Property Manager or no?

he.who.forgets

I'm trying to decide between hiring a property manager or renting my townhouse on my own. We hope to move out within the next two months or so, just to downsize and hopefully rent a place a bit cheaper to save some cash. There's a slight chance we could even be moving out of state about 6 hours away. As much as I want to save money, I'm thinking that managing the property on my own, especially if we move far, will be too big of a pain to do myself. I know the obvious pros and cons, but was hoping to hear from some peeps with experience on both sides of the coin to sway my decision. Thx

Who Princess

No personal experience but my FIL managed some rental property himself many years ago. To hear my prince talk about it, the hassles were endless. From time to time, I've mentioned owning some rental property and my husband always says no way. I'm fairly sure I'd let somebody else deal with the headaches, especially if I was some distance away. The key is probably finding the right person. I'd ask for references.

Good luck!

RKCNDY

I was forced to rent out my house and move closer to the city. So we spent months renovating and upgrading-lots of it on our own. I can say that I now know how to tile and grout a backsplash, refinish cabinets, tile a countertop, and install laminate flooring.

We signed up for a state landlord association that provided us with forms and lots to read up on for lanflording and there is a hotline where I can call and get advice from a lawyer. We did find a renter in the dead of winter (the worst time to find renters). His credit check came back clean, and he paid rent for 3 months, then he quit paying rent and when we went to pay him a visit, he got all defensive and we told him to pay in 3 days or get out. He didn't pay, I posted an eviction notice, we got him out and for the most part he didn't trash the place. It would have cost us about $5000 to get our lost rent, but it just wasn't worth it. So we ate the cost...so much for getting a reccomendation from the next door neighbor!

We put the house up for rent again, and found a new renter within 3 weeks. They don't have the most perfect credit, but they are a nice family, and they pay their rent on time every month. They just signed on for another year.

We live about an hour away from the rental, so it's not too bad if they have a problem. We did have to replace the deck a month ago, but we knew it was going to have to be replaced soon anyway.

I recommend you do lots of research about the laws in your particular state, there is a website called biggerpockets.com and people on there are a wealth of information-people there are regular landlords doing it in their own as well as property management people. Read the forums, ask questions! PM companies typically charge 10% of what you will charge for rent (they will help you set the rental rate), and they will still call you and ask for approval for repairs-they may have access to a list of contractors they will call for you. Basically, they collect the rent for you, take their cut and send you the difference, and act as a buffer between you and the tenants. I would probably recommend a property management company if you are going to live more than an hour away. It is best if you know some basic home maintenance, hiring contractors can get expensive.

PM me if you have any other questions, I will help as much as I can.