All Forum Posts by: Eric Hathway

@max t- I think you hit the nail on the head. Sounds like that would work. Thanks!

Thank you to both of you. It's great to be able to bounce these ideas off of others in the business.

@theresa Harris- I like your idea about him having people he can bring in for some aspects of the renovations. 

@uriah D.- I appreciate your points about the increased costs and how managing multiple contractors can increase stress and negate any money saved by the quicker turnaround. 

Thanks again!

Hi folks, I am a buy and hold investor but I have been renovating outdated units as the become vacant in order to increase rents. I generally do flooring, paint, fixtures, bathroom vanities, countertops, sometimes kitchen cabinets, and appliances (if they need it).

I use one general handyman that does basically everything. My problem is that this system lacks efficiency. He gets bogged down with maintenance calls and the renovations are taking too long so I lose a month or longer of rent. A problem I am running into is that his prices and dependability are hands-down unbeatable.

Do people have better success hiring out renovation jobs or delegating maintenance calls to someone else? How about having a flooring guy, painter, cleaners, etc? Maybe have the maintenance man hire subcontractors?

Is there an industry standard system along those lines that the pros use? 

Any good books on the subject?

Huge thanks in advance!! 

CPA: Dana Bull @ Mason & Rich in Concord. He knows real estate and is wonderful to work with! 

How are they marketing the property? Craigslist, Apartments.com, hotpads.com, etc? Do you have good pictures? Does your ad sell the place well? For example, does the ad highlight the main features, schools, walk score (walkscore.com)? How is your curb appeal? Is it a multi family or SFR? In multi's you can ask for the other tenants to refer their friends/fam. Can anyone do an open house? The more people see it, the more that can apply and you have to choose from. Could you lower the price for a 6 month lease and then raise their rent?

I manage my own properties and I have a maintenance man who takes all the emergency calls. I have one particular tenant who will continually make nonsense calls all hours of the day and night. She will call from unknown numbers and frequently sound inebriated. The maintenance man cannot shut off his phone in case there is an actual emergency. I wrote her a letter regarding maintenance call guidelines that clearly distinguished emergency versus non-emergency reasons for calling and what hours were acceptable. 

What is the next step I could take? Thank you.

When buying a large multi-family building, other than the home inspector, what type of specialist can further evaluate structural integrity, foundation, sagging, etc? Would it be Structural Engineer?  

641 Massabesic Street

Manchester, NH 03103

$850,000

I am selling this cash-producing building because I am likely moving out of state for a job. 

-Roof, vinyl siding, furnace, and water heater recently replaced (within 2-7 years).
-(3) 1BR, (7) oversized studios, (1) 2BR
-Great location near Elliot Hospital- Manchester's largest employer
-Parking for 20+ cars.
-Coin op laundry
-Great tenants (two >10 years)
-Waiting list to move in
-Solid, stable building that will cash flow and appreciate for years to come! 

Financials

Gross Rents plus Coin-Ops: $114,240

Utilities:$12K

Insurance: $3k

Taxes:$7.5k

NOI:$91,740

I've learned a lot since originally starting this post. I've come to the conclusion that PM's obviously want to keep it for the extra letter or calls to collect rent, but conversely, landlords don't want to be nickle and dimed for every little task the manager does. 

As I have it now, I pay 7% of the income to the PM. This includes late fees and laundry coins (not application fees). 

It comes down to what is customary in your area, how good of a manager you are (so landlords really want you), or how big the landlord's portfolio is. 

I have a flat-top, 11 unit building in Manchester for which I pay the entire electric bill. Last year, I paid $5200 to Eversource. I would love to shrink that number. Any ideas?