Property Managment

[sonia@3rdcoast]

As far as Property Managment goes I just started handling this for my company. Where can I go to see what the laws in Texas are for Landlord/Tenants?? And to get a lease aggrement and a contract between my company and the owner do I have to ask my lawer to do that or can my company make one up with all of our terms? Is there a place I can view these forms?

Last but not least whats the best way to get my name out there as far as Property Managment? To let the community know this is what Im doing and to start getting customers base?

I know Im just starting out in this field and have a tons of questions but I will soak up any information anyone has for me, so thank you in advance for taking the time!!!!

[Dan Auito]

www.mrlandlord.com (http://www.mrlandlord.com) has a section on all 50 states landlord, tenant laws.
www.reiclub.com (http://www.reiclub.com) is Texas based and is also a good resource.
You might consider contacting every for rent sign and ad and give them your info!
Take out a small ad.

[Debbie]

There is also another good landlord website. The website owner happens to be Magic Bullets Fambly member: www.thelpa.com

[Aldo]

With due respect to Dan's suggestion to check www.mrlandlord.com for landlord/tenant law, I'd advise against that resource. The info there is either not available, incomplete (WI, for example), or out-dated (WI, again) for a considerable number of states. It, of course, is accurate for some states, but I couldn't know which. Rather, I'd refer you to www.statelocalgov.net where you can drill down to local law for areas which make that info available online.

The 'reiclub' link looks like a great resource, even if it's not in your immediate area. I know the the 'thelpa' link is valuable because I've been there more than a few times. That site appears to cover landlord/tenant law as well, but I've not reviewed it.

An interesting sideline is that TX has the most landlord-friendly landlord/tenant laws in the country. An example is my Wisconsin dream of the ability to change the locks on a rental unit if the rent is late.

But, the above gets away from your real question.

To many, I'll sound like a broken record because I forever promote locating and joining every REI group you can find within your base area. In this thread the thrust is finding a way to expose your property management business. As a business member of such a group, you'll have access to dozens, many dozens, or even hundreds of owners at meetings, through word-of-mouth, and advertising to them in any publications they may have. In that number, there will be investors seeking a property manager or helping a non-member find one.

[Dan Auito]

I retract my prior statement in favor of Aldo's wise insights above.

[Inspector]

In Texas, you must be a licensed agent in order to manage properties for someone else. That, or an officer within your company must be a broker. There is more to that, but there's a reason that I bring that up. If you are an agent, then you can use the TREC forms for property management. If you aren't, then you should be able to contact the broker for the company that you are at, and they should provide those to you. There is even a program called ZipForm that you can probably get to via your local association of realtors. ZipForm allows you you input specific data into the TREC forms for a much more professional look and helps ensure that you get all the information in there that you want.
I manage a number of properties in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and am an investor as well. The way I see it, there are enough rentals for plenty of management companies. Competition is a good thing. The bad property managers simply won't last as long. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. If you are going to be managing in the DFW area, I can send you the link to the local association of relators so that you can get started.

Lee Warren