Vacancy Kills Real Estate Profits: James Davis Reveals How to Vet Property Managers

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (00:00)
Yeah, for the investors out there, I want to give three specific tips in interviewing your next property management company. Maybe you’re not quite happy with your current company, and so you’re starting to look. And so I’m going to give you three places to look at that next property management company that you probably aren’t doing.

Quentin (01:54)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds, and I am excited to be here today. I have, and I know y’all like, y’all gonna say it with me, another fantastic guest. Yes, I did have another fantastic guest. And watch by the end, you’ll be like, hey, they got James Bond’s kind of good. So I have another fantastic guest. I’m so glad we get a chance to learn from him.

jump into his world, you know, peek through his lens and what it is that he’s proficient in. And one of the things that he’s proficient in, and I’m sure he’s going to talk about property management, but property management for investors. Investors, really want to help you shore up the property management operation. And so I believe this is the guy who’s going to give you nuggets for that. And so I’m so excited for us to learn from Mr. James

Davis, Mr. James. How you doing today, sir?

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (02:56)
I’m doing well. Thanks, Q, for the invite. I appreciate being here.

Quentin (02:59)
Oh, no, man. Thank you so much for being here. Here’s the thing, James. I can’t do this without you, man. I can’t do this episode without you. So I’m glad that you’re here. I need you, man. I need you. So I’m so glad that you’re here, sir. And listen, man, I kind of want to dive in. I would love for you to tell the people what’s your main focus these days. James, you can give us a little bit of an origin story, kind of how you got into this space. You know, we love origin stories. And then, man, tell them what part of the world you’re in. People would love to know.

geographically where you are. So what you’re up to, your origin story and where you are. James, my friend, you have the floor,

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (03:36)
Sure. Yeah, my name is James Davis and I am CEO of founder of awarded LLC. You can find us at awardedrfp.com. ⁓ What I’m working on right now, I am drafting contracts for property management firms to transition government property over to a property management firm. And you might say, what does this have to do with investing? Well, what it has to do with investing is

Those companies are the companies who are doing really well with transitions property, with transitioning property. So as an investor, you go out, you buy your property, you’re trying to figure out what property management company should I work with to manage this new asset of mine. Now, maybe you’ve got somebody you’re already comfortable with who already has a good plan for transitioning properties.

If they don’t, or if there’s an opportunity for that plan to get a little better, this is going to be the podcast to listen to to get that information. A little bit about my origin story. I started as many people my age during the crash of 2008. I bought my first investment property in Minneapolis. Minneapolis was hit really hard during that crash. I was a 20 something college kid who probably shouldn’t have been able to sneak in on a mortgage, but I did.

And, and that was my first property, I rented it out to my fellow college students. And

that’s, that’s kind of where it all started. 18 years later, a little over 18 years later, I’ve been in different forms of property management from, you know, leasing to marketing to developing and customizing software for property management firms. I’ve been consulting kind of through all of that until I started.

awarded and now we work on government contracts and consulting for property management firms.

Quentin (06:21)
Oh man, thank you sir. As you was talking, I’m writing things down. I’m trying to keep up. I’m definitely actively listening, just to let you know. And so I’m gonna regurgitate some things to you. Man, you know.

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (06:28)
You

Sure.

Quentin (06:40)
So the company that you work for, and I’m just trying to synthesize what you said, the companies that you work for, they are very well with transitioning properties. That’s what you said, right? Very well transitioning properties. You yourself, you started out in 2008 doing the crash. I love how you say you snuck in on a mortgage in your 20s and you was able to rent that out. You’ve been in different forms of real estate and you listen to them all.

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (06:50)
Yes, yes.

Quentin (07:08)
Now you’ve grown into a warded, you’re doing what you do now. I’ve regurgitated some of these things back to you, James, because I have a saying where I say destiny has no wasted moments, No matter what you’ve been through in life, momentum has been building and you’ve been borrowing from different parts of your life to reinforce your mindset, to reinforce your why, to reinforce your passion, to reinforce the business and strategies.

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (07:19)
Hmm.

Absolutely.

Quentin (07:34)
So there’s been no wasted moments because there’s just been building and building and building. So I would love to know what have you learned about yourself through the journey? Have you learned discipline, resilience? Like what are these, what are the things that you learned through the journey about you?

