Investment Property Management: What Metrics To Track And Why? Whether you manage your own investment portfolio, or hire a property management company to manage your investments, there are key metrics to track and measure if you want to truly find success. Any two real estate investors will define success differently, especially when it comes to property management. If you follow on-line forums dedicated to real estate, you will notice heated arguments on the merits of using property … [Read more...]
Owning Rental Property Without Managing Tenants: Why I Use Property Managers
July 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Owning Rental Property Without Managing Tenants: Why I Use Property ManagersA few weeks ago, David, a co-worker of mine, got on the topic of investing in rental properties. After what seemed like 20 minutes, I found out the following about David:He owned a 4-plex ten years ago. He lost a lot of money. He hated dealing with tenants. He will never buy an investment property again. What I deciphered from his story was that he took on too much. He handled every aspect of his rental business … [Read more...]
Real Estate in Japan – “The Tenant is King”
July 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Real Estate in Japan – “The Tenant is King”We’ve covered the basics – Japan’s got beautiful cash-flow, zilch to negative capital gain (may change, may not), and the icing on the cake – the best and safest business and residential environment one could possibly hope for as a foreign investor or business person.So, the question begs to be asked –why isn’t everybody and their dog shopping there???Well, the big boys, (GS, DBG, Fortress, TPG, etc) already are, as mentioned. As for … [Read more...]
Managing My Own Rental Property?
March 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Managing My Own Rental Property?There are many good reasons to manage your own rental properties. First, there is the common saying that “nobody cares about your property as much as you do.” That’s true and nobody will likely try harder to find and keep good tenants than you will. Another reason to manage your properties is because it will save you a good amount of money. Most rental companies will charge you 10% of the monthly rent. Therefore, if you’re renting a place for $1,500 a … [Read more...]
Property Management Is There A Quick Fix?
February 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Property Management Is There A Quick Fix?Will the single family investment dream crumble before the realities of managing rental properties? Last year only about a third, 35 percent, of single family rentals made a profit on their rental income. The 3.8 million that lost money or broke even saw their owners’ dreams of a steady, annual rental income evaporate into the ether.Lack of profits isn’t due to lack of effort. Nearly eight out of ten individual investors manage their own … [Read more...]
What’s Going on in REO World?
January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
What’s Going on in REO World?Crazy, crazy, crazy. One of the agents in my office recently got an assignment for an REO. How exciting!. Agents love REO assignments, and this wasn’t his first.Here’s the crazy part: When I was going over the paperwork, I noticed that the property had been foreclosed upon by the lender in 2008. I couldn’t believe it, so I actually asked a title company to double check that date for me. And, yes, it was true.So, here’s the clincher: the property is still … [Read more...]
Being a Great Landlord
January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
When I started buying real estate in the early 2000’s, I knew absolutely nothing about being agreat landlord. I had no idea about local laws or local codes and even less about actually being a good and responsible landlord. What I had done, and this is where the danger started, was read half of a book I picked up at the local library on how to be a property manager. I had attended several local REIA meetings and even hooked up with one local real estate investor that talked a great … [Read more...]
Being a Great Landlord
January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
When I started buying real estate in the early 2000’s, I knew absolutely nothing about being a great landlord. I had no idea about local laws or local codes and even less about actually being a good and responsible landlord. What I had done, and this is where the danger started, was read half of a book I picked up at the local library on how to be a property manager. I had attended several local REIA meetings and even hooked up with one local real estate investor that talked a great … [Read more...]
How To Train A Property Management Company
December 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
How to Train A Property Management CompanyThis past weekend I was digging through old DVD’s and “thinning” the big stack of movies we have and I came across a video I ordered online a few years back. It was a DVD on “How To Train Your New Dog At Home”. It was a slow Saturday and I suddenly found myself on the couch with the remote in hand re-watching this video and realizing how it wasn’t a video simply on training dogs, but really training anyone for anything. As I was … [Read more...]
Fall of a Property Manager
November 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Fall of a Property Manager As a real estate investor and landlord you need to have a strong and trustworthy team in order to have a strong and vibrant business. Operating as a one-man-band is fine at first and a majority of successful people probably started just that way. However, trying to manage all aspects of your business while taking it to the next level can leave you about as efficient as a one-armed paperhanger. Last year I wrote a series of articles detailing the trouble I was … [Read more...]
Rental Property Inspections
November 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Rental Property InspectionsWhen I ask a real estate investor when was the last time they inspected their investment properties. It is obvious from their contorted facial expressions that they most likely have never “formally” inspected their properties. While preforming “safe and clean inspections” during a tenancy is important, ensuring that “move-in” and “move-out” inspections are performed at the beginning and end of a rental relationship can mean the difference … [Read more...]
How to Hire a Property Manager
October 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I wondered, “What am I getting myself into buying an apartment building?” My two years of training at the University of Chicago in business administration didn’t include one minute of instruction in setting rents, showing apartments, or evicting non-paying tenants.What was I going to do?Many in my peer group have moved into investing in office [...]How to Hire a Property Manager is a post from: Real Estate Investing Blog For Real Estate Investors.Read the full post here... … [Read more...]
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Why I Have to Use Property Managers
Why I Have to Use Property Managers If you work full-time like I do and you chose to be an active real estate investor, you will likely face tough decisions every week. One area in which I see new investors struggle, and where experienced investors have strong opinions is the use of property management.As one of the experienced investors, I know for sure that if I managed my properties myself I could do a better job, save some money, collect more rent, and produce a better return on my … [Read more...]