Posted by JPiper on May 10, 2000 at 09:28:07:
I agree. No one cares more about your business than you do…especially “professional managers”.
JPiper
You can’t win! - Posted by Eduardo (OR)
Posted by Eduardo (OR) on May 09, 2000 at 14:31:55:
Two stories just reported by Reuters on Yahoo News:
Tuesday, May 9th: “U.S. houses are literally crawling with bugs…” “…the first-ever national survey of dust mites and cckroaches showed that 45% percent, or 44 million homes, have dust mite allergens…" "Dust mites and cckroaches are known to cause allegic reactions and worsen asthma symptoms in many people.” “…the problem is not a trivial one.” “…more than 10 percent of homes, about 1.2 million, have roach infestations in their beds…” “[Patrick Vojta of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences] thinks the picture will be even worse when his team looks at samples taken from kitchens.”
Monday, May 8th: “People exposed to bug sprays in the home may have a higher risk of Parkinson’s disease, an incurable neurological disorder, reserchers reported…” “[Lorene Nelson, a neurepidemiologist at Stanford University School of Medicine, and colleagues said] people who had been exposed to pesticides were twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease as people not exposed to pesticides.” “…it is the first study to show a significant association between home pesticide use and the risk of developing Parkinson’s…” “…this is an area of public health importance that needs to be pursued, she said.”
Guess I’ll have to have my tenants request spraying or other pest extermination treatment in writing with a clause protecting me. Or maybe I’ll just give them a flyer explaining why I don’t provide the service anymore. P.S. Oops, I triggered J.P.'s censor with the word: "cckroach" That’s a dmn shame.
Re: You can’t win! - Posted by Rob FL
Posted by Rob FL on May 10, 2000 at 07:56:43:
I don’t know how it is elsewhere in the country, but in Florida landlords are required by state law to exterminate for pests if the property is larger than a 2-family. Just make sure you cover yourself in the lease and then do your best with protecting the tenants when the spraying occurs.
another professional manager problem - Posted by RR Smith
Posted by RR Smith on May 09, 2000 at 20:17:06:
and another and another, just counting the people that have been discouraged from REI by trying (UNSUCCESSFULLY) to manage their own property. Quite a few by the posts…what does that have to do with PROFESSIONAL REI?? YOU ARE BEING DISTRACTED!! Focus, grasshopper, wax on, wax off.
I beg to differ - Posted by JohnG
Posted by JohnG on May 09, 2000 at 21:23:15:
I beg to differ.
I have been discouraged and distracted from the pursuit of real estate happiness because of the un-professional managers that I have used.
I am talking about the big name firms that handle large complexes for the banks etc. For some unknown reason, I thought that these would be porfessional operations.
Well, was I wrong. These are reservoirs of people who are incapable of making a dollar for themselves and they are masquerading as people who can save you money and increase the value of your properties. No such luck.
I ended up firing two such companies; installed my own hand selected on-site managers and I have great success in increased rents and decreased costs. I am firmly of the opinion that management companies are NOT a good route to go - not by a long shot.
Re: another professional manager problem - Posted by JPiper
Posted by JPiper on May 09, 2000 at 21:05:06:
I’m not exactly sure what point you were driving at in your post…but if it was a recommendation or suggestion regarding the superiority of “professional property managers” I think you’re WAY off base. This field is full of ineffective fools who are much more expensive than their fee.
JPiper
hand pick your manager - Posted by RR Smith
Posted by RR Smith on May 10, 2000 at 05:11:18:
If you don’t get the point of the first post it is a (somewhat obscure reference to the martial arts)indication of LACK OF FOCUS. If you spend all your time on landlording stuff and none on REI that would be a BAD THING. I agree very much that most of the time management companies are not the way to go.
Re: another professional manager problem - Posted by JohnG
Posted by JohnG on May 10, 2000 at 07:14:31:
I am of the same opinion.
Speaking of their fees - that is where it gets real interesting. I used to think - 4% is not bad. Thats only for openers - wait till they bill you for faxes, photocopies, office supplies and the large stable of incompetant, overpriced “labor” they have on hand.
And I don’t care if we are talking about 2 units or 200 units - I will now go on record stating that I will never use a management company again.
I inherited two management companies when I bought two large condo townhouse complexes that were both in foreclosure. These management companies were large outfits that had been around for years, so they must be good right ? Right !!!
They both had absolutely no concept of getting value for money - everything was just a phone call to some other company that made a living dealing with absentee owners who knew nothing about property.
I am also on the board of a condo complex and we had a management company running that. Well, after 9 months of watching them waste money, do very poor and temporary repairs, and charge hundreds of monthly extras like $25 for faxes and $40 for photocopies etc we fired their over priced butts out of there.
We now “self-manage” the complex - and we installed our own hand picked “resident managers” and our costs are way down and our reserve fund is way up.
Anytime that one can save large sums in this business it is worth it - the hourly savings are unreal. It takes very little time once the right people are in place and that extra time is more than offset by not laying awake nights worrying about how much someone is stealing from you.