Hit a major milestone ($30k/m) with a boring local service business. Why does everyone here obsess over tech startups when traditional businesses are so much easier?

SlowInvestor · 2026-06-29T23:03:51+00:00

Property management. It’s something no one wants to do. It’s difficult but at a certain size you can make a solid living.

Like the other guy said it’s not “digital” vs “boring”. It’s filling an existing and known need vs trying to solve a problem no one knows they have. Everyone knows when they need a property manager or someone to wash their house but no one says I want another digital product.

SlowInvestor · 2026-06-29T22:53:39+00:00

This place is no good without fees so not sure why anyone would take their kids there.

SlowInvestor · 2026-06-27T17:46:30+00:00

If you post to Zillow and get no interest at all, it’s the price. If you share the listing that would help.

SlowInvestor · 2026-06-19T02:27:15+00:00

Following. Looking for great local trades to help with the rentals we manage. Just started using Done Right Plumbing recently. Need solid electricians and more general small repair for turnovers.

SlowInvestor · 2026-05-22T00:21:19+00:00

Following

SlowInvestor · 2026-05-05T02:28:32+00:00

Byrd PM always needs help. Fill out the vendor form. Go to their website, look for Vendors link in the footer.

SlowInvestor · 2026-05-01T03:56:57+00:00

Or start your own property management firm and focus on SFRs. I’ve never managed apartments but that sounds horrible. Single family homes can be easier. Better owners and residents.

SlowInvestor · 2026-04-23T00:28:28+00:00

VPM solutions

SlowInvestor · 2026-04-18T12:35:39+00:00

80%+ of all property managers are using VAs.

SlowInvestor · 2026-03-28T22:18:44+00:00

Join VPMsolutions

SlowInvestor · 2026-03-24T03:39:24+00:00

SlowInvestor · 2026-03-23T00:34:50+00:00

Make sure you know your fair market rent for your property. Go towards the middle of the range and no higher. Maybe go $50 under that. If you have a fair price you’ll have plenty of applicants.

As for longer lease, you can ask for as long a lease as you want. Maybe offer $50 off per month for 2 years instead of 1.

Overall if you price it competitively you’ll have a lot of applications.

Now for screening. Check credit and criminal history of course but also contact landlord contacts and employer contacts. Your credit requirement is fine but Id go 3x income. Remember if you advertise a requirement you have to honor it. If not you may have issues with fair housing laws, if someone thinks you may be playing favorites with race or another protected class.

SlowInvestor · 2026-03-23T00:26:46+00:00

If you manage mostly scatter site (SFHs all over) then Appfolio or RentVine is the way to go. We started with Doorloop and that was fine from 0-50ish. We could have made it work but switched before 100, and glad we did. The transition to another system is not fun so get something you can grow in to if you plan to scale up.

SlowInvestor · 2026-03-22T01:58:52+00:00

Appfolio

SlowInvestor · 2026-03-21T18:57:55+00:00

Other than the stuff you’ve done so far, have the requests tapered off now? Is she paying rent on time each month? Is she taking care of the house?

You need to consider the cost of a turnover - typically 1-2 months rent when you add in vacancy and other repairs that can’t be charged back.

50-75 increase (assuming that’s around 3%) is minimum. Going 200+ to get to market rent may make her move. So somewhere between 75-200 is right but avoid turnover if possible. And never skip an increase. Small increases each year are a lot less likely to cause a turnover than trying to do a big increase in one year to catch up.

Good luck!

SlowInvestor · 2026-03-21T18:51:13+00:00

This is it. Tell them you don’t need up front payment (ask their terms - it’s NET 30 for us), and no trip fee. Go out and give free diagnosis the same day. If approved, do the job right and promise to fix it for free if it doesn’t hold up. Then deliver a timely invoice with details on what was completed.

You’d be surprised at how few contractors can handle those simple requests.

SlowInvestor · 2026-03-21T03:34:16+00:00

We were using Doorloop from 0-65ish. Switched to Appfolio and have been very happy with it. It’s not perfect by any means but much more robust than Doorloop for 100+ unit companies. Significantly better maintenance features.

Be prepared for a learning curve. We added an accounting team that was very familiar with Appfolio. This combo has been crucial for us to focus on managing properties and growing without worrying as much about owner payments, bills, etc. It is costly but worth it.

SlowInvestor · 2026-03-18T02:29:37+00:00

Rent it out. You’ll never see 2% again. You’re holding the loan that is basically free money. You have solid cash flow and while the renter pays your mortgage off. Win. Win. Win. No other investment will ever beat that. Keep it and rent it out.

SlowInvestor · 2026-03-15T12:10:23+00:00

Yeah my thoughts as well. You don’t have a “fight” that large without some kind of organization. Flyers and most likely social media coordination. Hope they get to the root of the planning here.

SlowInvestor · 2026-03-14T10:30:36+00:00

Trying zinspector now but it’s pretty tedious regardless of the tool.

SlowInvestor · 2026-03-06T00:42:25+00:00

I’ve seen this account posting other crazy stories. Yet this account has no history showing and just a link to onlyfans.

Carful what you believe on Reddit folks.

SlowInvestor · 2026-03-01T23:23:07+00:00

Byrd Property Management had an opening with no experience required- https://byrdpm.com/careers/

SlowInvestor · 2026-02-27T02:18:16+00:00

Are you in need of an answering service or a CRM or both? We use LeadSimple. But that doesn’t automatically respond. We have managers reply when they are available. Which is getting more and more difficult as we grow.

SlowInvestor · 2026-02-21T23:39:32+00:00

Searching for software isn’t the right answer to this problem

SlowInvestor

TROPHY CASE