All Forum Posts by: Nikhil Agarwal

I am looking to launch a property management company and am looking for a software recommendation. I see that Buildium is one option. It seems pricey ($160 per month for 50 units and goes up from there) but it could be okay if it really checks all the boxes. I'm wondering what other property managers use, any headaches you face with it , and if you have experience with multiple software, which one do you prefer? Also see another one called Yardi. From the outside, both seem very similar.

For additional context, between a few friends, we have ~30-50 long-term rental units that would make up the initial clients. After that, we'd hope to grow as our friends continue to buy new units and more importantly by finding additional investors who'd like their units managed. From a software perspective, I'd like to use software that would support our growth through ~500 units and beyond if possible.

This is the first time I purchased a unit that needs to be renovated before it can be rented. Before I closed, I went ahead and purchased two more. All 3 units closed last week. So now I have 3 units that need renovating!

I think we are renovating the units quite well:

1. Tile in the bathrooms
2. New vanity
3. brushed nickel hardware
4. LVP flooring throughout
5. Tile backsplash in the kitchen
6. New white shaker cabinets
7. Granite countertops
8. Paint, New Outlets, New Doors if damaged etc.

Given this context, there are a couple of choices I'm facing:

Choice 1: The Bathtub:

Should I buy a more expensive Cast Iron Tub ($479) vs. a cheaper Acrylic tub ($385). The contractor is charging the same for the installation so the only difference is going to be the purchase price of the tub. I think the main thing I'm thinking is if the more expensive tub will actually result in less maintenance. I don't think it makes any difference to what I'll be able to rent the unit for (we expect to rent it for $2K)

Choice 2: The Appliances:

We currently have a mix of appliances.

Unit 1: All white appliances except Hood is Stainless Steel
Unit 2: Dishwasher and Hood is Stainless Steel. Everything else is white.
Unit 3: Dishwasher, Stove and Hood is Stainless Steel. Fridge is white.

I'm wondering if I should be upgrading all the non-SS appliances to stainless steel. Will it make a difference? Once again, the only incremental cost I would incur would be the appliances themselves. There is no additional labor charges for upgrading the appliances.

Appreciate your thoughts and advice! Thank you so much!

I'm considering a commercial property with a short term remaining on their lease (3 years). They've been around for awhile and the corporation itself seems to be fine at a national level. There is some amount of competition for this deal and I'd like to put forward my best offer. 

To do so, I'm wondering if it's "okay" to just call up the tenant and talk about how their business is going and any indication they might be willing to give me if they are likely to renew. Alternatively, I could put tenant interview as one of the contingencies. However, given the competition for this deal, I don't want to put little to no contingencies other than the typical financing / due diligence.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this!

Hi everyone! I recently received some money and instead of putting it into stocks, I thought I'd diversify and purchase some real estate but I was quite nervous about it. I don't even own a primary residence. My friend (who has about a dozen residential units) is helping me learn the ropes and we've purchased 4 residential units together now. Seems to be going well since we've found tenants on day 1 for all the units!

We would like to purchase commercial real estate property now. We see better cash flow for every dollar invested with commercial real estate where we are (MA). However, one of the things that worries me the most is getting a tenant for a commercial property if the existing tenant decides to leave.

For example, we are quite happy with a dental office we've been looking at. However, when the lease expires in 5 years, if the tenant were to leave, I don't know how long we'd have to wait to get a new tenant, how much renovating the space for the new tenant might cost etc. Are there any helpful resources to better understand this?

Also, I wanted to say I am a huge fan of the BP community. From the podcasts to the forums, it has made the process so much easier!