Searching for a property manager for Anita’s Property X has not been easy. I left a bunch of messages for many of the property management companies in Smalltown, but only one called me back... Pace management. They said all the right things over the phone, but then I quickly remembered driving by many of their managed properties in the past. Grass not taken care of, rude contractors, and worthless looking tenants. Remember the Africans that used to live in Property X? Well I remember them previously living in an apartment managed by Pace and the place looked like it was falling apart. Knowing those Africans, I could definitely believe it if they were the ones responsible for the mess, but the image got stuck in my head as a negative for Pace. After some thought, I decided to use them as a last resort and try some other choices.
During last month’s dinner with Damon, I mentioned to him that I’m looking for a property manager. He mentioned that the contractor who is working on his Vacancy Bank property, Igor, is also a property manager. So I contacted Igor after the dinner and we talked the very next day.
Igor said all the right things and I met up with him at Property X that weekend. The guy looked like a bum, but most affordable local contractors can look disheveled so it wasn’t too big of a deal. He charges $50 a month per unit and handles all the labor as long as the owner buys the materials. Sounds too good to be true, right? Right! After a couple days, I knew things weren’t going to work out. He chose to post “For Rent” signs on the windows instead of posting an ad online. This yielded him one interview in three days. He was also tough to get into contact with, and was always late whenever we’d meet. I quickly decided to end our partnership, but on good terms. He may suck as a property manager, but he may prove useful as a handyman based on his work with Damon.
A couple of weeks ago I went over to Property X to pay Handyman Alfonso for work he did in the downstairs apartment. He mentioned to me that he used to do property management with someone years ago, but they ended it because she was too nice to tenants and let them walk all over her… eventually putting her out of business. Suddenly I had a thought. What if he and I teamed up? What if he handled interviewing the tenants and collecting the rent and repairs, while I just handled the paperwork? It also made sense because he lives only a few blocks away and knows the people, so I’d have an experienced eye other than mine screening the tenants. And he’s been doing repairs on that place for years now. I presented the offer to him and he liked the idea. His cut would be 10% of the rents, which would be $70 for the downstairs and $50 for the upstairs. A fair deal, so we got the ball rolling.
By the end of this week, Property X should be fully occupied. This will be my final attempt to have some management control over Property X. While Alfonso handles the daily operation, I’ll still handle the paperwork and keep a close eye on things. If this doesn’t work, then it goes to a real property management company and that will be that. I’m not sure why I can’t let this go. I should, shouldn’t I? Property X has given me nothing but problems since Day 1. So if I have a chance to completely hand it over to a property management company, why not do so? I guess I want to make sure that I did everything I could to make it work. It’s a family thing, and… and…
Hmm. You know, the more I write this and read it back to myself, the more I think I’m making a big mistake…
During last month’s dinner with Damon, I mentioned to him that I’m looking for a property manager. He mentioned that the contractor who is working on his Vacancy Bank property, Igor, is also a property manager. So I contacted Igor after the dinner and we talked the very next day.
Igor said all the right things and I met up with him at Property X that weekend. The guy looked like a bum, but most affordable local contractors can look disheveled so it wasn’t too big of a deal. He charges $50 a month per unit and handles all the labor as long as the owner buys the materials. Sounds too good to be true, right? Right! After a couple days, I knew things weren’t going to work out. He chose to post “For Rent” signs on the windows instead of posting an ad online. This yielded him one interview in three days. He was also tough to get into contact with, and was always late whenever we’d meet. I quickly decided to end our partnership, but on good terms. He may suck as a property manager, but he may prove useful as a handyman based on his work with Damon.
A couple of weeks ago I went over to Property X to pay Handyman Alfonso for work he did in the downstairs apartment. He mentioned to me that he used to do property management with someone years ago, but they ended it because she was too nice to tenants and let them walk all over her… eventually putting her out of business. Suddenly I had a thought. What if he and I teamed up? What if he handled interviewing the tenants and collecting the rent and repairs, while I just handled the paperwork? It also made sense because he lives only a few blocks away and knows the people, so I’d have an experienced eye other than mine screening the tenants. And he’s been doing repairs on that place for years now. I presented the offer to him and he liked the idea. His cut would be 10% of the rents, which would be $70 for the downstairs and $50 for the upstairs. A fair deal, so we got the ball rolling.
By the end of this week, Property X should be fully occupied. This will be my final attempt to have some management control over Property X. While Alfonso handles the daily operation, I’ll still handle the paperwork and keep a close eye on things. If this doesn’t work, then it goes to a real property management company and that will be that. I’m not sure why I can’t let this go. I should, shouldn’t I? Property X has given me nothing but problems since Day 1. So if I have a chance to completely hand it over to a property management company, why not do so? I guess I want to make sure that I did everything I could to make it work. It’s a family thing, and… and…
Hmm. You know, the more I write this and read it back to myself, the more I think I’m making a big mistake…
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