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BiggerPockets Money Podcast

536: My Property Manager Robbed and Ghosted Me ($40K Stolen!)

BiggerPockets Money Podcast

BiggerPockets

Investing, Education, Business

4.62.9K Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2024

⏱️ 55 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you get your property management wrong, you could lose tens of thousands of dollars. A sketchy property manager could take all your rent and run, leaving you with the bills and no hope of recovering your long-lost rent checks. That’s precisely what happened to today’s guest, a seasoned real estate investor who’s even looked up to as an expert in the industry. Even he made a sizable property management mistake, and in this episode, we’re trying to help you avoid the same fate. The BiggerPockets Podcast Network is bringing you a crossover episode with the Real Estate Rookie podcast’s Ashley Kehr and the BiggerPockets Money podcast’s Scott Trench. Scott is not only the host of BiggerPockets Money but also the CEO of BiggerPockets. And today, he’s sharing every painful detail about how he lost over $40,000 by hiring a bad property manager. This IS an avoidable mistake, but some easily overlooked red flags could put you in the same position as Scott unless you’re very careful. Scott shares the entire story and gives the top red flags to look out for. He’ll explain why he DOESN’T give his whole portfolio to one property manager, why you MUST set communication standards from the start, the questions EVERY investor should ask before hiring a property manager, and the fees you should refuse to pay the next time you outsource your property management. Need a property manager? We’ll share the best tool ANYONE can use to find a property manager TODAY! In This Episode We Cover Deadly property management red flags and signs you should run from a property manager Why you never, EVER give your entire portfolio to a single property manager/property management company Simple questions to ask that immediately show if a property manager is legit Negotiating fees and why Scott is okay with paying a higher monthly rate Communication expectations and what a property manager should be sending you EVERY month The easiest way to find a great property manager wherever you invest And So Much More! Links from the Show BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group Network with Other Investors on The Path to FIRE Through the BiggerPockets Forums Finance Review Guest Onboarding Join BiggerPockets for FREE Mindy on BiggerPockets Scott on BiggePockets Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place Apply to Be a Guest on The Money Show Podcast Talent Search! Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area Find Investor-Friendly Lenders Property Manager Finder Want to Self-Manage Your Rentals Instead? Grab the New Book, “Self-Managing Landlord” Ask Other Investors Your Property Management Questions on the BiggerPockets Forums Past Episodes Mentioned in Today’s Show: Real Estate Rookie 59 - Rookie First-Time Home Buyer Questions Answered by Scott and Mindy Real Estate Rookie 200 - Scott Trench’s 10-Step Checklist to Buy Your First Rental Property Real Estate Rookie 401 - Boost Your Cash Flow in 2024 with These “Self-Management” Tips BiggerPockets 513 - The “Red Flags” of Investment Fraud from a Former $3.8M Ponzi Scheme Manager Connect with Ashley on BiggerPockets Connect with Scott on BiggerPockets 00:00 Intro 01:20 Hiring the Property Manager 03:37 Things Start Going Wrong 06:12 Losing $40K! 09:32 Property Manager Red Flags 15:39 Questions You MUST Ask 23:34 Negotiating Fees 30:05 Asset Type Matters! 34:54 Communication Expectations 37:29 Vetting for Legitimacy 43:16 Find a GREAT Property Manager Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-536 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Putting out fires is a property manager's job for their investors, but a bad

0:04.2

property manager can impact your fire journey if you aren't careful. I'm going to tell

0:09.4

you why on today's show. Welcome to the BiggerPockets Money

0:11.9

Podcast where we at BiggerPockets have a goal to help

0:14.8

one million people achieve financial freedom and specifically become millionaires.

0:19.8

We truly believe here at Bigger Pocket's Money that Financial Independence is

0:22.8

sustainable by anyone no matter when or where they're starting, including if a

0:27.3

property manager steals a small fortune like 40, 50 or 60,000 dollars from them.

0:32.1

Today I'm joined by Ashley Care of the real 40, 50, or 60,000 dollars from them.

0:32.7

Today, I'm joined by Ashley Kerr

0:34.7

of the Real Estate Rookie Podcast to share my story,

0:37.4

and I'm in the hot seat.

0:39.0

This is very much a money story

0:40.2

and how I parted ways from my property manager but turbulent times can be expected for anyone over a portfolio's life cycle

0:46.3

And in the context of today's episode I get a little humbled here realizing I still have a lot of work to do to become an expert at selecting property managers.

0:55.0

Hope you enjoy it and learn from it.

0:57.0

I certainly learned a lot from Ashley and her great questions.

1:00.0

Scott, thank you so much for joining us today.

1:02.0

Thanks so much, Ashley. I'm super excited to be here, although in the context of sharing a little bit of an embarrassing person and costly loss that I had in my real estate portfolio in the last couple of years.

1:13.4

Well I'm sure this isn't easy to open up about but we definitely appreciate you being

1:18.0

vulnerable in this situation so kind of take us back to when this started happening.

1:24.6

What did your portfolio look like and what kind of situation were you in?

...

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