What do you know about property management companies?

[Sly]

I know some of you guys use them. What can you tell me about them? Assume I know practically nothing.

Standard rates? What exactly do they take care of? What exactly do they offer? Does using one make an owner's life virtually hasslefree?

Etc. etc. Any information would be great, thanks!

[datatank]

I use one I think they take 7% on rentals
Takes care of a ton of stuff. Basically if something goes wrong or breaks tenants call them and they arrange for it to be repaired.

[epitome]

I used to own one. For 7% we handled everything ... owners only had to check their mailbox for monthly checks. The lazy ones elected for direct deposit which meant no trips to the mailbox or bank. We also had a 15% markup on any maintenance or renovations done by an outside company although smart owners elected us to do it in-house which always ended up being cheaper.

Property managers tend to either be great or suck. With my company it wasn't above me to go out to all properties at 2 AM in order to shovel snow so that the homeowner would not be fined the next day (the law is typically that snow must be cleared 4 hours after it stops coming down).

People that turned over their entire investment portfolio to us could negotiate us down to 5%.

It is important to spell out EVERYTHING that you will receive (or not) in your management agreement. Ours was 15 pages long ... some companies use a single page -- they are the ones out to fuck you.

EDIT: Sly, I've always liked you, so feel free to hit me up tomorrow or Monday or ICQ to pick my brain.

[Sly]

7%? No shit? I thought somebody told me 15%. Interesting.

Thanks for the information so far. Would definitely like to talk with you more about this epitome, will get you soon.

[GTS Mark]

Property management is always tons of fun LOL!

[Atticus]

I use a property manager for my rental homes and they charge 8%. They take care of everything and I receive a check on the 10th of every month. If something goes wrong they fix it and deduct the charge from the next check and include the receipt for the charges. If its a charge over $500 they have to get my approval first.

Pretty painless process and worth the $ in my opinion. My wife and I used to do it ourselves and it's a pain in the ass, especially if you're not handy (and I'm not).

[Sloane]

I use a property manager for my properties in Australia and New Zealand. I was under the impression this was not a popular thing to do in the US, with LandLords taking care of things themselves? Can you guys in the States let me know if it is now common for most areas to have a property management company? If this is the case I would definately invest some money in the USA.

[Semi-Retired-Dave]

They are very sneaky though, That is why I like to manage my own properties. If something cost 200 bucks to repair, they'll add 100.00 to it. If you are not on top of them and questioning them on everything, they will rob you. And if you are on top of them, then it's better to do it yourself.

I tried it, I was paying 10% for a few months, but I usually get hassle free tenants so it's not worth the management companies.

Hope that helps.

[Amputate Your Head]

I have a property manager here for this place, and it sucks. Every little thing is a fucking ordeal. Lawn sprinklers go out? Was a year & a half of "negotiations" with the owners before they authorized 3 new sprinkler heads and 4 new controls to be put in. Furnace goes out in winter? Was three weeks while the owners pondered their options, while we froze. A/C go out in summer when it's 108 outside? No problem. They had their special contract guy come out in a month when he had time. Took him 4 visits to fix it, collecting an appearance fee every time.

Fucking property managers are a pain in the ass.

[Sly]

Originally Posted by Amputate Your Head

I have a property manager here for this place, and it sucks. Every little thing is a fucking ordeal. Lawn sprinklers go out? Was a year & a half of "negotiations" with the owners before they authorized 3 new sprinkler heads and 4 new controls to be put in. Furnace goes out in winter? Was three weeks while the owners pondered their options, while we froze. A/C go out in summer when it's 108 outside? No problem. They had their special contract guy come out in a month when he had time. Took him 4 visits to fix it, collecting an appearance fee every time.

Fucking property managers are a pain in the ass.

Your beef is with renting, not using property managers to handle property you own.

[IllTestYourGirls]

Originally Posted by epitome

I used to own one. For 7% we handled everything ... owners only had to check their mailbox for monthly checks. The lazy ones elected for direct deposit which meant no trips to the mailbox or bank. We also had a 15% markup on any maintenance or renovations done by an outside company although smart owners elected us to do it in-house which always ended up being cheaper.

Property managers tend to either be great or suck. With my company it wasn't above me to go out to all properties at 2 AM in order to shovel snow so that the homeowner would not be fined the next day (the law is typically that snow must be cleared 4 hours after it stops coming down).

People that turned over their entire investment portfolio to us could negotiate us down to 5%.

