How to Bill Your Tenants for Water Usage with Kelly Koontz

 

How to Bill Your Tenants for Water Usage with Kelly Koontz

 

Guest: Kelly Koontz, a seasoned expert in utility submetering solutions tailored for multifamily properties. With over two decades of experience at Submeter Solutions, Kelly has been at the forefront of revolutionizing utility management strategies, empowering property owners to maximize efficiency, enhance property value, and foster tenant accountability. In this episode, Kelly shares invaluable insights into the intricacies of utility submetering, its profound impact on property management practices, and practical strategies for seamless implementation.

 

Big Idea: At the heart of utility submetering lies a transformative approach to utility management for multifamily properties. By accurately measuring and allocating utility costs to individual tenants, property owners can unlock a myriad of benefits, ranging from significant cost recovery and increased property valuation to fostering a culture of responsible resource usage among tenants. Through the integration of modern metering technology and innovative billing methodologies, utility sub-metering not only optimizes operational efficiency but also empowers property owners to proactively manage utility expenses, mitigate financial risks, and elevate the overall tenant experience.

 

 

    

Dan: So Submeter Solutions Inc. Would you mind starting us off here with what your company does and what you’re focused on.

Kelly: Happy to do that, Submeter Solutions, we’ve been in business since about the year 2000 and our whole business niche is all about servicing multifamily or multi-unit properties that are getting a single utility charge at their building but the owners, managers want to figure out how to allocate those charges down to the tenant-resident level. So our business will be in the first part selling you the proper equipment and metering equipment to be able to meter each individual unit. Then our second part of our businesses we can offer monthly utility billing services for those residents on an ongoing basis. So excited to be here today Dan and talk through all the details about how we do that for multifamily owners.

 

This Episode of The REI Diamonds Show is Sponsored by the Deal Machine. This Software Enables Real Estate Investors to Develop a Reliable & Low Cost Source of Off Market Deals. For a Limited Time, You Get Free Access at http://REIDealMachine.com/

 

This Episode is Also Sponsored by the Lending Home. Lending Home Offers Reliable & Low Cost Fix & Flip Loans with Interest Rates as Low as 9.25%.  Buy & Hold Loans Offered Even Lower.  Get a FREE IPad when you Close Your First Deal by Registering Now at  http://REILineOfCredit.com

 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

https://SubmeterSolutions.com/

 

For Access to Real Estate Deals You Can Buy & Sell for Profit:

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Kelly Koontz & I Discuss How to Bill Your Tenants for Water Usage:

  • Introduction & Financial Impact of Submeter Solutions – 1:01: Kelly delves into the core principles of utility submetering and its role in transforming multifamily property management practices.
  • Comparison of Billing Methods – 4:11: Contrasting traditional flat-rate billing, RUBS (Ratio Utility Billing System), and utility submetering, elucidating the advantages of metered billing for property owners and tenants alike.
  • Technical Implementation of Submetering Systems – 10:42: Providing comprehensive insights into the technical aspects of utility submetering, from metering equipment selection to connectivity solutions and data management strategies.
  • Utility Bill Integration with Rent – 20:59: Exploring lease structures and billing methodologies to prioritize utility payments alongside rent.
  • Ideal Clients and Property Types – 29:30: Identifying ideal clients, including self-managing landlords, property managers, and commercial property owners.
  • Alerts & Leak Detection – 40:00: The importance of leak detection, particularly in low-income and emergency housing, alongside active methods for instant alerts on flooding like frozen pipes, leading to significant property damage and renovation costs.
  • Insurance Premiums & Installation Costs – 45:10: Kelly discusses how insurance premium reductions are linked to active leak detection systems, the logistics and costs of installing sensors in multifamily units, and the growing regulatory and market demand for leak management solutions in water-scarce regions.

 

    

Relevant Episodes: (200+ Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

The transcript of this episode can be found here.
Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Avoid Property Insurance Nightmares with Public Adjuster Andy Gurczak

 

Avoid Property Insurance Nightmares with Public Adjuster Andy Gurczak

 

Guest: Andy Gurczak is a seasoned real estate investor and public insurance adjuster. Starting with a humble duplex, Andy has strategically expanded his portfolio to include a variety of commercial properties. He leverages his construction background and keen market insight to navigate the complexities of real estate and insurance claims, making him a valuable resource for both novice and experienced investors.

 

Big Idea: Andy Gurczak delves into the intricacies of insurance claims for property investors, emphasizing the importance of strategic decision-making and thorough understanding of the process to avoid pitfalls. He also shares his journey from residential to commercial real estate investing, highlighting the lessons learned and strategies for success in the commercial sector.

