All Forum Posts by: Paul Kuhn

I am long distant land-lording in Indianapolis. A leak was reported to Great Jones by the tenant a while ago, which we have asked them to repair. There has been no repair completed, with an updated photo below of the unit from an assessor. How can I get the unit leak fixed before it destroys more of the property? Great Jones has not responded to our emails/requests to fix the issue. If you try calling their customer support number, it sends you to voicemail after 5minutes. Almost no ability to talk to a human... Even their emergency repair 24/7 line does not work. As an owner, there is absolutely no way to escalate this. They do not keep a copy of the key, so I need to contact the tenant for which information I do not have. If the tenant isn't available to let them in, I need to call a locksmith on top of it. How should I proceed to get the issue fixed? 

RUN AWAY FROM GREAT JONES!  I have water damage to my property for which I cannot get a response from them to fix. See the photo below. Communication is absolutely terrible and issues like this are not being addressed. They do not even keep a copy of the key, if you need access to the property to fix something, you need to have the tenants let you in or you need to call a lock smith.

Yes, I am looking for an online platform to begin self-managing too. About to close on a 10+unit apartment building and my wife and I would like to self-manage as much as possible, as I am local. Cozy has been acquired by apartments.com, and will not let me sign up for cozy, and the functions seem limited. Currently, I am looking at Hemlame for local, I tried to use them for an out-of-state investment property, but the cost with an agent would end up far greater than a full-service property manager.

The dream option would combine all accounting, bill pay, rent collection, provide eviction services, and maintenance coordination outside of normal hours. Some help with leasing would be great!

I have a duplex that is currently managed thru Great Jones (Worst Property Manager Ever), and I m looking for a new one - any suggestions?  Please help

@Nick M.My experience has been great with the submeters. The bills are being generated on the 1st of the month to the property manager so they can pass the bill onto the tenants. At first, there were delays in generating the bills, which caused me to login into my account manually and generate the bills. This caused some hesitancy with the property manager to use the service, but TrueSubmeter has seemed to iron out the kinks. I haven't attempted to call customer service since my last post, so I cannot comment on customer service. 

Attached below is a photo of my submeter setup. I had quest piping throughout the house, so we elected to redo all the plumbing and separate the units. 

Thank you for those that reached out to me, I will look into some of the suggestions that have been mentioned.

I own 4 properties in 4 different states, with two of them being own outright, all in my name. The properties are all insured with $1 million liability insurance with another $1 million in umbrella coverage (increasable to $5 million). I am looking to purchase a commercial property <15 units in about 6-8 months and plan on acquiring the property, whether in my name or LLC or other entity. This property would be in the same state as my current residence, which is a multifamily home.

My hesitation on an LLC is the paperwork involved; as a military member, I can be deployed to an area with little to no internet connectivity. Are there any maintenance-free LLC services out there if that is the option I should consider? Or would I be okay keeping the property in my name with higher umbrella insurance? Secondly, how should I organize my other properties?

Lastly, I am an anesthesia provider, will the current setup of my assets be at risk for medicolegal liability? (liability insurance of course).

Thank you all for your advice.

I have been using TrueSubmeter now for 4 months and I am very happy with the service (customer service is an entirely different issue). Due to finding quest piping inside my triplex during the remodeling of one of the units, I elected to repipe and separate all the units. The city would not provide separate mains, as a result, I had my plumber separate the main into 3 separate shut offs for each unit. At the shutoff, he installed the submetering device that you plug in and it tracks all water usage downrange. 

The billing is nice, provides a copy of the tenant's water bill, trash, and submeter charge on the bill that my property manager provides. One can plug in their own water/sewage rates, and up to 3 other miscellaneous charges. I pay $17.70/month for the 3 metering services, which I pass onto the tenants. 

I have no experience with the point of use meters. Their customer service sucks though, with long delays for emails, and they never answer the phone. I hope this helps you or whoever may choose to use their service. 

Goal is “be able” to retire and live comfortably in Hawaii at 45, 35 now (10more yrs till military retirement).

Own a commercial rental property.

Passive income goal not necessary as military retirement should be more than enough, though extra $$$ can be donated to the missionary field.

Work per diem to maintain anesthesia license (worked to hard for this to let it lapse).

Spend maximal time with family and enjoy the great outdoors!