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (07:52)
that many of the trite sayings are true. And, ⁓ you know, the, had a mentor who told me once, be careful what you wish for. And, and at the time, I just kind of brushed it off. And it’s absolutely true. Another one that I’ve learned recently, or, you know, I’ve always knew I’ve always said, but I’ve learned more recently, actively learned it more recently is

Quentin (07:57)
Yeah.

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (08:22)
It’s harder than we think it takes longer than we think it costs more than we think and we are not the exception. ⁓ This stuff, these building businesses, it’s hard and it’s, it’s anybody sitting on the sidelines, not in the arena is just, ⁓ doesn’t have the same scope or the same understanding as, somebody actually getting in there day to day and, and ⁓ trying to make it happen.

ahead. So the the as as trite as they are the the classic sayings there. They’re all true. And if they just kind of brush off you, if you you’re what watch for them just brushing off of you, and then take a second and say, What, what if that was true? Like, what if I actually heard this advice? What? How would that change the way I’m going to interact in this decision and ⁓

Lately, I’ve been finding new ways to interact with those sayings.

Quentin (09:24)
Thank you for saying that. I don’t know if that’s, if you read that somewhere or is that exactly you quoting you, but bro, I tried to synthesize and write down what you said. It’s harder than what you think. It takes longer, it takes more time than what you think. It costs more than what you think. Bro, that is so true. And I love how you said, unless you’re in the arena, you won’t realize that. And I am with you, sir. Like this year, that, that what you just said has been so true for me.

because I’ve stepped into the arena of some things that I’ve heard people do that I’m like, you know what? I’m gonna go after this. And I’m gonna go after it because I know I can do

I know I’m destined to, I know I have everything I need to do it. But man, once you start, it sounds, it’s all formed in your head, but the function of it all, good God have mercy. It takes, so this is what I use to slow me down. My wife has a saying where she say time takes.

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (10:47)
Yes. Yeah.

Mmm.

Quentin (10:58)
Meaning

like you can’t rush the process. Like you, it’s like, if there’s some bakers out there, you can’t speed up the baking process. The baking process is the baking process. You put the ingredients in and if it take 45 minutes, it take 45 minutes. And we are baking up some ideas, strategies, business models and some things, time takes time. It’s harder than what you think. It takes more time. It costs us more. Sultry, man.

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (11:10)
Yeah.

Quentin (11:26)
It’s so, so true. So thank you for saying that. That resonated with me.

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (11:30)
Yeah, you’re welcome.

I’d love to take credit for it, but it wasn’t me. ⁓ So shout out to Dave Ramsey, I think is where I first heard it. But, ⁓ you know, I’m sure there’s others who have as well.

Quentin (11:38)
That sense! That… That makes sense!

That makes sense. A couple people out there, give shout out to Dave Ramsey on this part. When people have mentioned him, y’all, Dave Ramsey has a fantastic financial peace course, man. So yeah, shout out to Dave Ramsey for sure. But that makes sense. That’s why that resonates so well.

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (11:54)
Yeah.

Yep. Yeah. And, and that,

that Entrez Leadership podcast that that he does is also fantastic if you haven’t tuned into that yet and you’re, you’re growing your business. Entrez Leadership, like entrepreneurship, but Entrez Leadership is another another great resource. Yeah.

Quentin (12:07)
What you said, entree?

with you. Okay. Gotcha.

Yeah, I’m in a, I’m actually in a financial class right now. I’m actually on a financial fast, 21 day financial fast. I’m not sure if heard of Michelle Singletary. She’s done some work with the Washington Post here. She’s pretty, you know, nationally known. She gives shots out to Dave Ramsey as well. And so right now me and my wife, are

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (12:24)
I love that.

Quentin (12:38)
on this fast, just trying to restrain our mindsets. And so, yeah. So thank you for that. Definitely going to check that. appreciate that. ⁓ James, what’s next, brother? What’s next for the business? What are you looking to solve with Scale Next?