It is important to spell out EVERYTHING that you will receive (or not) in your management agreement. Ours was 15 pages long ... some companies use a single page -- they are the ones out to fuck you.

EDIT: Sly, I've always liked you, so feel free to hit me up tomorrow or Monday or ICQ to pick my brain.

7%? That would not even cover the costs of mowing the lawn, never mind the cost of snow removal. How did you do it so low?

Taking care of a house rented for $700/month would bring in $49/month and $588/year. Mow the law twice a month? Snow plowing 15 days a month in the winter? How do you make money?

I would like more info too. With construction way down I was thinking about expanding into this area to keep some of my guys busy.

[Amputate Your Head]

Originally Posted by Sly

Your beef is with renting, not using property managers to handle property you own.

I know. I just figured some perspective from the receiving end of one might be useful.

[Quotealex]

Originally Posted by IllTestYourGirls

7%? That would not even cover the costs of mowing the lawn, never mind the cost of snow removal. How did you do it so low? .

You are confusing Maintenance with Management.They charge 7% to management the property but you still have to pay on top of that all the repairs and maintenance expenses...

[Vendzilla]

My management company for my house in Shasta Lake Ca charges me 8% and has a repair guy thats fast and pretty cheap. Does pretty good work. It's a no brainer, I don't want to mess with it and when I tried to do it myself, it wa a nightmare, the renters did $15k in damages to the house, why the fuck would anyone drill holes in the new countertops?

[IllTestYourGirls]

Originally Posted by Quotealex

You are confusing Maintenance with Management.They charge 7% to management the property but you still have to pay on top of that all the repairs and maintenance expenses...

Well he made it sound like it was part of the fees. If its not that makes sense.

[BigRod]

Any property managers interested in an a web based property management software email or ICQ me. They are a new client and their software is amazing. Every one of my real estate clients loves their software.

[Hank_Heartland]

Fuck tenants I had Vendzilla's kind of experience with a tenant $7000 done to one appartment...I quit renting after that

[datatank]

Tenants suck. I just got some out and going over every thing they owe around $6k.
The deposit was only $2500

[fuzebox]

Our is pretty expensive IMO... She charges 10% (minimum $100). On top of that she charges $350 to find a new tenant (advertises, 1 year lease agreements, credit checks, screening etc). The rate for handyman visits aren't that great, (every couple of months there is $1-300 for fixing toilets, replacing doorknobs, bullshit like that), and she also charges a fee to pay bills on our behalf.

It ends up being closer to 20% after everything, but she did find all our tenants and takes care of everything, which is important seeing as we live 3000 miles away.

[Vendzilla]

Originally Posted by Hank_Heartland

Fuck tenants I had Vendzilla's kind of experience with a tenant $7000 done to one appartment...I quit renting after that

the holes in the counters were one thing, but they turned a bathroom into a serving area for dinners in the master bedroom, fucking nuts

It was a pain in the ass, I have great insurance with Farmers, I called them, next day the adjuster was there, next day I had a check for $9950.00 and an appointment with their floor people, they redid my flooring for most of the house, I did some upgrades and ended up putting about $1k into the house. I have some good tenants in there now, been there for over 2 years now. If all goes well with the new business, when they move out,. I'll just use the place for vacations

[beemk]

Originally Posted by Amputate Your Head

I have a property manager here for this place, and it sucks. Every little thing is a fucking ordeal. Lawn sprinklers go out? Was a year & a half of "negotiations" with the owners before they authorized 3 new sprinkler heads and 4 new controls to be put in. Furnace goes out in winter? Was three weeks while the owners pondered their options, while we froze. A/C go out in summer when it's 108 outside? No problem. They had their special contract guy come out in a month when he had time. Took him 4 visits to fix it, collecting an appearance fee every time.

Fucking property managers are a pain in the ass.

this is the kind of low lifes you have to deal with when renting properties, another reason to use a property manager!

[james_clickmemedia]

The property management company I use charges 10% of rental amount each month.
They also charge 1 months rent to find, screen new tenant etc.
I have them handle repairs and the rates are better than I would pay if I had to find somebody each time.
I have owned rental properties since around 1998 and have always used them as I don't what to drive 10 miles from my house at night to fix a dripping faucet etc.

[stocktrader23]

Originally Posted by Sly

7%? No shit? I thought somebody told me 15%. Interesting.

Thanks for the information so far. Would definitely like to talk with you more about this epitome, will get you soon.

It's 10% here but rent is probably a lot cheaper in general.