All Forum Posts by: Steve Rozenberg

I think it really depends on what your specific goal is and what your strategy is. We all have different goals and things we want out of life. Some value family, some travel, some money etc etc... WE all know its tough to put a pin point on what is good for one and bad for another.

Definitely congrats on what you have done so far

I would say that there's probably just as many bad companies out there as there are good. You definitely want to do your due diligence and have a expectation meeting and conversation about what you can expect out of them as a provider and what they can expect out of you as a customer.

There are a lot of great companies here in Houston as I am a local and been doing this for over 20 years I know that yes there are some bad ones but definitely some good ones if you do a little bit more of a deep dive you will find certain names of certain people and certain companies come up in a good light and other ones will come up in a not-so-good light this is the time that you do your homework and do your due diligence to make sure that you were aligning yourself with the right type of people

I would suggest more mindset books as well. Learning the tactic on how to do something is great but first you need to figure out why you're doing something and what is the goal and the reason that you're doing it. New paragraph. I recommend the e-myth by Michael Gerber, 10x by Grant Cardone ,sell or be sold by Grant Cardone, eat the frog brian tracy

First thing I would do as others in here have stated is figure out "WHY" you are doing this. Once you know that and you know your end goal then you work backwards. The goal has to have a finite destination and time limit on it.
For example you may say your goal is 20 houses in 20 years (paid off) earning $20,000 per month.. (20,20,20 goal).
Now you know where you're going and the timeframe for this to happen. From here you can build out your strategy, for example here you would want to have the 20 properties purchased the first 10 years so that they can use the final 10 years to pay themselves off. This means that you have to buy 2 properties per year which means you have to close on a property every 6 months which means that you have to find a property in 3 months to have it on the market and rented the following 3 months.
And the properties need to have a final cashflow of $1,000 per month after all expenses are paid. This will dictate where you purchase and look for properties based on that number alone.
My point is that you always start with the end in mind and work it backwards, this creates the strategy (Buy and hold, flip, Wholesale, Notes) which will be driven by the tactic (SFR, MFR, Mobile homes, Short term rental etc)
I always coach people and explain that the property is actually the last piece of the puzzle not the first.

Hope this helps

Congrats on getting into real estate. It can be a very lonely and scary place all the hype and fun emojis are gone. My suggestion after doing this for 20 years is before doing anything decide on your end goal and what you want as a result of owning real estate. Then figure out the strategy to get there.

After that you can decide what market will give you that strategy and that dictates where you buy. Start with the end in mind and work backwards

First thing I would do as others in here have stated is figure out "WHY" you are doing this. Once you know that and you know your end goal then you work backwards. The goal has to have a finite destination and time limit on it.
For example you may say your goal is 20 houses in 20 years (paid off) earning $20,000 per month.. (20,20,20 goal).
Now you know where you're going and the timeframe for this to happen. From here you can build out your strategy, for example here you would want to have the 20 properties purchased the first 10 years so that they can use the final 10 years to pay themselves off. This means that you have to buy 2 properties per year which means you have to close on a property every 6 months which means that you have to find a property in 3 months to have it on the market and rented the following 3 months.
And the properties need to have a final cashflow of $1,000 per month after all expenses are paid. This will dictate where you purchase and look for properties based on that number alone.
My point is that you always start with the end in mind and work it backwards, this creates the strategy (Buy and hold, flip, Wholesale, Notes) which will be driven by the tactic (SFR, MFR, Mobile homes, Short term rental etc)
I always coach people and explain that the property is actually the last piece of the puzzle not the first.

Hope this helps

I would suggest going into the ATL forums here at BP and see what name keeps coming up as a good vendor / contractor.. Also asking some local PM companies who they use will give you a good idea. They like to keep the good guys working so they normally will share this information with people

Always make sure that you have an end goal and that goal is defined by your strategy. The deal may or may not make sense depending on your strategy.

