All Forum Posts by: Sharon Tzib

There's a great form in the Files section with Property Manager Interview Questions. Tons of food for thought in that doc.

Elisabeth had a wonderful list. Couple other things I would add are:

- Verify rental comps for appropriate pricing

- Advertise the property for rent

- Pay expenses for the property

- Perform periodic property walk-throughs

- Maintain excellent relationships with tenants in order to encourage tenant renewals

Many times, landlords and property managers forget that the tenants are their customers. If you screen a tenant correctly, they are paying on time, and taking good care of the property, then you want to make sure the property manager treats them well so they want to continue to stay (i.e. return phone calls, address their reasonable requests, etc).

Additionally, if you are consistently having horrible tenants placed, then you need to find a new PM.

"Specializing in NNN and apartment buildings I strongly disagree with this statement."

Hey @Joel Owens please don't take my comment out of context. My comment was meant to be viewed in total, not one paragraph extracted to make it seem like I'm completely anti-NNN. I have heard many stories on BP and other forums about landlords who have had their NNN buildings sit empty for months and years, so while perhaps you personally don't have that issue in your area, please don't lead this poster to believe that it is impossible.

The first part of my statement acknowledged that yes, if you buy right, it can be a wise investment too.

Now perhaps if he chooses to work with you, as you offered early on in this stream, you can steer him to a great deal - he'd probably be wise to do that since you have gobs of experience. And as the last part of my comment stated, having a great team is most of the battle, if not all.

I was simply trying to offer both sides of the story. I would also like to say that part of my comment was referring to the fact that people will always need housing, which is one thing that makes multis more attractive (to me at least, maybe others will disagree)- maybe I didn't make my point as clear as I should have.

Sure @Ramon Jenkins . Realtor, property manager, insurance agent, contractor/handyman, cpa, attorney, and for acquisition, mortgage broker.

It's easiest to start with a referral to one or two of your team members, and then build your team via referrals from those to the others.

Well I wouldn't evict a steady paying tenant just to do repairs ever. Would just wait until they leave to do the make ready. If the existing tenant is ok with the place the way it is, why kick them out and take your chances on the next one being just as good? Or perhaps the repairs are such that you can work with the existing tenant to get them done. Just not sure of the urgency to get repairs done here.

On the dog tenant, I understand your hesitancy on that. You can either give them notice per the lease, or institute a pet deposit policy and ask that they remit that in order to renew. Good paying tenants are hard to find - dogs or no dogs - tough call.

Hope it all works out for you.

NNN's are great if you have a very, very long-term tenant in an extremely economically stable area. Getting this, however, means you will pay.

The first time one of your NNN's go vacant, and it takes you years to find a new tenant, you'll understand why people like multis.

I think the key for you, no matter which way you decide to go, is to accept that you are going to need very responsible and trustworthy team members. I have U.S. rentals while living in Belize the last several years and could not do so without my team. Good luck!

Oh my bad @Lynn Dee Murrow - now I see that :)

My very first rental was in Calif (grew up there), but I had bought low and it was my primary residence, which I turned into a rental, so it did cash flow (barely). But for reasons given above, I would never consider investing there again.

I don't subscribe to the only buy in your own backyard mentality, however. I have owned out of state (and now out of country) rentals for years. They have been quite lucrative and great investments for me. As long as an investor knows how to qualify a market, buy right so a property cash flows with property management built in, and assemble a team, in many cases, out of state investing makes more sense (especially if you live in Calif).

Even though Texas has areas that are at an all time high, that is relative, since the properties still cash flow very nicely. But so do areas in Indiana, Atlanta, etc. Not saying Texas is the end all be all, just thought it was amusing Texas was mentioned, if the poster was trying to push for Ohio. Guess my sense of humor doesn't always translate in a forum lol!

@Lynn Dee Murrow he's not saying he's moving to Calif, but rather he wants to invest there while living in Ohio.

This is "Josh's" first post. Seems rather fishy to me - maybe an Ohio turnkey company plant, hoping forum members would say "stay in your own backyard and invest there, Ohio is great." Instead, everyone's recommending Texas lol! (and rightfully so).

If you are real, Josh, you need to spend some time doing more education on metrics real estate investors look at when choosing an investment area, because Calif fails on just about every one of them. Good luck!

Well without knowing what your goals are and your overall financial picture, I couldn't answer per se for you. But I can tell you that I invest for cash flow, with an eye towards retiring and living off said proceeds.

I've always been a big fan of leverage. It can help accelerate your ability to create cash flow. As long as your existing 4 plex will still cash flow after you refi, I don't personally see a problem with it.

Hi Lawrence! Well I'll be relocating to Houston in the next few months in the Cypress/Harris County area. Been a buy & hold SFH investor since 2000, but looking forward to transitioning into multis. Good luck and let us know if we can be of help here.

Incredible case study, David. So appreciate your transparency and the wealth of information you shared here.

Can you institute a RUBS program there perhaps, especially as you transition leases? I think it's great you don't have to pay for the manager's apartment either, since I think your PM is charging you a premium due to the apparent lack of options for management in this unit size.

Two things that really stuck out to me, though, were how you didn't let the commercial broker intimidate you. I'm always amused when brokers use laughter as a negotiating tool - not very effective. And playing the banks against each other - I think a lot of us newbies with no multi experience think we have to take what we're given, and you proved with a little tenacity, that's not true.

Again, great job!