All Forum Posts by: Tim Hackett

Hi Eddie-

A couple of things-  Firstly I would quantify not wanting to work a 14 hour day as quality of life vs lazy.  that being said, I do on rare occasion have long days (and sometimes weekends!) should an issue or emergency arise - they're never convenient.  my typical day is 8:30 until 5:30, but the company I am with is email intensive and I typically am answering emails until 10 at night ( I turn off the phone then)  BUT I am doing that from home.  not on a job site. 

Couple of thoughts for you, on the interview topic, if I were interviewing you I would have the same question/concern.  I think (me personally) I would take the tact of answering the "never been a commercial property manager" question by emphasizing your accounting background and the asset that will be in helping the tenant's understand their charges, your knowledge of accounting in reconciling CAM charges, financial statements and explaining same to someone who doesn't know them, and that to be an accountant is all about the details just as property management is all about the details in reading leases and negotiating renewals.  Your accounting background will help the ownership as you "get" the financial interest involved with someone else's money.  stress your strengths.  You mention construction, be it a new interest or something you are familiar with.  I would stress that this will relate well to tenant build out's and managing emergencies as they happen.  don't sell your self as something you are not, but as someone who understands the challenges of learning a new field, but feel your background will help your learning curve. 

as I previously mentioned, the Commercial aspect of real estate is very legal centric.  again, I would stress that your attention to detail is key to learning these things.  Commercial agreements are very different from residential, but in the end, they have the same intent, an agreement between two parties to occupy a space.  one just has a lot more responsibility on the landlord, the other, commercial, puts a lot back on the tenant. 

property management is one thing for sure- never boring.  One of the large draws to me is that everyday I go into work and will encounter something new that day.  two days are never the same.  I like that.  it keeps me interested.  Don't get me wrong.  some of those days are horrible (today is a bad one).  it's hell having several business owners unhappy with you because they have roof leaks, or that their annual CAM charges are going up.  or that too many tenant's park close to the building and paying customers have to park far out and walk (god forbid)but its part of the job.  sometimes you have to be the bad/fall guy for decisions that are beyond your control.  but it still holds interest for me and that's why I will always be involved in Real Estate.  Rewarding- absolutely.  cant define it.  I just love working with people and figuring out answers to problems.  (very few call their landlord to tell them how amazing they are!) but I know at the end of the day, I look at the properties under my management and know that I am doing the right things for the owners and tenants of the building. 

hit me up with any questions.  happy to answer.

tim

Hi Eddie-

Vast topic.  I started my career in RE as a leasing agent for a national apartment management firm.  18 years later, I run a portfolio of 7.5 million sq ft of retail, office and industrial properties involving a staff of 42.  Some of the largest differences are the learning the legal aspect of commercial real estate, Insurance requirements and complexities as well as learning how completely different the leases are (even from each other at the same property)

As the PM, you are the go to.  you are now dealing with business people.  some savvy, some not, but at the end of the day, your job is to help them in the background be successful by keeping both parties sticking to the lease agreement as well as the rules and regs of the property, ALL while reporting back to the money folks.  (you always work for the owner, no matter the situation, and every owner has their "quirks" on how things are run)

With an accounting background, you are leaps and bounds ahead of lots of PM's out there.  Things like cam and percentage rents as well as true ups, budgets, financial reporting and reconciliations construction and Tenant Improvements are all a function of your job.  also, whose responsibility is what?  in other words, if the window is broken, in retail, it's probably the tenant's responsibility to fix it, same as the A/c unit.  You get to play Bad Cop and make sure it's fixed right away!  also, they pay for their "percentage" of the parking lot lights, minor repairs, landscape maintenance and sidewalk cleaning (CAM).  Office, it's pretty much all on you!  from janitorial to a/c to plumbing.  you're the one!  (doesn't mean you are fixing it, but have to make the calls, deal with upset tenant's and ensure the repairs are completed)

Again, it's a whole beast unto itself, but for 19 years it's been very good to me.  It has taught me well and allowed me to be confident in assembling my own portfolio that I run nights and weekends....and maybe some day, full time. 

