All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Deisy P. what kind of rates were they charging? The baseline management charge (for handling rent, tenant communication, emergencies, etc) should be pretty nominal. Find a PM who is also a realtor and who can collect a fee when they rent out your apartments - that is where a lot of PMs make their big margin. Like anything else I'd advise getting 3-5 quotes. You may also have to negotiate it - that is what I did. I almost never take any first quote anymore, unless I have an established relationship with that service provider.

@Deisy P. - just wanted to share that I have had the same thoughts as you regarding selling out, quitting, etc. I was also ripped off several times while rehabbing - there is no shame in that, it is part of the learning process (I started in real estate when I was 23 and people definitely took advantage of my youth). One thing that's worth sharing is I now have a property manager to deal with tenants. My tenants no longer have my contact info as well. I found that a PM is better suited to "be the bad guy" and set firmer boundaries. That arrangement is best suited for my personality as I am generally a "people pleaser" and I try to see the best in people. I realized that mindset is not the best mindset for a landlord to have (regardless if male / female), so I outsourced that aspect of the business. Having a PM is also great for my stress - I hated having to keep my phone on me 24/7.

Lastly - one tip I'll share for contractors is to always get 3 quotes. I let each contractor know up front that "I am exploring options." When you let people know there is competition, they will be less likely to try to take you for a ride. I also read a few books on negotiating, and that has helped. Good luck!

[Deleted]

Hey all, I have a multi family unit that is under management. Their rate is pretty competitive, and the company itself uses AppFolio to manage the properties, which already puts them miles ahead of the PMs I talked to that couldn't even use email.

I was curious as to whether or not I'm being unreasonable with expectations of my PM. They are good with maintenance but are a little sloppy unless I remind them of a few things. For example, we have a rather large maintenance project coming up and I've had to ask 2-3 times for them to price it out for me. Furthermore, they were slow to inform me when a tenant failed to pay last month (it was the last month on their lease, so we just kept the security deposit, but still). Usually if I email them about something non-urgent it takes anywhere from 1 hour to 2 days for them to respond. Usually their emails don't touch on all of my points unless I explicitly list out line items for them. If I call them about something urgent (using the same phone line that the tenants would use for an emergency) they either answer right away or get back within 10-20 minutes. However, sometimes the voice mail box is full, which is definitely a little unprofessional.

The biggest strike against them is that they failed to rent 2 units out for September 1. My units are close to Boston, and I find this unacceptable since the rental market is so hot. Some of the tenants were downright disgusting, so that was off putting to anyone who visited the units, but management also priced them too high and only started to lower the price when we had 3 weeks left. Furthermore, I think management should have told the tenants to clean up if the unit was really that gross.

I only have been using them since March so the level of trust just isn't there. But I'm also curious if I'm expecting too much from a PM. I know that nobody will care like I do, so I have to be able to let things go.

I'm curious as to what people's experience with PMs are and if my experience sounds OK or not. For not having to deal directly with tenants, I think management is still worth it for me. I have a pretty weak stomach for emergencies.

Awesome work! Do you mind sharing what floors you used? Was it some LVP product?

Home Depot sells sheets of 6' laminate countertops for like 80-90 bucks. I got a couple of these then paid a handyman to install. Avoid the section where you talk to someone and they try to sell you countertops per square foot. Laminate is not worth the prices you posted.

Cheap granite might be a better long term solution anyways. 

Basically I'm skeptical that you'd get to 6 months of reserves if you're cash flowing $250 a month. That'd assume a clean cash flow of $250 a month for what, several years? Between minor maintenance calls (each at least $100) and the "big ticket" items like roof, siding, washer dryer, dishwasher, oven, etc that will need to be replaced, that will be hard to hit in the first place. One item like a roof (even split with the other condo association members) can wipe your reserves clean.

In general the ship has sailed for cash flowing properties in the Camberville area. People are lucky to break even and ride the appreciation train. The only people making good money month to month are the ones that got 3 families for 100k back in the 90s and 80s.

Given the low month to month cash flow of your place and the rate at which big projects come up, I would probably save the $250 every month and never pay yourself. Keep it on the appreciation plan for now.

If you want to improve cash flow, try renting out the bedrooms individually without using a realtor. I charge about $1200-1250 a room in my 900 squ ft Somerville condo which is close-ish to Porter Square. People are willing to pay a bit more than market rate if they can dodge the realtor fee.

I've been looking at a few 3 family properties in the Greater Boston Area (Cambridge / Somerville) that are pretty distressed but have good potential to become condos. They'd need a full gut (high-end) reno, and I was just wondering what the typical pricing schema for a gut reno is. Do people typically charge per square foot? Does that only involve labor or does that estimate generally apply for labor + materials? If it helps, I'm looking at a building with units that are roughly 820 square feet, 2 bed, 1 bath.

The heating systems also need to be separated out as well (currently there's 3 meters in the house for gas but only one heating system). Has anyone dealt with this and has insight?

On my other properties I never involved a GC, just did some basic paint & electric. Any input would be great before I consider making an offer.

Matthew - house hacking in the Worcester area might be a good option for you. I've heard there's a couple management companies in Worcester with very good reputations. The area is more susceptible to ups / downs of the market, but it's easy to find cash flowing properties there.