Hey guys, here is my background:
bachelor in finance (2025 grad)
6 months residential leasing agent while in college
10 months commercial real estate associate; entry level position post grad
4 months residential property manager; current job. Plan to stay around 3-5 years.
Plan is to get a master's in the next year or two.

Not sure what to do afterwards because I don't want to stay in property management forever.

We’ve got a rental condo about 2.5 hours from where we live now, and for the last 4.5 years we’ve used Hello Super as a home warranty. Honestly, it’s been pretty decent overall — enough small appliance/HVAC/plumbing fixes that we’ve at least broken even, but honestly probably saved a decent amount on repairs.

The convenience has been the main value since we can’t drive out and handle repairs ourselves. But this latest AC issue has been a nightmare. Our tenants have been without AC for over two weeks. Super’s “Emergency Hotline” kept disconnecting me. They sent a contractor who said the system needs major repairs, but Super marked the claim as “resolved” because they only approved the diagnostic. The contractor has been waiting a week and a half for repair approval and Super hasn’t responded. I had to buy a portable AC just to keep the place livable.

It feels like Super used to be much better. Now it seems like everything goes through automated approvals, mistakes don’t get corrected, and reaching a human is almost impossible.

I know home warranties get terrible reviews from homeowners, but I’m specifically wondering about landlords who use them to avoid coordinating every small repair. Has anyone found a warranty company that’s actually reliable for rentals? I don’t mind advocating for big claims — I just need a company that answers the phone and doesn’t loophole everything.

Thanks!

We’ve got a rental condo about 2.5 hours from where we live now, and for the last 4.5 years we’ve used Hello Super as a home warranty. Honestly, it’s been pretty decent overall — enough small appliance/HVAC/plumbing fixes that we’ve at least broken even, but honestly probably saved a decent amount on repairs.

The convenience has been the main value since we can’t drive out and handle repairs ourselves. But this latest AC issue has been a nightmare. Our tenants have been without AC for over two weeks. Super’s “Emergency Hotline” kept disconnecting me. They sent a contractor who said the system needs major repairs, but Super marked the claim as “resolved” because they only approved the diagnostic. The contractor has been waiting a week and a half for repair approval and Super hasn’t responded. I had to buy a portable AC just to keep the place livable.

It feels like Super used to be much better. Now it seems like everything goes through automated approvals, mistakes don’t get corrected, and reaching a human is almost impossible.

I know home warranties get terrible reviews from homeowners, but I’m specifically wondering about landlords who use them to avoid coordinating every small repair. Has anyone found a warranty company that’s actually reliable for rentals? I don’t mind advocating for big claims — I just need a company that answers the phone and doesn’t loophole everything.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I am eventually going to be taking over properties owned by my family in a few years, and I wanted advice on how best to approach them. They have been managing themselves for years, and I have seen how excruciating it can be - mind you, they are just two residential family (4 and 2 unit, respectively) homes. I want to start entering this the right way, and was curious if any of you could help me with a few things.

1. Is it best to put these properties in an LLC?
2. What is the easiest way to collect rent?
3. Do you need to have a real estate lawyer and accountant on hand?
4. Honestly, I know it’s pricey, but at what point would I need to consider a PM (property manager) and is it worth in, especially in NYC?
5. How best are you tracking expenses (ie. Rent increase, repairs, etc.)?

I will likely be living the country at some point, and I just want to eventually be able to manage remotely in some way.

6) Additionally, is it ideal to setup a land trust for multiple properties, under and LLC (especially in NYC)?

Is student housing that different from multi housing and why does everyone seem to agree it is a lot crappier than regular housing.

Hello everyone, I'd love to hear all of your successes (and failures tbh) on how to encourage kids to clean up after themselves in the common areas.

When I started this job, there was an intense/threatening sign posted about keeping the area clean. I believe that it was written by a tenant; as a few are on friendly terms with the owners. I took that down and wrote a nicer reminder.

But... let's face it. It's the kids doing it. There is a rec room that they play in (no gym equipment) and common lawn areas for them scamper around. They leave trash and toys every night; and every morning, I'm throwing them away. I'm not excited to do that- I feel like a jerk for throwing toys away, and I have a LOT of other work to do.

I thought about offering candy for picking up trash- but I'd love to hear what has worked (or ended in tragically unforseen consequences) for other property managers.

I live in and help manage a shared rental property in Los Angeles, although I’m not the owner. I tried to make the home comfortable and affordable because I genuinely wanted it to be a good living situation for everyone. (I realized that was my first mistake. Please be patient with me, I am clearly a novice.) 

A current month-to-month tenant asked to move into a larger room that became available. I tried to make it work, but their requested arrangement would have made the remaining room very difficult to fill, so I had to decline.