 

 

    

Dan: Yeah, for sure. We’ve been trying to link up here for a little while to get you on the show. Main topic is going to be insurance claims, and I think it’s valuable for the listeners to hang in there. Whether they’re single-family investors, whether they’re commercial investors, nobody wants to have an insurance claim ever. But when you do, you can really, in my experience, get screwed up by doing it wrong, or maybe even choosing to make the claim in some instances. I know that’s been my issue, claiming something too small. But we’ll get into all the problems and the solutions, and what you do as an adjuster and why that’s something valuable here shortly. Before we do that, Andy, do you want to give us a background on maybe some of your investing career, and then also how you got into and what your adjusting business is today?

Andy: When it comes to the investing game, me and my wife bought our first duplex, this was when we got married, so it’s going to be 10 years ago almost. We bought our first duplex. We lived on one side, rented the other side. So we basically lived for free, had a little bit of income even left over. I was able to scale the business, not pull any money, didn’t need to even make money at that point, was able to reinvest everything. My wife brought enough for groceries and the small stuff. That was under FHA. I think we bought that actually before we got married. Right before we got married, I think we bought that under my name. Then two years later, we ended up buying another FHA under her name. It was another duplex. So we ended up doing only 3.5% down, which was nice. It was a small investment out of our pocket to have two properties that were cashflow and really nice.

From then, we bought a townhouse that was a foreclosure. Then we ended up buying a building that’s in downtown Crown Point where we live that we converted into a commercial now. There’s three tenants in there actually. Then last year, we did our first 1031, where we sold the townhouse, took the money or sold one of the duplexes, took the money, and then bought a seven-unit building. It’s a commercial building. There’s seven suites, about 15,000 square feet. I think that’s it. I know we have a lot. We’re building a home right now. Real estate has been something that we’re always interested in. We’re always looking to buy something different.

 

This Episode of The REI Diamonds Show is Sponsored by the Deal Machine. This Software Enables Real Estate Investors to Develop a Reliable & Low Cost Source of Off Market Deals. For a Limited Time, You Get Free Access at http://REIDealMachine.com/

 

This Episode is Also Sponsored by the Lending Home. Lending Home Offers Reliable & Low Cost Fix & Flip Loans with Interest Rates as Low as 9.25%.  Buy & Hold Loans Offered Even Lower.  Get a FREE IPad when you Close Your First Deal by Registering Now at  http://REILineOfCredit.com

 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

https://www.AllCityAdjusting.com/

 

For Access to Real Estate Deals You Can Buy & Sell for Profit:

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Andy Gurczak & I Discuss Avoiding Property Insurance Nightmares with Public Adjuster:

  • 5:50 – Details of a 1031 Exchange: Insights into executing a 1031 exchange successfully and the lessons learned from the process.
  • 10:01 – Acquiring a Seven-Unit Commercial Property: The story behind acquiring a prime commercial building and its financial implications.
  • 15:40 – Financing Strategies: How leveraging relationships with local banks facilitated property acquisitions.
  • 18:30 – Property Management and Tenant Relations: Managing properties personally and dealing with tenant issues directly.
  • 27:35 – Critical Timing in Claim Filing: Brother Elijah’s experience highlights the importance of acting swiftly and seeking expert advice to maximize claim value.
  • 29:19 – Settlement Offers and Pitfalls: Andy shares insights into deciphering settlement offers and avoiding potential traps.
  • 35:52 – Commercial vs. Residential Claims: Understanding the dynamics between commercial and residential claims can influence strategy and approach.

 

    

Relevant Episodes: (200+ Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

The transcript of this episode can be found here.
Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

New Silver Fintech CEO Kirill Bensonoff on Blockchain Hard Money Loans

 

New Silver Fintech CEO Kirill Bensonoff on Blockchain Hard Money Loans

 

Guest: Kirill Bensonoff, CEO of New Silver, a groundbreaking fintech lending organization, is at the forefront of revolutionizing real estate investment. With a focus on fix and flip, ground-up construction, and buy-to-rent projects, New Silver provides investors with innovative financing solutions backed by cutting-edge technology. Combining his expertise in technology and a deep understanding of real estate, Kirill brings a unique perspective to the table, unraveling the intersection of blockchain and trust within the industry.

