All Forum Posts by: Brad Larsen

@Matt Heerwald  One thing you should also understand about San Antonio is that it has numerous military installations.  Randolph AFB, Lackland AFB, Fort Sam Houston, Camp Bullis, and Guard units galore in the region.  RAFB is an Air Force training facility for pilots and navigators.  It's very Officer Heavy with transient personnel coming in and out for less than 18 months.  One poster above recommended going up in price and I completely agree with that just because military officers make more, get more housing allowance, and want better housing.  

My recommendation for a rental formula in San Antonio:

• Minimum 3 Bedroom
• Minimum 2 Bathroom
• Minimum 2 Car Garage
• Price Point:  $120k to $180k
• One Story above 1400 SF
• Two Story above 1800 SF

From there, you have to run a cash flow analysis drill to find out if the rental numbers versus the purchase price make sense. 

NOTE: The home renting for $1,100 to $1,200 is the fastest moving animal in the city. Those homes never go vacant for long.  

If you need assistance with rental numbers - find us on the web.

Take care!

@Fernando E.

Greetings and Hello!  I thought a previous post of mine may assist you with this search.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/385...

Good luck!

@Carlos Esparza  Being FROM the state of Iowa, born and raised, and now living in San Antonio for the last 15 years working in Real Estate - the title of this post caught my eye.  I do not have a magic pill for that post, but I would say it comes down to your comfort level or confidence in making something happen.  If the team in Iowa is ready to go and make you feel confident about what they are doing - pursue that.  The focus on expanding job markets into new industry is always a good play, just be careful on the flip side of that.  The saying easy come, easy go pops up.  Good luck out there and I wish you all the best! 

Looks good!  Will have to take a deeper look and see if any of our investors would be interested.

@Ronnie Woolbright  Hello Ronnie - you have a few things here I feel would be worth diving into and for the benefit of the others.

1) Changing the terms of the lease.  As mentioned above, simple deal....once the original lease is up you are required to give a tenant a 30 day notice of any changes.  It's already on the standard TAR form.  You can do this in writing through the TAR lease extension form and then change the terms of the late fees.  But, maybe do a new lease all together and put it in writing a bit more clear with a new form.  I would recommend that first.  

2) Late Fees.  In my experience, most landlords do not charge a sufficient enough late fee to discourage bad behavior.  Which do you want - the rent paid on time or late fees?  We want the rent paid on time, so our late fees are very high.  Since we have standardized them, we are in compliance with Fair Housing and Texas Law.   

Understand we simply want the tenant to pay on time.  If you want late fees, keep them low and the tenant will put no real concern in them and continually pay late making excuse after excuse.   Would you figure out a way to pay your mortgage on time if the late fee was $500?  Or even $5,000?   Sounds excessive....and it is....but without real consequences, how important is something?

3) Zero Tolerance.  In reading some of the above posts, it would appear you have become a little laxed in enforcing the lease agreement.  By doing this, YOU are violating Fair Housing Laws.  By bending or giving on any of your written agreements and policies, you can be accused of offering un-fair treatment.  Remember, favoritism is discrimination.  When you are deviating from the set agreements in place, you can be accused of offering favortism because someone is.....white/black/green/orange/married/gay/etc...

in going forward, my advice is to get your tenants on a higher late fee schedule to make it very painful to pay the rent late. Establish a rock-solid due date for rent, and let them know you will have ZERO exceptions from here on as you are forced to comply with the Fair Housing laws and can not deviate from the lease as written under any circumstances.  

Good luck out there!

@Nathan Krause

This post may help you:  

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/385582-questions-to-ask-when-choosing-a-property-manager

Good luck out there!

In the property management industry managing single family and multi family homes, we have classifications for Landlords that is never put on paper and probably never talked about. 

This has probably never been published before, so here goes something new.... If you are a Landlord, you may want to read this and see what classification YOU would fall into.  If the description fits you - wear it.  

If you are subjective about your dealings with your Property Manager, it could help foster a better relationship between you and your property manager getting you better service.  

Class "A" Landlord:

1. Hires a Property Manager and is glad to pay their fees understanding that they provide a valuable service assisting them in growing an asset.  
2. Appreciates their systems, procedures, tools, and level of separation they provide from their tenants.  They understand their job is often difficult being the punching bag for both sides of a management transaction that can last for years. 
3. Allows them the flexibility to make tough decisions in a pinch on their behalf.  (Spending $505 dollars for an AC repair in July when their spending limit is $500)
4. Understands that the Property Manager is not responsible for everything that goes on with the home - to include the weather and the marketplace.  
5. Is easy to get in touch with and responds well to phone calls, emails, and even texts.  
6. Realizes that by having a property manager and paying $20/hour (example) - it allows them to find bigger deals and more investments making $2,000/hour for their time.  
7. These folks are full time, possibly part time investors that have enough capital to back up their investments and truly understand that what they put out in management fees is far outweighed by appreciation and tax breaks.  Simple depreciation is a monster and is often overlooked by a lesser class landlord.