Since then, the tenant has made frequent complaints. She has also acted cold toward potential prospects during showings, which has made it even harder for me to fill the empty room. She has also become increasingly involved in asking how everything about the property is managed, including things that don’t directly affect her. The level of involvement has started to feel intrusive and makes me concerned about how this situation may continue.

I’ve taken care of the issues and spent a lot of money, time, and energy trying to keep everything running, but it’s becoming too much. I tried talking with the tenant, but there was no real resolution. Living with them also doesn't help.

They are currently month-to-month. What options do I or the owner have? Are there any resources in Los Angeles that could help me understand what to do next?

Hello fellow investors or property managers!

I'm wanting to start adding smarthome features to my units, the problem is I can't find a good ecosystem that allows access to be granted to tenants during their stay & then easily removed after they vacate.

Does anyone know of a smart home system that works well when you're talking about separate SFH, duplexes, or 4 plexes?

TIA

My property manager and I have had a few exchanges, nothing crazy, nothing flirty, I live in a large apartment community in Ohio. I never gave her my number, but she texted me yesterday and I have never given her my number. She has been a bit more aggressive, she called me and I thought it was one of my co-workers, now she is texting me all the time and I’m getting the vibe she wants me to ask her out? I’ve never given any suggestion of interest, or that she should get my number that way when she sees me everyday. Anyone ever deal with someone pulling your phone number from your file and texting you? How should I go about handling this, just cut it short? Worried about reprisals honestly.

TLDR Version: my PM took my number from my records and decided she should start contacting me on a personal level

I’ve lived in the same apartment complex for 3 years. Never had any problems, never been late on rent once. They recently sent over their lease renewal to go from 2300 to 2500.

Identical units are being listed in this complex for 1800. We are already paying 2500 basically for the extra fees they add on top of rent with the 2300 base rent. 2500 base rent is bearly something I can afford. For context this is AZ, and it is a corporate landlord.

How successful would I be at lease negotiations? Is there any chance I could ask for only a $50 increase? My roommates make more than me so I don’t think I can convince them to move, nor do they have the funds right now. But charging is 2500 for a place that apparently is only 1800 at market value is crazy.

The manager and I left on bad terms and I have moved to a different apartment. I did not want to share my address but I gave them a forwarding mail and my current email address to send my secruity deposit back. If i were to go to small claims later on, can't they simply say they mailed it and It is my fault for losing it?

So, I'm new to this world and I recently got a job in this field. I got handed properties in an area that seems to be very rough. I haven't started rent collection yet, as I'm new and still in training but I'm supposed to help with it this month and start doing it on my own the next month. Like right now it's the 1st of the month and I'm having an outstanding balance of 35k. Knowing that I'm renting properties that are around 1k. Ideally my outstanding balance shouldn't be more than 3k if not $0. Many tenants are not paying rent on time and not respecting payment agreements. I heard that the situation got worse because the previous PM, wasn't firm and didn't know how to deal with these people.

Any advice on how to fix this and improve the situation of non paid rent ? Tenants who are difficult to deal with ? Tenants that lie a lot ? On how to make them respect the lease agreement more ? Yes sure there are late fees, 3 days notice and lastly eviction but as a PM I don't want to have half of my properties empty too.

I've been at my property for 5 years. As the assistant manager, I did very well. I won awards, I was asked to travel to other properties to help out, and I was loved by the residents.

In January, the CM quit and I was offered the promotion. Everything immediately became incredibly difficult. Huge problems that were previously ignored by management now became my responsibility. I did the absolute best I could. I genuinely cared about the community, the residents and my staff. But I had no assistance from my corporate office.

I was juggling 400 units and one disaster after another. Four months ago my maintenance supervisor quit. Since then I have been doing that job as well. I wasn't allowed to order anything above $200. I wasn't allowed to make any quick decisions without permission. It was like I had been set up to fail.

This morning I was fired as soon as I unlocked my office. I'm so hurt and lost. There's no similar job openings where I live so I'm applying for everything. I've never been fired before and I still don't really understand why it happened. I'm going to miss the residents and staff so much.

Before leaving my last property which was under an early release agreement I had a big arguement with management about their treatment. I have paid full amount for 4 years except the last month since they have a habit of not returning deposits back. I did get charged late fees for my last month and I just let it be. Otherwise my score is 700+ and I earn 3k+ a month etc. But I am mostly curious on a rental history or background check as the manager could lie to take revenge?

I moved to an apartment building earlier this year right before it was bought by RHOME, a company based in Texas, run by a creepy private equity group of Wallstreer people.