 

Big Idea: New Silver combines financial expertise with advanced technology to streamline the lending process for real estate investors. By leveraging blockchain technology and smart contracts, New Silver offers faster loan approvals and closings, reducing the time and complexity traditionally associated with hard money lending. The discussion revolves around the pivotal role of trust in real estate transactions amidst the rise of blockchain technology. While blockchain promises seamless transactions and tokenization, Kirill and Dan delve into the fundamental necessity of trust in every aspect of real estate, from lending to investment.

 

 

    

Kirill: Yeah, absolutely. So New Silver, I’m a technologist by background. We started New Silver in 2019. And we’re essentially a fintech lender. We think of ourselves as a FinTech, meaning that we have the financial part and the technology part. So the financial part is at the end of the day, we’re a lender for real estate investors. Our typical client would be somebody that’s doing single family residential fix and flip ground up or buy to rent type of a project. Right now we’re in 39 states. And then on the technology side, what we’ve done is we built a pricing engine that helps us value and underwrite deals, meaning you can go to our website, start the application and finish the application under five minutes, get your term sheet, you get your loan pricing and everything else. So it’s really a quick to market type of a process. And then everything else, post close, servicing everything, or the majority of things, we’re working towards everything, but right now it’s the majority of things are web enabled. So we try to make things convenient, kind of convenience is our North Star, if you will. And that’s what we’re trying to drive towards.

Dan: Cool. So let’s stay on the hard money topic for people. We don’t have a lot of hard money lenders on the show and we’ve had some in the past and we still do business with some of them. 39 states, you and I talked about the main markets that Diamond Equity, my company invests in, which is the Illinois area, the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, tri-state, quad-state area, and Georgia. And you told me that you’re in all of those markets right now. So some of the lenders we had on the show in the past, and I’m hesitant to say that because you might take this back to your lending partners and pull the plug, but we’ve had lenders who would start in Illinois and maybe then they like Georgia. I have one I still do business with. He moved from Illinois to Georgia and stopped lending in Illinois. And we had another nationwide lender as well who we still do close a lot of business with in the other markets also pull out of Illinois. They did not like the foreclosure process timeline. So hopefully that won’t be the case by the time our show goes live in three or four weeks. But I did want to kind of highlight the point that as we’re talking now, you guys are lending in the markets where we have our offices for listeners who know who we are.

 

This Episode of The REI Diamonds Show is Sponsored by the Deal Machine. This Software Enables Real Estate Investors to Develop a Reliable & Low Cost Source of Off Market Deals. For a Limited Time, You Get Free Access at http://REIDealMachine.com/

 

This Episode is Also Sponsored by the Lending Home. Lending Home Offers Reliable & Low Cost Fix & Flip Loans with Interest Rates as Low as 9.25%.  Buy & Hold Loans Offered Even Lower.  Get a FREE IPad when you Close Your First Deal by Registering Now at  http://REILineOfCredit.com

 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

https://NewSilver.com/

 

For Access to Real Estate Deals You Can Buy & Sell for Profit:

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Kirill Bensonoff & I Discuss Blockchain Hard Money Loans:

  • Exploring the Role of Hard Money Lending in Real Estate Investments (02:12): Unpacking the significance of hard money lending as a crucial financing option for real estate investors, offering flexibility and speed in transactions.
  • Demystifying Loan Requirements, Down Payments, and Interest Rates for Profitable Ventures (5:34): Breaking down the essential components of real estate loans, including requirements, down payments, and interest rates, while discussing profitability calculations to empower investors.
  • Effective Strategies for Strengthening Offers and Accelerating the Closing Process (17:01): Offering tactical approaches to enhance offers to sellers and expedite the closing process, ensuring a competitive edge in real estate transactions.
  • New Silver’s Dedication to Tailored Solutions and Building Strong Borrower Relationships (00:20:10): Highlighting New Silver’s commitment to providing customized solutions and nurturing robust borrower relationships to foster trust and long-term success.
  • Blockchain Applications in Real Estate Transactions (25:05): Discussing the potential of blockchain to streamline real estate processes such as property title transfers and asset settlement, enhancing efficiency and reducing transaction costs.
  • Tokenization and Investment Opportunities (30:51): Exploring how blockchain enables fractional ownership of real estate assets through tokenization, opening up investment opportunities for individuals and institutions.
  • Risk and Trust in Blockchain Adoption (39:34): Analyzing the importance of trust in blockchain implementations, highlighting the need for transparency, regulatory compliance, and informed decision-making in blockchain-based investments.

 

    

Relevant Episodes: (200+ Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

The transcript of this episode can be found here.
Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.