All Forum Posts by: Paul Kubin

I have two properties in Fort Smith, Arkansas.  I purchased them with the help of a good friend who lives there and has managed them for me for the last year.  He has taken a job out of state and won't be able to manage them anymore.  I'd like to avoid hiring a property manager (I've heard uniformly bad things about them, not to mention the cost), and things are pretty stable (solid properties with great tennants).  I can do most of it remotely, but there are times where I really need someone on the ground to run an errand for me, like meet the utility company and show them where the trees need trimming near the power lines, to drain the water heater, etc.  I have a handyman I like, but I can't call on him for management errands.

1) Does anyone know anyone who might do this kind of stuff in Fort Smith?

2) Anyone have ideas on how to find someone?  I considered reaching out to the community college and asking for an enterprising business student who might need a little extra money and a letter of reference while he/she is learning real estate.  I am willing to pay a decent hourly when something needs to be done.  I'd rather avoid paying someone monthly, there is only work to be done intermittently.

Any ideas you all have would be much appreciated.  

@Mike Hern

That’s genius!

@Mike Hern

Thanks, Mike. That’s interesting. I found both of my tenants remotely, and I think I did a very good job. It’s the day-to-day items that I can’t be there for. But I suppose if I can call a handyman, I’ll probably be OK. I even thought about asking my handyman if I could pay him to replace batteries, etc.

I think the last task I would want to give a property manager is picking out a tenant. It was hard, but the work was well worth it.

I recently purchased my first two SF rental properties out-of-state (I live in CA, they are in Fort Smith, AR). My best buddy in Arkansas was my point person on the ground, and helped me buy them and has managed them so far while we've been learning REI. But my buddy has accepted a job in Florida and won't be able to continue managing them. We knew that might happen.

I have great tenants for both, and most of the maintenance/rehab items they needed are taken care of for the moment.  I have a handyman I really trust, but other than that, I won't have anyone on the ground anymore.  How crucial is that?  My friend makes the argument that there's not much he's doing for me that I can't do remotely (call a plumber, etc.).  I read David Greene's book on Long Distance Real Estate Investing, but it didn't really talk much about managing, and definitely not about managing remotely.  I'm thinking about regular maintenance (smoke detector batteries, furnace filters, etc.) as well as the urgent calls that could happen.  

I've considered:

Hiring a commercial property manager (don't like this idea, but it's on the table)

Using Thumbtack.com on an as-needed basis

Hiring an enterprising college student, and incentivizing him/he to learn REI and connect with me as needed. Like an internship.

Is this crazy?  If any of you have done what I'm asking about, I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts on it.

Thanks!

Put yourself in your tenants shoes. Five students started a school year and a new house. Moving is a huge pain. Cockroaches are nasty, and the problem was bad enough that they chose to move right away. This is a major disruption in their School term. They probably felt that your initial attempts at eradication were insufficient and that staying any longer would make it clear that it wasn’t unlivable. I think they had a reasonable argument about that. At least one of those students will have a family member or friend who is an attorney who can make this much uglier.

Give them back their deposit and move on. And yes, get a monthly spray service so that you have someone to hold accountable if the problem doesn’t get resolved within a reasonable timeframe.

Thank you, all!  This has been very helpful.  I'm going to go ahead and use the long lease for my own protection.  We will use an annual for one year, and then month-to-month.  

I recently purchased two 3/2 SFRs in Fort Smith, AR.  I live in CA and my best friend from college will be managing them for the next year as a favor and to learn the process.  What kind of lease should we use?  Specifically:

1) Month-to-month vs Long-term?  

I've seen the arguments for both.  I like the idea of month-to-month, but I don't want to make my generous buddy work too hard with turnover (I'm not sure it would even do that, necessarily).  There is a very low vacancy in Arkansas, and everyone tells me "You'll never want for renters."  Recommendations?

2) Long/exhaustive lease vs. brief/basic.  

The biggerpockets lease agreement for Arkansas is 11 pages (!), and seems very weighted toward the landlord -- everything's the tenant's responsibility and/or fault.  It would scare me if I were the tenant.  Arkansas is very landlord friendly by default.  Seems it would be much simpler and less scary to a new tenant to just agree on the basics and keep it brief/simple.  

Recommendations?

Thanks :)

@Bill Brandt

Love this. You’re adjusting the dressing on the message, without adjusting the content.

PS: no, I'm not going to be your monkey.  :)

Terrell Garren

This is a forum, and we're trying to help one another.  Believe whatever you want, but there's no need to be rude, man.