2 main mistakes I see over and over with purchasers and property management.1.They buy a house either local or remote and put a manager in.With houses you run into this more than apartment complexes.You get brokers and agents that do management on the side to regular sales.They cut you A DEAL the turns out to be a nightmare.As soon as a sale comes along they drop watching your property for the small fee like a ton of bricks.Example you buy a 40k house for 500 rent and management gets 50 bucks a month at 10% of gross.I can't tell you how many calls I get when they use an inexperienced broker/agent to handle management to shave 1 or 2 %.Then when they get a bad tenant in they are hurting from their mistake.A full time manager has systems and checks in place to run it right.Just think about J Scott for example.Somebody that flips full time and has systems in place to have a positive outcome every time and minimize risk versus an occasional flipper that might do one a year and is winging it.The occasional flipper who was working for you or with you versus J Scott has the potential to make more mistakes.So you have to focus on what you get for what you are paying instead of just "this appears to be the cheapest!".

As they are all electric units (not gas), I don't have 220V service, in addition to the fact that washer/dryer can occasionally flood (4 units are on 2nd floor) as well as cost & moisture issues.I considered nad dropped the idea of coin op laundry given the buildings small size (6 units) and the fact that the outdoor "laundry shed" is not very secure and tenants constantly leave the shed door open and the coinboxes could be targeted, as well as I already have problems keeping neighbors from using it, etc.I am going to have the water company come out after closing, tell everyone to stop using water and they will check to see if the meter still spins - toilet leaks and faucet drips come to mind (I also wonder about possible main line water break, I had that happen twice in my life).

Well how many deals ya'll do a month... and how many hours do you work...Me, I work about 2 - 3 hours on a busy week... and my people typically still do 2 - 3 deals per month for me... with occasional spurts to 4 -5...

Available in 5 gal buckets and we always have some in stock.Bathrooms, floor to ceiling tile, no soap dished in the bath, tenants sometimes use them to get out of the tub, or stand on them to shave their legs, and pull them out enough for water to get behind them.No bathroom window in the shower, it is a leak waiting to happen.The end result for us, is that when a tenant moves out, it is a quick clean of the tile floors, fix the holes in the walls, touch up the paint job, re-caulk where needed and the units look wonderful, immaculate, and rent easily.

Occasionally the rent comes 2-5 days late but I can tolerate it (Usually it comes with the penalty so it's ok)The one in AL, is a little more handful but this is also expected.

That was the motivation behind my article on "Those Damn Investors are at it Again"I still slip occasionally, but try to use "housing provider" rather than investor in most of my talks, articles, and networking.

RobertWhile I can agree that there may be the OCCASIONAL exception, you need to let the tenants know, BEFORE they move in, that they will get served a notice on the 6th (if it is due no later than the 5th).

Although I don't hesitate to rat out troublesome tenants, there IS a downside occasionally: Battered doors and the damage from flash-bang grenades!

I have only received the occasional email updates as neith Keith Luker nor Jason Church ever answer their phones anymore.

That 50% includes taxes, insurance, property management, vacancy, maintenance as well as the variable and occasional expenses like a new roof, major tenant damage, or a lengthy eviction.What are you actually seeing in terms of expenses, rents and payments?