All Forum Posts by: Steven Bond

Shaun Walker welcome to BP. I highly recommend our group. We specialize in off market Multifamily new construction. Owner occupied loans are a little more tricky with our system but me or a team member would be happy to bounce ideas around with you. Take care

@Micah Starbuck congratulations on your persistent efforts to build your portfolio and your ACTION.  I think it's pretty awesome to see people not just have a dream, but live action towards accomplishing it.  Question:  Why seek a property manager with only 2 properties? There are many excellent benefits to a great property manager.  I own a property management company that services our developments specifically for our client investors, but in your situation my advice would typically be to manage yourself for the following reason.  A property manager will have a hard time owning the value of your property with the money on the table.  Unless they have an excellent system and very high quality staff they simply will not care about your asset like you do because there isn't enough money in it too, yet from your end it could be quite costly.  

If you are in the area, I recommend managing yourself until you are at least 5 doors and hopefully till 10 doors.  I give the following advice in property management:

1. Take excellent photography.  You're selling a living space not a lawn mower.  Make sure you stage it, get the right lighting, use HDR photography and brand your rentals as well  with a watermark to help avoid someone using your photographs and to start creating a brand that people can trust.
2. Repair items to be proactive to avoid having to be so reactive.  
   • keep on top of yard
   • keep on top of plumbing leaks
   • keep on top of roof maintenance 
   • keep on top of HVAC system
3. Hold your tenant accountable to the pre-lease walk thru at the final walk thru.  If there are dings, dents, damages, stains, etc, you have to hold them accountable.
4. Market your listings on rentler.com via KSL and also through postlets.com (a syndicate platform which is owned by zillow and goes to dozens of sites for you and gives you an html code to paste into Craigslist)
5. Look at tenants cars when they apply and meet you.  Don't worry how expensive it is, but look at how they take care of their own asset.  If it's an absolute mess....your property will be too...if they seem to take pride in cleanliness, you're on the right track.
6. Verify references, previous landlords, and also the income stated on application and pay periods.  Credit is not enough to justify a good renter, nor should it be the primary resource for good or bad.
7. Charge late fees and do NOT ever vary.  Ensure your tenant knows up front that you cannot be lenient on late fees. The reason is that it is in a form discriminatory because once you extend for one person you must extend for all or you could be considered discriminatory.  You will honor maintenance requests to ensure a happy life in your home...you simply expect on time payments and care for the property.

All the very best in your real estate pursuits!

Matt Tomco welcome back to the game. I used to live in Gig Harbor, WA and now own a RE/MAX brokerage in Provo, UT and head up a multi family investment group. Regarding your networking here if you haven't yet I recommend joining Utah Valley Real Estate Investors club and possibly Salt Lakes as well to increase your sphere. I saw your site and you are taking a robust approach to the game which is solid to have a business model surrounding your idea. Nice work and all the best!

I think you are wise to drive for it given bandit signs and Mail aren't as personal and you are learning incredible insight and first hand experience which is valuable education in the process. You'll know from experience the best thing to do when the opportunities start arising. I would recommend joining the Salt Lake Real Estate Investors association if you haven't already. You'll get some first hand experience hyper local to your needs. All the best!

Won Park I have multiple clients in your same situation and this is a call we get almost daily. With that same capital you could generate $2500 ish a month with the correct multi family and have it professionally managed in the Utah market which has excellent key indicators, low vacancy, high stability and growth. Sounds like you should definitely keep your personal residence and allow that to play out and avoid the big move at this point. I'd love to chat more with details. All the best.

Chris Watkins I'll be back in town near end of this Month and would love to catch up. You can also email me Personally and I can schedule something that works for both of us. Thanks. I love what Becca said as well. You're pursuit is making you that much of a better professional in the business!

Chris Are you after cash flow, equity, stability, or all three and what is the priority? If you haven't looked into FIG we have had a solid track record for going on four years of providing all three of the above with over $100M in sales. Love to meet up with you. You can bring along Becca who already knows us or Steve so you have unbiased representation to verify with if you're more comfortable with that. Thanks! And best of luck with your investment choice!

Do you have the land already in mind you plan on building on? What terms are you seeking? Will you have money in the game as well and are you licensed, bonded and insured for the trades you will be acting as in the process?

Hello all. I know this post is really old, but came across it recently and much of the multifamily deals being sold with real value are off MLS and in house deals, or now in new construction like we are doing with FIG. Check it out. If you are looking for excellent returns and equity (but we sell the long-term hold) take a look and my team would be honored to help you out. We have a track record of over $100M in sales in Utah in the last 3 yrs.

I am seeing rents go up substantially. Check your lease terms to ensure you don't have limits built into them for renewals. After that I recommend most likely a 10% increase based on supply and demand right now. However, not knowing your units it's possible you are already over priced or have even more room to go up. We had units from the wrong prop management company we just took over and increased 15% without an issue. Also look at breaking up amenities you can offer to tenants as an increased bottom line. Storage space, Internet, etc.