That's a pretty fast 2 cent answer to your question.  But the differences are vast.  I had someone who mentored me, saw some potential and got me into the very basics of real estate and I still talk to her weekly - she changed my life!  happy to talk off line about it if you would like.  I can tell you its a very rewarding career that has taught me that real estate, no matter the form, will be involved in the rest of my life.  I cant think of anything I would rather do. 

One last word on my boring diatribe.  Personally I feel that retail is the most intricate of all commercial real estate, however, I also find it the most fascinating, fun and rewarding of the venues. 

Tim

just curious how you get the 5% off at HD and Lowes?

I get daily updates from a website called multi family housing news. Good place to learn trends and lingo. Geared towards the heavy hitters but they send an email everyday at 5est and it gives lots of predictions, sales and interesting articles all geared towards multi family apartment complexes.

I've purchased several Fannie Mae home path properties. I'm a fix, hold rent person- cash no finance, but I believe in their website you have the ability to borrow more to fix. It's really meant for the home purchaser whose going to live in the property but I seem to recall a fix loan. They know the properties need help in most cases. Don't know if I'm remembering or dreaming it. But it sticks out in my mind. I know you for sure can't get around the 90 day rule for reselling. Not sure how that would work using OPM to finance.

Short answer-yes most PMs want to be listed as additional insured. You INS company should be used to this request. Will cost you more- may have to upgrade the policy but it's pretty common place. (standard in commercial RE). It's basically a way to indemnify the PM. There should be language that they have to do the same- list you or indemnify you as well against any losses that are a result of their actions or inactions and list you as additional insured on their policy.

Not an attorney but my understanding and practice is each rental is its own LLC. If sued it (I'm not an attorney) is supposed to protect my personal assets and limits the liability to the LLC (the property and its insurance). Vs my personal home taken away or leined because of my investment. I place each rental as its own LLC to protect them from the others. So if one LLC is sued the others are not a part of the suit. All of my separate LLCs are owned by one LLC in which myself and my partner are the pass through owners. The cost to file an LLC varies by state but can be done on most states websites. Not an attorney, just the way I was taught to protect myself. Nothing is a guarantee I guess.

I started with a personally guaranteed Amex. Most any lines of credit will require your personal guarantee. And time. Takes a while to build that business credit line.

Study finance. I work for a large Commercial firm and almost all developers (those that didn't inherit) have very deep knowledge of finance. Developing a building is all about the numbers. Sorry I know that's glib but it's true. Developing a building is all about the end profit. And if you don't have the funds to go it alone most investors of significant proportion are strictly numbers people. (Those that inherit have the numbers person around them all the time). Most want things like argus projections and heavy market data to quantify your vision. If you're not a finance person study it. Learn the terms and how to get to the numbers the investors want to hear. A little bit of salemanship to sell your plans and vision as well helps open the doors. One other piece of advise, not sure where you live but get into networking with those already doing it. There are chapters of young professional groups in most cities. You'd be surprised the doors that can open Sorry if I'm off base and over reading. I deal with it everyday on the large commercial side so I went there.

Worst experience ever. 1800 sq ft. Every inch wall paper. Took 90 percent off. Used a tool to score the paper then soaked a sponge in fabric softener and coated the paper with that to loosen. Then it peels off quite easily. Left lots of areas with backing paper remaining. Then took a high grit sandpaper and removed the dry paper. Took many days to complete. Some places when torn off removed the backing paper of the drywall so I had to skim coat. Problem with painting over it- you can still see that there is wallpaper behind it. (Leaves a very porous finish). Second you have basically sealed the paper onto the wall permanently. I like a smooth wall finish so I take it off. But it's a major job. But the results are a clean smooth wall. Looks new vs covered. I chalked up the time to repainting in the future. I'm into long term holds and like a modern clean look. But I understand the desire and those that don't want to spend the time. I get it! (Will never install wallpaper ever lol. Wallpaper phobia now!)