For years, I struggled with whether I should keep writing this blog.
On the plus side, the blog has introduced me to hundreds of people who became brokerage clients, property management clients and/or investors in our deals.
On the negative side, I have educated a whole legion of people who compete with me for deals, which used to drive me insane.
However, recently, I have come to the following realization: Rather than being upset that some of you compete with me, I should instead offer to go into business with you.
Here’s why: When we were starting out, I went around meeting management companies to find one to manage our properties upon completion of the rehab process. I walked away from those meetings unconvinced, and we have self-managed ever since (with a few, minor exceptions).
We built exactly the kind of management organization you want for new / newly renovated buildings: responsive, transparent, totally buttoned-up on the financial side, etc. And it was expensive… for years, until we reached ~400 units under management, Jon and I had to subsidize the management company from our deal fees (ouch).
Now, we’re at ~600 units and we actually like the property management business. It’s no longer a necessary evil; it’s one of the two core things we do (the other, obviously, being buying and renovating buildings). And I am confident we’re better at leasing-up and managing new / newly renovated small-to-medium sized apartment buildings than any other organization in LA.
So, back to you guys out there competing with me: Since we have the team set up already, and since you’re going to need someone good to manage your deal(s), we might as well work together.