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (12:45)
Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Yeah, the the next pieces of awarded are ⁓ moving through our scaling exactly as as you said, ⁓ taking on more ⁓ growing nationally, we’ve got kind of Bay to Bay somebody said the other day. So I’m based in San Francisco, and I’ve got a colleague client based in Tampa Bay, Florida. So, Bay to Bay. ⁓ And now we’re, we’re expanding.

into Chicago and ⁓ Washington and the firm is just ⁓ continuing to grow. recently ⁓ started ⁓ an agreement with a marketing firm who’s ⁓ primarily marketing towards trades individuals. So ⁓ it’s property management and it’s turning into trades as well, construction contracts, bidding for construction contracts with government entities. ⁓

All of these are the next iterations of awarded as we continue to consult for property management firms and continue to draft for property management firms and adjacent trades.

Quentin (14:04)
Man, I love it. I love it, sir. I want to ask you this question and get your perspective on it. I love getting business owners perspective, just literally how the word hits them. So when you hear the word relationship, what comes into your mind? I don’t want to lead you too much, but relationships are important in what we do. We work with people, we work with clients, we work with partner, maybe with different people. So when you hear that word relationship, what comes to mind for you, James?

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (14:34)
I mean, the first thing that comes to mind is, ⁓ you know, providing value in podcast interviews. Awarded has a podcast called Awarded Capital. ⁓ We’re have to like, write up on the list of podcasts we mentioned on this one, but ⁓ Awarded Capital goes through the RFPs themselves. ⁓ I think about just providing that value first.

Speaking at conferences, ⁓

I’m heading to Miami in a few weeks to speak at the IMN conference. ⁓ Just getting the word out, getting some of this knowledge into the market and trying to influence the better paths that exist ⁓ so that people can receive value from that information.

Quentin (16:12)
No, I love it. I love the idea of adding value. I often say this this proverb is when you refresh others, you in return will be refreshed. Right. So you add value, refresh people, serve people, you return. You got to be refreshed. It’s just it’s just it’s it’s I believe just a law, universal law that exists. It’s like the boomerang. You throw it out and it come back to you. So I love the fact.

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (16:22)
Sure.

Yeah.

Quentin (16:39)
that adding value to people, adding value to the clientele that you serve, I think is so, so, so important. James, listen, is there any topic that I have not brought up that you would like to talk about? Is there any other words of inspiration, education, motivation? Like, if you came in here with a message on your mind, like, I want to make sure the viewers hear this.

I just want to make sure I open up the floor so that you can land that message, sir. So there’s anything that you want to land, man. I really would love to hear it.

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (17:12)
Yeah, for the investors out there, I want to give three specific tips in interviewing your next property management company. Maybe you’re not quite happy with your current company, and so you’re starting to look. And so I’m going to give you three places to look at that next property management company that you probably aren’t doing.

And you might think this is like,

This is a little on on the car out just outside of my comfort for interviewing these property management companies. But I promise you’ll learn more about this then then you’ll learn more about that company through doing these three things, then you will in any of the sales pitches that you spend with that company. Those sales pitches are usually with the C suite or they’re usually with a director of sales, right? That’s bringing in that property.

They’re well rehearsed. They know all of the things to say, or they’re really good at just pivoting, right? And that’s certainly a great skill. But if you’re an investor looking to hire a property management company, you don’t want the sales pitch. You want the truth behind how that property management company functions. ⁓ these, I’ll get to it. These are the three things. Number one,

Sign, go to that company’s website and sign up for a showing of any of those units of any of the vacant units. Go on a tour of the property with the leasing team that that company has in place. And you’re going to learn multiple things. Number one, you’re going to learn how, how adapt is that sales team vacancy kills. know that vacancy is almost 80 % is lost in

in lease, right? where vacancy is, is, is really a problem in investing. And that leasing team, then is that first solution. So figure out how that leasing team operates. Do they confirm the appointment with you in advance a couple of days in advance? Do they call you same day and make sure you’re coming? Do they tell you which door to meet them at? If it’s you know, if it’s a big complex, do you

Do you know to meet them in the leasing office? Do they send you a map? Do they XYZ, right? Photos of the property. Did they ask you if you drove by? Some ⁓ of these really well performing leasing teams are asking these questions and they’re getting more sales because of it. So if that is not your leasing team, if they don’t perform to the level that you need them to perform for your property,

then that’s maybe not your property management company. Number two, maintenance equals renewals. How that maintenance team operates is how many lease renewals you’re going to get on your property. So while you’re on that tour with the leasing agent, ask them how the maintenance system works. Ask them about what happens after hours and then