Remember you make money 5 ways

1. Cashflow

2. Equity Capture

3. Debt Paydown

4. Depreciation 

5. Appreciation

You likely will not get all of these in a deal.. #3 and #4 yes always... The others you pick which is most important and make one a non-negotiable that you must have when looking for a deal. This is all base on your end goal and strategy

l I think you need to remember that rental properties make money five different ways

1. cash flow 

2. equity capture 

3 is debt paid out 

4 depreciation 

5.  appreciation

These are all strategies to help you achieve your goal property is not cash flowing and not making money I think is a mistake because you have a tenant paying down your debt you have captured equity and more importantly the properties are going up in value the appreciation appreciation will always beat any of these other strategies however you have to make sure that this strategy is what you want to achieve your goal.

Many new investors Focus only on cash flow thinking that is the reason they buy do not buy or sell a property I think that is a mistake if you do not factor in the other five pieces of the puzzle.

I'm not saying that it is not important but I am saying that you need to factor everything in.

From someone who's owned a property management company in the past I would say that you want to remember that there are rights rules regulations and laws that the property management company has to abide by because if not there could be some very harsh fair housing lawsuits coming down on them which means they come down on you.

If for some reason you are not happy with the services of a property management company I would go out and understood what is their role what do they take care of Maintenance wise and how do they help you to achieve your goal.

If you did not do that on the initial conversation you do not really understand how they run their business model but expecting it to align with yours seems almost impossible don't you think?

The best thing you could do is have a conversation with them to find out and understand because there is What's called the property code there's tenant rights as well as the difference between cosmetic and habitability.

If you're not comfortable with them then I would say get a new one but have an expectation meeting in the beginning before you actually hired them.

Below are some questions I would suggest you ask a company prior to hiring them

It is very important that you make sure you take the time to interview and have candid conversations with a PM company. Let them know your strategy, your goals and what your business plan is to ensure that your business plan aligns with theirs and you can both work towards the same goal. If they are not aligned then simply keep looking till you find one that is.
I used to own a company that managed almost 1,000 single family homes before I sold it.
Below are some questions I would think would be a good starting point for you to see who really treats their company like a business or a hobby.

Questions to Ask prospective management companies

1. What are your average days on market for vacant homes?
2. What is your average rent amount for all properties managed?
3. What is your average work order cost for the owner?
4. What is your average make ready cost for the owner?
5. Are all my invoices uploaded to my owner portal?
6. How do you advertise your vacant units?
7. Do I receive video of my pre and post make ready?
8. Do you have a setup fee?
9. Do you upcharge on maintenance?
10. When do you make owner payments? How often?
11. Are you a Certified Property Manager?
12. Are you a member of NARPM?
13. What is your Guarantee?
14. Do you provide move in and move out reports
15. How many pictures do you take of the property prior to tenant moves in and after the tenant moves out
16. Do you get weekly reports when the property is vacant what prospective tenants are saying about your home
17. Do you provide monthly newsletters to your tenants
18. Do you hold investor education classes to help me become a better investor
19. Do you have single point portfolio based management services?
20. How many properties do the owners actually own themselves?
21. What do you do to ensure that the tenant is responsible for security deposit disputes since that is the largest reason for owner lawsuits
22. How familiar are you with the newly changed laws that can affect you the owner if they are not used correctly?

@salvatore

First of all I would say congratulations on your success anyone who's done it knows the hard work that's entailed in achieving and sustaining that type of portfolio

Like you I probably have very similar Battle Scars and wounds from all the years of being an investor good and bad

My experience the reason most people never cross the finish line is because they failed to get started and simply crossed the starting line.

they never take the action needed they never write their goals down and more importantly they don't even know what their goals are they confuse a goal versus a strategy and there's no one there to tell them different.

how do you know that you're on the right path to achieve your goal after you own 5-10-20 properties and you don't understand how to become a leader and not a manager and understand it leveraging time of other people's abilities is the true way to scale. New paragraph. I think people have the assumption that just because they have money in their pockets that all of a sudden they are qualified to be the CEO of their business without ever taking the time to educate themselves to learn how to run a business properly and how to grow and scale Perry's

Whether you on one property or you own 50 property you own a business. One out of three landlords in a lawsuit every single year for violating the fair housing discrimination eviction or property code law. The biggest challenge is the person who doesn't understand that their business is the actual landlord who has everything to lose if they don't treat it correctly