Class "B" Landlord:

1. Reluctantly hires a Property Manager after some minor effort to shop for the cheapest property manager they can find.  
2. Second guesses all repair items and laments about not having any money to cover large repairs.  
3. Often classified as "Reluctant Landlords" for never planning on having a rental home, but being thrust into the realm of owning one by an unexpected relocation.  
4. Wants two bids for every job in the effort to save $20.00 - not caring if the tenant goes without AC or hot water for several days.
5. Does not understand basic accounting and needs constant explanation for what the income / expense statement means.  
6. Is difficult to reach often not responding same day for urgent matters.
7. These folks are often reluctant landlords, first time landlords, and intermediate landlords away for a year or two then moving back into their home. 

Class "C" Landlord:

1. Grudgingly hires a Property Manager because their CPA told them to do so. 
2. Shops high and low for the cheapest property manager in town - then asks them for a discount because they are an "investor"..... with their two homes.  
3. Is abusive to the property management staff requiring constant communication and taking the attitude "Don't you know who I am?". 
4. Introduces themselves to the tenant behind the Property Managers back - telling the tenant they can call them anytime if the Property Manager does not immediately answer their every need.  (This creates a Mommy / Daddy issue.  The PM says "NO - You can't pay your rent late this month"....then the tenant runs to the Landlord telling them the PM said "We are evicting you AND taking away your birthday")
5. Wants three bids for EVERY repair - no matter the inconvenience to the tenant - no matter the headache to the property manager...all with the effort to save $5.00. (Sounds dramatic - but this is true!!! - seen it many times before!)
6. Blames the Property Manager for wind, hail, storms, tornadoes, winter storms, freezing pipes, foundation movement, dead grass, etc...  Essentially, nothing is ever beyond anyone's control - it's always the PM's fault. This is a deeper reflection of that type of person never taking accountability for anything.
7. Wants to sue everybody for....everything.  Tenant did not water the grass last week, can we hire an attorney and sue them?  You did not answer the phone on a Saturday, if you don't call me back and I will seek vengeance on you with my attorney!
8. Leaves negative reviews on line about a property manager.  Hides behind Google and Yelp to feel better about their cyber bullying.  If the landlord truly had a real issue - almost all property management companies are governed by several entities to include the state. Threatening to leave a negative review if you don't get your way is blackmail and extortion. Same tactic the mafia has used for years....no different.  If the Landlord has a real issue with the property manager - point 7 above may be needed.  Leaving negative reviews on public forums is not productive for anyone. 
9. Is impossible to reach via phone / email.  Then they respond at 10:00PM on a Saturday and is upset no one is available to speak with them at the time they finally call back.
10. Will not reduce asking price in rent.  If a home is vacant - with good marketing photos (and video) - and is being advertised fully.....here is a hint:  IT'S THE ASKING PRICE!  There are two things that rent homes - Price and Condition....and Price can make up for everything. The Landlord not willing to reduce their asking price at any cost is a flat out moron.  If you want to do the math - assume your property rents for $1,000 a month.  But, you aren't getting it.  What do you lose every month that the home is not rented?  That's right - $1,000.  What do you lose every month if the home rents for $950?  Well done - $50 / month or $600 a year.  Which would you choose?
11. Wants to do their own repairs.  We have seen time and time again owners taking 6 months to do their own make ready repairs spending several thousand dollars MORE to do it and losing 4-5 months in possible rent.  I have seen the total swing to be $10,000 with several investors....all one can do is shake their heads at them.  
12. These folks are often first time investors, overly dramatic reluctant landlords, emotionally attached to their homes and in often cases have a "I'm smarter and better than anyone else in the entire universe and I can do it all" attitude.  

Ask yourself - which type of Landlord are you?

@Shawn Nikah  Congrats for the deal getting worked out.  That's an interesting area possibly on the way up being so close to the Alamodome.  If you need rental comps - feel free to contact us for a Free Market Estimate.  

Take care!

@Kristin Steadings Hello Kristin - I would recommend you seek out my accountant who can also assist with turning you over to someone to form an LLC should you choose. Ensure the attorney can help you service the LLC annually with any minutes / notices / updates.

If you message me, I can send you his name and contact number.

I have been with this CPA near 15 years and he was my mentor's CPA. My mentor was around in the 80's when they had non-qualifying VA assumptions!!! He was picking up homes left and right by simply taking over the payments. He would never tell me how many rental homes he really had:)

Good luck out there!

@Sarah Lam We would recommend you look into Empire Industries there in Houston for a management company.  As a management company owner, I have some good insight to what they do, and what franchises like RPM do. Perhaps this post I put up a while back will assist:

  https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/385...

Good luck!