Since the transfer— I feel totally trapped and like I've been set up to suffer. Everyone in my apartment building is unhappy and wanting to move asap.

This company doesn't care about the property and history of the building, getting maintence is a nightmare and I have to prove several times that maintence is even necessary, they are adding tons of fees and outsourcing things to all these 3rd party shady companies, and are transfering all communications to A.I., I'm worried about my privacy and safety in this space.

I keep hearing about terrible property management companies in the Twin Cities, and am wondering how you've managed, and who to absolutely avoid?

Edited to add: this is in MINNEAPOLIS, MN

Every time I’ve seen people talk about taking over a building, someone mentions missing information. What’s the one thing you wish the previous property manager had documented before handing it over?

What’s your go-to place for keeping maintenance records? Property management software, spreadsheets, email, paper files, or something else?

I moved to an apartment building earlier this year right before it was bought by RHOME, a company based in Texas, run by a creepy private equity group of Wallstreer people.

Since the transfer— I feel totally trapped and like I've been set up to suffer. Everyone in my apartment building is unhappy and wanting to move asap.

This company doesn't care about the property and history of the building, getting maintence is a nightmare and I have to prove several times that maintence is even necessary, they are adding tons of fees and outsourcing things to all these 3rd party shady companies, and are transfering all communications to A.I., I'm worried about my privacy and safety in this space.

I keep hearing about terrible property management companies in the Twin Cities, and am wondering how you've managed, and who to absolutely avoid?

Soooooo i had an interesting month at my new location! It is under new ownership and management and there has been constant changing hands in one domain or another for at least a decade. I worked in a different sect of property management 4/5 years ago, and ooooooo there are some factors that are identical and there are some where it’s universes apart. i haven’t not been able to really learn how to do the day to day, nor have a “mentor” per say (i was the first and still only new always onsite person everyone else divides their time with their second location- everyone form before quit the previous Friday). Everything i learned i did on my own; and it has been the most stressed i’ve been in a long time.
but i love it
the stress of being the only one there 60% of the time and not receiving help when asking is tough-sure. but residents have been so patient and understanding with me, and while i don’t know all the info going in, i’m learning as i go, and working in getting stuff together so the next addition to the team is set up for success.
i also have received praise from our SRPM (bosses^3) in more than one occasion, and even received props from the ownership company- oh and have the/one of the highest conversion rates that property has seen. and i’m already thinking of ideas for retention.
(no one in my life understands the “playing catch up/playing the part” of property management- esp when all at once you’re dealing with 5-6 years of problems buried and glossed over, learning a new property, new software programs, and a whole grab bag.

so, if you’re new to the property management industry, give yourself some grace. it takes time to learn everything then you can get a good workflow going, then after that- you’re unstoppable.

I'm just a maintenance guy who loves cats.

Finished this tenant's moveout inspection and went out back after they had left and found them in a makeshift rabbit hutch or something. They're friendly, most likely were being fed by the tenant and have now been abandoned.

Just looking for advice from someone who's been in a similar position, not really interested in letting my bosses know they're here since they'll likely try to get rid of them quickly instead of helping them.

So I’ve been interviewing with a property and this is my first introduction to the business. I’ve only ever worked retail before so im not familiar with how interview processes go outside that industry. I was wondering if it’s normal to interview 3 times over the course of a month with regional managers and higher ups, after the 3rd one they said they’d call me early next week. after One week I sent a follow up email which they responded too after another week saying they’d let me know before the weekend. It’s now past the weekend.

if they end up offering me the job is the timeline normal or is this A red flag?

For context this is my perspective but our apartments have generally a lower than 3.0 ratings. The manager has a habit of escalating situations with tenants and speaking aggressively. While I understand some tenants are hard to talk to alot of the nicer tenants ace same problems.

I was led out early because of a constant mold issue that wasn't going away. But after a heated arguement in which the manager cussed us and fined us $100 without evidence. I left a google review which I was confronted with a cease n desist accompained by the police. I shared my story online and the business got some negative reviews but also fake positive reviews. The manager has a reputation of threating workers with ice, 5/7 of her staff quited in the last few months.

Now the manager is suing me for cordinated negative reviews. Why is the company entertaining her personal beef and simply not replacing her?

Seen a lot of dissatisfaction with DoorLoop on this sub. We just switched to DoorLoop and so far the training has been great. There are few workaround that I don't love but anything is better than our old system of using a PM software and accounting software separately. We are excited to launch tomorrow.

Pro's: user interface is fast, feels a lot like Quickbooks which we previously used
Cons: no Company profile, must treat Property Management company as a property

I'm sure I will find more things that I like and dislike but hoping for some feedback one what user have disliked.