He follows dad’s footsteps into property management

Kris Herrera, 23, likes to de-stress by working out.

“I have multiple rental properties that I manage. I got into it through my dad. It’s mostly houses, but we recently started buying apartment complexes.

“I’ve been helping him since I was a little kid, going with him to fix messed-up doorknobs and stuff. I pretty much knew I was going to follow in his footsteps because I saw what he did and how profitable it could be. Right now, people are willing to pay a little bit more because there are more jobs coming open and a lot more people are moving in from other states.”

What’s your biggest challenge with the job?
“Probably screening people, making sure they’re going to be on time with payments. I’ve had issues where people don’t want to pay. They get in and pay the first couple months and then they’ll just stop. I have to take them to court. If they know how to play the system, I have to go downtown to higher court. After that finishes, they’ve already been in the place for three months extra, so that’s when you start losing money. The worst is when they don’t want to leave. Sometimes, I have to be like the tough guy. That’s no fun.”

— Kris Herrera