See if you can get the phone number for after hours and call them after hours and see what happens. Actually participate in the process and see if that process aligns with how you want your property managed. ⁓ That’s going to tell you a lot. And then ask ⁓ for one step deeper on the maintenance. Ask that director of sales or that C-suite, whoever is your contact at the property management company.

for their maintenance response times. They should be able to show you how many maintenance tickets they’re doing in a month. They should be able to show you what the average response time was for an emergency ticket versus a leaking faucet. They should be able to tell you how they walk through with a resident, whether that faucet is just like a drip and we don’t need to, we’ve got, you know, fires on the property or flooding on the property or whatever else. We need to handle those things first.

and we’ll come back to this trip, but it’s not today or is that leak flowing? Okay. Those are two different problems and understanding that and asking the resident that question when the maintenance ticket comes in is how we can prioritize some of those work orders. ⁓ Number three, make sure that whatever property you’re transitioning that the property management company has an onboarding plan.

They have it scheduled out day by day, week by week. First thing is we’re bringing all of the properties into the software. We’re going to confirm all of the information. We’re going to notify the residents that the next, you know, May’s rent payment comes to us instead of the previous property management company. That onboarding plan is so important and the reports that you’re expecting to receive monthly is so important. ⁓ So keep an eye out for

for those details. If that property management company is handling those details well, they’ll probably manage your company well.

Quentin (22:36)
Bro, that was amazing. That was so great. I’m gonna tell you why I love what you just said. It’s because it’s people taking power into their own hands. Like we not doing no ambiguous hiring, transitioning. No, we are going to see, it’s almost like triaging them before you admit them. Like, listen, if I’m admitting you as a client, if I’m getting into this marriage, if we’re really gonna do this together.

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (22:48)
Hmm.

Quentin (23:02)
Let me find out you really about that life. And I absolutely love it. think it’s genius. I haven’t really heard anybody give tips like that before. And so I appreciate you, especially around property management. And we know it’s such a bedrock of so many operations. I really, appreciate you giving that. And I know those lessons is going to go far for people, especially if they implement them.

James, man, I feel like I can talk to you forever, brother, from being honest. I feel like we can just keep going and going. But listen, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, like how can they get in contact with you,

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (23:33)
Ha

Yeah, feel free to open to anyone. [email protected] is my email absolutely reach out. We specialize in property transitions in government contracting and in property management consulting. So if any of those things are are the right fit for you absolutely reach out you can also find us at awardedcapital.com that’s our podcast for our piece.

Quentin (24:13)
Listen, let me say three things to you sincerely. One, thank you for your time. You could have been doing anything with your time, but you’re here. And I know, know, podcasts, this is the nature of it, but still, you gave us your time. You chose to be here. So thank you, man. Thank you for giving us your most precious commodity. Wishes you time. I appreciate it.

Secondly, man, thank you for your story. Thank you for your narrative. Thank you for the information that you gave. I really believe stories. I believe that’s when we give information, pretty much we’re giving stories. That’s what I believe, right? And you’re given a different facets and function of the story. And today you gave information that people can take a hold to. And literally, it could cause some people to course correct.

are literally like they was going down one path and they heard what you said and he’s like, wow, you know, that’s great information. And so, man, thank you for your story. Thank you for coming to share. And I greatly appreciate it. And lastly, man, thank you for your perspective, your mindset, you being proficient around this subject matter and bringing that subject matter, that mindset to this platform. I greatly, greatly appreciate you coming on today, James.

James Davis | AwardedRFP.com (25:24)
Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure being here.

Quentin (25:26)
Absolutely. So listen, y’all heard James, you got the nuggets. You can’t tell me this was not good. I know some of y’all was like, oh man, why didn’t I think of that? So I know you got the nuggets. His information is in the show notes. Please connect with him, but definitely make sure you are subscribed here because I promise you, I’m gonna continue to bring up amazing people just like Mr. James. So sir, I say thank you again. And everyone else, listen, y’all have a fantastic day.