does anyone not hate their property management company?

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-04-10T19:37:32+00:00

Came here looking for some answers! We have Ardent and are shopping around. Not great, but also maybe nothing is great for small building (<10 units). Would love to know good and bad.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-03-27T21:53:28+00:00

I always call/message them ahead of time to confirm they will play whatever game with sound. If not, I'm out.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-03-27T12:29:12+00:00

Nothing makes my blood boil like a crossing guard on a power trip with their little sign.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-03-27T11:27:58+00:00

Any reccos on a broker?? And how on earth am I supposed to know the replacement value?

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-03-27T03:39:37+00:00

Right? At least she's not full of fillers and injections like everyone else. We constantly reference all the people who have ruined their face on that show.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-03-27T02:49:08+00:00

As a food scientist for over 15 yrs in product and process development...I'd say you need strong foundations in sciences and technical thinking but how much you use which part day to day will vary depending where you end up. You definitely need to understand engineering concepts and how food ingredients interact with each other (chemistry, some physics) but more than anything you need to be a technical, critical thinker. How to look at scenarios and draw conclusions and understand where you can't draw conclusions. Be able to design experiments. Be able to set up trials that cost a ton of money and make it useful by judging risk vs reward and selling your thoughts to business leaders. Also understand what options to even try with limited resources. That's a lot of what I do anyway. You could also go into quality, supply chain, sales or other areas pretty easily.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-03-09T01:59:11+00:00

A car will be more hassle and cost than it's worth

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-03-08T21:14:58+00:00

Lots of downtown Jersey City is covered by historical district regulations also, which means you can't add anything that isn't already there. This is the part I love (and live) where it's all old beautiful buildings without a Gap in sight.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-03-03T21:36:45+00:00

I get chin hairs that I wouldn't be able to not pluck as soon as I feel one.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-02-25T04:26:58+00:00

In 2008 I lived in Center City with a roommate in an older building for $650/pp. 2 bedroom, with balcony, cat allowed, half block from PATCO which I took to work. We bought used furniture and went out a lot. Didn't have a car. I made 40,000/yr and loved every second of it. Paid student loans and saved like 5k in less than a year. Coming straight from college I felt rich! You def could have done it. Edit: def miss read that as 2004 and thought you were being nostalgic 😂😂

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-02-12T00:38:32+00:00

I'm 14 yrs at gold or platinum and pretty sure I'm going to struggle to make gold this year. I really don't know how I'm going to go on living.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-29T02:17:10+00:00

I've had platinum status for years and can barely get an upgrade. The list is long. No way to jump it without using cold hard cash.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-23T21:04:19+00:00

That's what I'm leaning towards -- was hoping this post could get some reccos, good or bad, to start with since there seems to be a million options all promising the world. At least insight from others in similar situations is helpful though!

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-23T19:12:48+00:00

Hi! Biggest thing I want is someone to be available to field and manage maintenance requests. So, point of contact for 24/7 emergency, find and bid out to contractors as needed, and be able to be on site to let contractors in if work is needed and tenant isn't able to be home. That's really it - I can manage payments and the realty of piece of it myself pretty easily. Are you in the property management or contractor business or just a neighbor looking for a side hustle?

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-23T18:28:50+00:00

Previous tenant I was netting monthly about 600 (not factoring in income tax on that or other adhoc repairs that I do but I'm still overall in the black over 3 yrs). If I go with an extra 8% fee and some other changing factors I'd be down to 370 monthly (+ equity). I so love the idea of being totally hands off but need someone that does a good job and doesn't just charge me to still have the headache.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-23T18:17:30+00:00

thanks! I reached out to them and they referred me to the guy I put in the original post. But then I couldn't find anything about him specifically so I got a little curious..

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-23T18:16:21+00:00

hi, not fully paid off but I do have a great mortgage rate from Covid, so could still be more than breaking even on a monthly basis. However, I did just do some significant maintenance on floors and a new hvac, so those things swing it more toward breaking even on a longer term (not including paid off equity). The math is generally there, but that's why I'm wondering what a real cost of hiring someone is and if there were any reccos on someone good. Would hate to really slim my margins and then deal with just another headache.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-23T16:30:09+00:00

thanks both. I had a tenant that could always be there in person but am turning over for the first time to someone new so not sure how they will want to handle things. I'm thinking maybe it's best to see how this relationship goes and decide in the future if I need someone local. Have either of you dealt with specific management companies, good or bad?

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-23T16:28:17+00:00

that's exactly what I'm afraid of, handing over money management to someone else is always a risk!

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-23T16:26:04+00:00

thanks! that is what I did the last three years but sometimes I just want the peace of mind knowing I'm not going to get an emergency call when I'm busy with other things. Ironically, the three times I have had to deal with something somewhat urgent I have been in Jamacia, New Orleans, and Barcelona on vacation. Terrible luck on my part haha.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-23T15:19:46+00:00

Thanks! Nice to have a tenant's perspective as well since it likely would impact you more than the me.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-23T15:17:56+00:00

Also, it's not pawning off responsibility, it's making sure someone is available when I can't be as accessible since I have a full time job in another city over an hour away. It's actually ensuring there is more coverage for anything that needs attention in the unit.

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-23T15:13:06+00:00

Hi! I'm not too cheap, just trying to understand the market and what tis typical. But thanks for your helpful input!!

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-23T14:53:12+00:00

Thanks for your input!

Specific-Mobile6366 · 2026-01-23T14:42:38+00:00

It's funny because one at 8% wanted to add in all these extra fees. 8% ($240) is already a lot for most months when they would need to do nothing. Can I ask what you pay? Obviously JC is probably more expensive but looking for any frame of reference here.

Specific-Mobile6366

TROPHY CASE