasn’t been very lucrative for us this year. I appreciate any referrals! 

https://book.rabbu.com/listings/1390?

Hi! Wondering if there are any rules in the Chicago tenant ordinance that says tenants can request for photos not to be taken during a semi-annual inspection. We are not taking photos to list the property. We just want to document any and all damages. Thanks for your help! I do not see anything in the tenant ordinance that says they have choice when it comes to  routine inspection. 

I’ve been using TenantCloud for years. It’s a great tool. It also generates reports for your taxes at the end of the year. I use it like some ppl use quickbooks.

Out of the 4/5 yrs we’ve been using it I’ve only had one tenant complain. She said sometimes it takes a couple days for the money to get withdrawn and has paid me via cash app a few times. This month I put it in the bud and told her she’s no longer amount allowed to pay me via cash app. We don’t accept partial payments and she’s started to develop a pattern I need to put a stop to now. Hopefully this helps. Seriously try TenantCloud.

So we ended up hiring the Rabbu team to run our short term rental in Charlotte, North Carolina. We started the conversation with them while we were under contract on our property. I interviewed four different property management companies. Their fee is 25% a month plus a monthly cost of supplies (depends on the amount of bedrooms) which is by far the highest but they made me feel confident that they were the right choice. We needed our short term rental to run in the background. I honestly don’t “want to think about it very often” which I’ve explained to every team member of theirs that I’ve spoken to. I manage 10 other doors of my own with long-term tenants and we both also have full-time jobs. We live in IL (although I’m from Charlotte) so it was very appealing that they would handle the day to day! When we expressed our goals to the Rabbu team I felt like they really understood. The other companies we interviewed weren’t able to provide everything that Rabbu could. Everyone just provide some thing different. None of them were bad options! It just depends on what the individual investor needs out of their property management company. I know this very well as I used to be a property manager myself. One company even only charged 10% but I would’ve had to do more than I have the time to do right now.

Anyways, they deal with guest management, cleaning, replenishing supplies, they also provide a portal so we can see guest reviews, revenue, net income etc. etc. As of the time of this writing I am unable to see the reviews of my property in the portal because they have a current system issue. They’re also unable to post our unit on other platforms besides AirBnb even though that was one of the promises. I’ve been told that they’re working on this and I hope the issues are resolved sooner rather than later. I feel like it’s important to be on VRBO especially since we provide an exceptional backyard experience for guests. Rabbu has a lot of people working for them doing different parts of the operation. There’s somebody on their support staff that I can email at any hour of the day. They don’t always respond but I am confident that they see my emails.

We’re pretty satisfied so far. We had to sign a year contract. It hasn’t been completely hands off but we’ve only been working with them three months.That’s the nature of property management! Every month it gets a bit smoother. I would totally recommend if you want a complete hands off short term rental experience.

Good morning Kevin. Thank you for replying to my forum post. Our home is located in the Sardis Woods neighborhood at 1030 Wishing Well Lane 28270. In the past for my rentals I’ve strayed away from Rentometer just to come back down the the price they stated in order get it rented. However, I understand that I am in a completely different market and have a lot to learn about the Charlotte market. If you could run comps for me that would be much appreciated. I will need a property manager to and contractors to assist me with the property while since I live in Chicago so thank you for reaching out. 

Hey BP!

I am thinking about purchasing my childhood home! My parents are baby boomers and looking to downsize this year. They aren't ready to sell just yet but we have talked and I'm thinking it's going to be my next long term investment. It is currently a 4 bed/ 2.5 bath home on a large corner lot in Sardis Woods, a southeast neighborhood of Charlotte. It has a formal living room, dining room, breakfast nook, large kitchen, living room, laundry and half bath on the main level. The four beds and two full baths are on the second level. I am thinking about turning the formal living room on the main level into a bedroom and perhaps turning the half bath into a full by removing some of the square footage in the formal dining room. Rentometer states that we could get about $3700 for a 5 bedroom home. I am from Charlotte but have been living in Chicago for the past 5 years and SOOOO much has changed since I moved. What is realistic for a 5 bedroom home as far as rent rates go? Is a full month security deposit still standard in today's rental market? I know there are a lot of millennials (just like me) in Charlotte so the rental population is high but would a 5 bedroom be in demand? If I kept it as a 4 bedroom home Rentometer says $1850 is the current median rent rate. So see why I'd like to add another bedroom? Haha. Plus it wouldn't be difficult. I'd only need to add a door and closet. It already has windows. This would be my first single-family rental as a landlord. We currently only own multifamilies in the midwest. Thanks for your help in advance!!! 

Thinking about renting out the two bedroom apartment that is going to be below our owners unit in Avondale. Are y’all having luck in this area with short term rentals? The kitchen isn’t super modern but is updated and functional. We put all new engineered hardwood floors, painted everything and updated the bathroom. Comps say I could rent this out for about $1400-$1500 a month. More updated units with laundry get closer to $1600. Wondering if we could achieve $1600 a month doing short term rentals instead of a placing a long term tenant. Any ideas for those that know this area? Thanks in advance!!!

Thanks @John Warren! I was thinking that we’d start off at $100 a spot. I plan on putting them on the market today. I’ve actually never seen any spots for rent in my neighborhood. So we’ll see. I’ll keep you updated. Thanks for the insight!