All Forum Posts by: BJ McKellar

I manage rentals in Washington, D.C., but know that there are a lot of great companies out of Baltimore. Rpm capital does good work, and there are a few more. Good luck!

Tom, welcome. I look forward to hearing some great stories about your life owning mf properties!

Try RPM KC. National company, but locally owned. They are full service, and offer competitive prices. www.kansas-city.realpropertymgt.com/

I try to not leave anything, because when they leave they better not leave anything, not even a hanger. We do quarterly inspections and change the furnace filter during that inspection. I like the idea of the shovel, ice melt, plunger, but my experience has been if you leave them a few gifts they will leave you a few more.

I manage about 100 units in DC and we have done this 5 or more time. Usually they will pay a higher rent amount since it's short term. Ask for more money! It worked great on the 5 we did. 1 of the families was a little harder on the property than normal, but the sec dep covered it. If they qualify and you can get a little more per month, take it!

Congrats. Panama City looks like a great place to invest.

@James B. This is how we got started in buy and holds. I have 2 rentals in Utah, and now live in the DC area. We plan to pick up a few in this area. I've managed rentals for a lot of people that get transferred and are gone fore a few years, or just moved and bought another property. It's a great way to use the owner occupied loans to pick up long term investments, and build a solid retirement. One of our landlords called the office the other day, and he has 5 properties in the DC area that will be paid of this next August. He will be cash flowing about $1400 per property. He is more than excited, but it all started 20+ years ago. Good luck!

Marion, I own a property management office in DC and we do this for a lot of our owners. It always takes longer than the owner wants. I've seen some take over a year to get a tenant out. We are doing one right now in NE and we finally got 1 tenant evicted for non payment, and started the rehab about a month ago. The other 3 have been a task to evict, or move. Once you buy the unit, if you are not under rent control, you can sign new leases and increase rent. Still takes too long. The best option I've seen is to move these tenants to another building we manage and pay them some cash for keys. No real great options!

One if the biggest issues in DC is that source of income is a protected class, so you can not just move a section 8 tenant out in favor of a tenant that is not section 8. If your going to rehab the buildings, you have the right to give the tenants a 120 day notice to vacate, make sure you do everything through the DCRA. You'll have to submit plans and much more.

I own a couple rentals in Utah, 1 is a single family, and the other is a duplex. These units are only 15 minutes apart, and I make a lot more money on my single family than I do my duplex. The duplex is about 10 years older, and has never been rehabbed. I spent a lot more on Maintenace in the duplex. 2 furnaces, 2 fridges, etc. The benefit is I've never had both units vacant at the same time, so I'm always getting some money. The duplex is 2/1, and only rents for $525. The single family is a 4/3 and rents for $1500. I personally don't like one over the other as far as looking for the next deal, it's all about the numbers.