A Whole New World
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I am in a new growth phase in my life. One that I truly never thought I'd be in- never anticipated, never expected, and really never desired. I am referring to, of course, my growth in the realm of small business. This venture of ours is not a new announcement. I've written about it here and will tell just about anybody who will listen about starting the property management business. The entire expereince has made me use skills I never knew were there and pushed me out of my I'll-let-somebody-else-worry-about-that comfort zone.
I AM IN A WHOLE NEW WORLD. We started with the Operating Agreement. Because we are not Real Estate Brokers, we need to start this company within another Agency, and we have been fortunate enough to be at an agency that 1) doesn't already have a property management division, 2) wants to have a property management division, and 3) doesn't want to do the work themselves. Well, Rick pretty much handled getting the Operating Agreement in line. I only had to sign my name. But I DID do the research and opened our bank accounts. And, although signing my name to such a serious document felt rather monumental, I have actually signed my name before. And I have opened a bank account before, although never with 5 people on the same accounts. Those things haven't really stretched me at all.
Setting up the accounts for E-pay and Credit Checks has made me grow some. This process of setting up the E-pay has been a royal pain in the ass. We have an on-line system that allows us to track all of our tenants, the owner's of the houses, money and accounts, maintenance of the properties... everything. Well, part of that is supposed to allow tenants to pay their rent online. Makes it easier for them. Makes it easier for us. However, to get it set up is quite the ordeal. The application process that I received took me an entire week just to complete. I needed every type of verification possible to prove we were a real entity. Understandable. I also needed every type of verification on EACH of the five people who have access to funds. Also understandable. And hypothetically should be easy enough to do. Except when you are working with 4 other individuals who don't have their heads in this part of the process and aren't too speedy in giving me something as simple as their social security number and home address. Geesh. So I receive the information I requested, complete the plethora of applications, gather the necessary documents. And I submit. Then I wait.... and I wait... and I wait. I send an email attempting to verify that all of my hard work was received. And I wait... and wait some more... I send another. And another. I am getting very frustrated. Then I receive news that I am not lost in a sea of applications... only to find out that the application paperwork that I spent a week on is OUTDATED. Yep. It is outdated, and I am being forwarded on to someone who can help me. Great. Three days later I get the REAL application. It wasn't nearly so bad. About a 1/4 of the stack of paper for the old one. And I submit. No response for three days, and I email. Did you receive my shit??? Response: Not that I am aware of. You have got to be kidding me. I resend and the person who is supposed to be assisting me gets it, but he is, alas, out of town and cannot process it until Tuesday. Fantastic. Cuz I need another delay. In the meantime I have people complaining to me and wondering what I am doing that this is not set up yet. Because, heaven forbid, they should have the tenant drop a check off at the office. Today I have received additional papers to fill out. We shall see how long it takes me to complete this, because half the stuff it is asking for, we don't have yet. Great.
That is the E-pay. Setting up the account with the Credit screening place was not nearly so dramatic, but still had its' frustrations. After my hard work I can proudly say I can get your credit score within 30 seconds!
These steps in establishing our business may seem minor to some with more expertise. But to me it is something to be proud of. I never thought I'd own my own business (well, co-own), let alone be an integral part of establishing it. I am sure I will look back one day and read this blog and laugh at how silly I was. But for now I will be proud. :)
I AM IN A WHOLE NEW WORLD. We started with the Operating Agreement. Because we are not Real Estate Brokers, we need to start this company within another Agency, and we have been fortunate enough to be at an agency that 1) doesn't already have a property management division, 2) wants to have a property management division, and 3) doesn't want to do the work themselves. Well, Rick pretty much handled getting the Operating Agreement in line. I only had to sign my name. But I DID do the research and opened our bank accounts. And, although signing my name to such a serious document felt rather monumental, I have actually signed my name before. And I have opened a bank account before, although never with 5 people on the same accounts. Those things haven't really stretched me at all.
Setting up the accounts for E-pay and Credit Checks has made me grow some. This process of setting up the E-pay has been a royal pain in the ass. We have an on-line system that allows us to track all of our tenants, the owner's of the houses, money and accounts, maintenance of the properties... everything. Well, part of that is supposed to allow tenants to pay their rent online. Makes it easier for them. Makes it easier for us. However, to get it set up is quite the ordeal. The application process that I received took me an entire week just to complete. I needed every type of verification possible to prove we were a real entity. Understandable. I also needed every type of verification on EACH of the five people who have access to funds. Also understandable. And hypothetically should be easy enough to do. Except when you are working with 4 other individuals who don't have their heads in this part of the process and aren't too speedy in giving me something as simple as their social security number and home address. Geesh. So I receive the information I requested, complete the plethora of applications, gather the necessary documents. And I submit. Then I wait.... and I wait... and I wait. I send an email attempting to verify that all of my hard work was received. And I wait... and wait some more... I send another. And another. I am getting very frustrated. Then I receive news that I am not lost in a sea of applications... only to find out that the application paperwork that I spent a week on is OUTDATED. Yep. It is outdated, and I am being forwarded on to someone who can help me. Great. Three days later I get the REAL application. It wasn't nearly so bad. About a 1/4 of the stack of paper for the old one. And I submit. No response for three days, and I email. Did you receive my shit??? Response: Not that I am aware of. You have got to be kidding me. I resend and the person who is supposed to be assisting me gets it, but he is, alas, out of town and cannot process it until Tuesday. Fantastic. Cuz I need another delay. In the meantime I have people complaining to me and wondering what I am doing that this is not set up yet. Because, heaven forbid, they should have the tenant drop a check off at the office. Today I have received additional papers to fill out. We shall see how long it takes me to complete this, because half the stuff it is asking for, we don't have yet. Great.
That is the E-pay. Setting up the account with the Credit screening place was not nearly so dramatic, but still had its' frustrations. After my hard work I can proudly say I can get your credit score within 30 seconds!
These steps in establishing our business may seem minor to some with more expertise. But to me it is something to be proud of. I never thought I'd own my own business (well, co-own), let alone be an integral part of establishing it. I am sure I will look back one day and read this blog and laugh at how silly I was. But for now I will be proud. :)
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