All Forum Posts by: Tyler Dix

Hello Glen,

I live and invest in eastern North Carolina, if you would like to talk more about opportunities here feel free to message me directly.

I'm a little late to the conversation but I also live in the area, specifically Jacksonville. I like it here but plan to move towards the Wilmington area in the next several years. Let me know if I can answer any questions!

Hello @Xavier Garcia. I live in and invest in Jacksonville and currently there are no multi-families for sale on the MLS, so you would have to find a deal off-market. The area is primarily SFH but there is good potential here depending on your goals. If you'd like to connect and discuss Jacksonville further, just let me know! Good luck!

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all the advice!

@Todd Pultz to answer your most recent question, I've been learning about REI for several years but still very new (this is our first rental and we're close to getting our 2nd). I'm learning as I go and the experience I'm working off of is the Marine Corps where lack of communication is unheard of, so thats why it bugged me so much. Its not that I don't know what expectations I want, just that this PM is definitely not meeting the expectations I'm used to, which is admittedly a little unfair to them because this isn't the Marine Corps. That being said, communication is still essential to me as a landlord.

When I asked around for PM companies and found this one, they were supposedly the best in town because they'd been around the longest. Problem is, you guys are right, they have not adapted to technology. I met with 2 people from the company, my PM who is well over 50 and another who is pushing 70. And thats not a generalization that elders can't adapt, its just that these two obviously haven't.

The most i get in terms of technology is monthly statements emailed about tenants paying rent, PM fee being deducted, and the owner draw being sent to me, as well as the balance of escrow.

The dont have anything for status of work orders or apparently anything for their own quality assurance if they had no idea the status 2 days after it was supposed to be done.

You've all given me a lot to think about and this has definitely been a learning experience for my REI journey, again I thank you all.

@Colin Reid but what if your PM told you it was supposed to be repaired a certain date and two days after that date, they had no clue the status of the repair? Thats my issue with my PM, no follow up, no oversight.

Thanks for the input everyone! It's definitely given me plenty to reflect on. Like @Terry Johnson said, its a matter of perspective. I understand where @Matt M. is coming from on the contractor perspective, and I don't even mind if work is backed up or its waiting on parts, my issue is the perceived lack of attention. I've been burned in the past by a contractor not following up on a work order which resulted in roofing supplies not being order for 2 weeks. I dont want to micromanage but if I assume that people are assuring quality on my properties without taking steps to ensure so, then I'm just repeating my mistakes. I see no reason that Property Management should not be checking in on a repair like A/C in North Carolina heat, and have no clue "what happened in the past 2 days". It all worked out and was repaired but, from what I've seen, quality assurance is what separates good landlords from slumlords.

@Tracy Streich thank you for the insight, I thought that I may be overreacting. I'm used to the military where quality assurance is drilled in so going multiple days without any update is unheard of, even if the part is on back order, so the lack of communication is what bugged me. I understand things aren't as strict in the civilian world so it's just a growing pain. Thanks for the advice!

@Tony Edington thank you for the advice! I'll look into that.

Hello everyone,

We own a SFH rental that has been leased since March of this year. I handed keys over to property management at the end of last year and they got to work advertising, got a tenant in there, everything went well. It's been pretty smooth sailing thus far, I pay them 10% of monthly rent and I've had no headaches, but now the first major issue has popped up and I feel like they aren't handling it correctly:

On Tuesday, September 8th I receive a text from my property manager that the A/C isn't working on the ground floor of the property. They ask if I have any preference for repairs and I say no, just please get someone out there to find out the problem. They say "will do," no more contact the rest of the day.

I text the next morning, Wednesday, September 9th, ask what we found out, they say "nothing yet, I'll call today and let you know." No more contact the rest of the day.

I text Thursday morning, September 10th, ask for an update. They say that some zone control board got wet, he'll email a quote shortly and they'll let me know when they get it. They do text me a couple hours later saying it will cost around $1,500 for the repair, and ask if I would like a 2nd opinion even though it would likely result in another service call fee. I say no, just please have them fix it and send me the invoice when it's done. They don't even respond to that text.

I text Friday morning, September 11th, they say, "tech got the go ahead 2 repair yesterday. Will check w/ him on part availability & scheduling when I get back to the office." They text again later saying the tech somehow bypassed the system to work until Monday when the tech will return and do the repair. Cool, the tenants at least have A/C, (it's in North Carolina, A/C is pretty much required). I figure the repair is happening Monday so no reason to bug PM on Monday.

I text Tuesday, September 15th asking for an update. No response all day.

I text this morning, Wednesday, September 16th. The A/C has now been reported broken for 8 days. PM responds with "Give me a few minutes & I'll get w/ the vendor" then shortly later, "He said the tenant is meeting him @ 11 & work would take 1 - 1.5 (hours). Not sure what happened between Monday & today. Outside temp was 64 this morning, so that's a good thing." I'm sorry, what? The repair was supposed to happen Monday but you, as the Property Manager, don't know what's going on with it for 2 days?

Am I over reacting here? Because it feels like there is a lack of quality assurance, and my main concern as a landlord is to ensure comfortable living conditions for my tenants. If I hadn't constantly texted them, how long would they have gone before checking on the repair? I discussed it with my mentor who has his own Property Management company and he says that that's unacceptable. I never want to go behing my PM's back and contact the tenant directly, but at the end of the day, they are the ones paying the rent and PM is the one dropping the ball.

I plan to have a discussion with my PM after the repairs are complete and find out why there was such a disconnect, but I wanted to seek advice before doing that. How does BP think I should handle this? If the conversation goes south and we don't feel like we should continue business, how should I go about switching PM companies while making the transition as painless as possible for the tenant?

Thank you for any and all advice! 

Thank you everyone for the advice!