All Forum Posts by: Tapan Maniar

Hi Patricia.  I had the same problem with this company and Tony Martinez.  Would love to know if you accomplished anything pursuing this. Also happy to speak off-line.  Thanks

Tap

I'm considering selling my St. Louis duplex. I think I found a good agent to list it. Any suggestions for how to keep the property manager and tenants motivated to help me sell it? It cash-flows $800/m before vacancy and maintenance, currently occupied with good tenants--but I am moving on to bigger deals and this doesn't fit my portfolio any longer.

I'll assure the tenants that leases will be upheld; I'm also considering paying them $25 for each showing where they keep the place very clean and paying $500 if I sell it. I'm also considering paying the property manager $750 if I sell it successfully--as well as recommending them to the next buyer.

In the big picture these are small dollar figures, they might help me sell, and I want low hassle. Let me know if this sounds crazy.

Thanks

Jon, I live in Venice (California) but my properties are mostly in the midwest and south--including Texas. I should clarify that these are all single-family homes, though I do have 1 duplex with a combined $1675 rent.

The Venice market--where I love to live but not to invest--has seen some appreciation, maybe 10% in the past 12-18 months. The expensive coastal communities in SoCal--ie Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice, Newport Beach--probably only saw price drops of 15% and probably fewer foreclosures during the crisis. We are not seeing the crazy appreciation I hear about in San Francisco, where I almost moved to last year. I think Venice is a very stable market with almost guaranteed long-term appreciation since it is on the beach, prime location, and almost completely free of new land to build on. It's all tear downs if you want to build anything new. I've considered buying a place since I think the market is destined to keep going up long term, but I just can't justify it when my ROI is so much higher in other parts of the country. So I own a bunch of rentals, but not a primary residence.

Hi Jon.

Great question. In the debate over class A, B, C rental properties I've veered towards class A--though there's no strict definition I suppose. So my typical rental properties are around $1500/m, but I have one at $3000. I'm about to purchase a couple more in the $3000 range and some higher end multi-families which might rent for $1500/unit.

I live in SoCal, have a full-time job and other business interests, and primarily do out-of-state buy and hold cash-flow properties. I do not have a single property that hits the 2% rule, but they still cash-flow extremely well because I focus on finding the best property managers and relatively new construction or outstanding rehabs in nice areas. A very typical property for me will be a $125K single family home in the midwest or south, which rents for about $1500 and cash-flows $600 a month after all expenses. Those deals are tougher in the rising market, so now I get creative and focus on higher end new construction multi-families. Because the property is relatively new, my maintenance is very low and because I buy in nicer areas, I have long term tenants. Also, in many parts of the midwest and south, a $125K home the last 3 or 4 years represents a very nice middle class house. I also do some creative stuff with new construction and model home lease-backs, but that's another story.

The 2% rule is fine, but hard to achieve for me in the areas I like to buy in. My rule is simply to invest first and foremost in great property managers--everything else is secondary. I'll take a great property manager in a mediocre market over a great market with a mediocre property manager.