Do you guys manage them yourselves or hire a management company?
I’m thinking about buying a smaller place for us to live and putting Casa Samuels up for rent.
I’ve got a job where I travel quite a bit, so I’m leaning toward a management company to be the first phone call if a renter has an issue. Not to mention, they would be responsible for screening applicants and managing lease paperwork.
Thoughts?
Managing 1 property yourself isn’t a big deal if you don’t mind periodic phone calls, etc. On the other hand, it’s worth it to some to give up 10% to not have to deal with the tenants.
Be prepared for your worst nightmare if you rent out your home. Just saying!
Why is that? I have no emotional attachment to this house. It’s just a pile of money sitting here that I’d like to have doing some work
Boat drinks, Waitress I need 2 more boat drinks!
Get a management company! They take care of everything and you can even deduct the cost! No phone calls in the middle of the night because a faucet is dripping or the light bulb is out!
I personally select my tenants and I’ve had no problems in the four years I’ve been doing it. Someone else paying my note makes me feel good. Well worth the little bit of work to me.
And yes you can have nightmare renters if you aren’t careful. The type of renter Casa Samuals would pull, I doubt you’d have many issues. Just a hunch.
The people that tell you about the horror stories either haven’t done it, have low income property, or didn’t run all the checks and balances they should have.
I do background and employment checks plus references. In the end before you sign a lease, look the person in the eye and tell them your expectations. This goes further with people than you think.
Redfish Baron Extraordinaire
Yep, if you don’t do the background checks you could have problems! I’ve only had to put 1 renter out over the years and I got lucky on that one. It was in Colorado and they had an eviction law that puts them on the street in 3 days!
We had a rental in Mt. P. Ran it ourselves at the beginning, then switched over to a management company. Running it yourself can be time consuming, especially when it comes to finding a tenant. There’s plenty of websites that allow you to check on people’s background but sometimes you question the sites accuracy. Then you have the potential of getting stuck with a tenant that either destroys your property or doesn’t pay the rent. Then it’s all up to you to handle the problems. Having an agency, a good agency, handle it was much more assuring for us. THe agency took care of everything and generally found tenants in a very reasonable amount of time. Also made it easier at tax time, since we had documentation for everything. If we had a rental property again, I’d definitely use a reputable and reliable agency over doing it ourselves.
My wife is a real estate broker with a property management company that does everything from rentals, sales, contruction, development, etc. Give her a call and she can set you up on the ins and outs of renting with and without management. Rachel 843810570five
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Kinda my take from both sides here. Dad had some rental houses and had them managed by someone in his office. Not a company, so I’d still call it owner managed, with help. Then my brother and me on the repair front when stuff went wrong back in the HS days. These were lower income places. Really not bad people, just lazy, messy, and dirty. Mom now has them (divorce) and she manages them herself. Seems to be doing fine with that.
I’m looking for a house to buy, so still renting currently. Lived in Baton Rouge, Raleigh, Augusta, and now Charleston over the past 4 years. I specifically look for houses managed by the owner and not a property manager. So much easier with the flexibility for both parties when you manage it yourself. Had to leave a lease early and that was one of the reasons why I like owner managed houses. It was simple, treated his house like it was mine the whole time, found him a good new tenant with no vacant time, and I was able to come down here for a job and not get stuck losing a bunch of money over leaving the lease early. Girlfriend had the same situation trying to leave a lease to start a new job down here. Only she always has been through a management company with zero flexibility whatsoever. She was stuck paying two rents.
I’ve had owners just give me a list of repair people and had me call them directly if we had a problem. She was a great landlord. Currently have a unresponsive PITA landlord who told us he’d fix the roof leak before we moved in July 1…guess what, still leaking. This guy should probably be using a management company.
How diligent are you going to be about selecting a good tenant? How responsive are you to people when they call and leave you a voicemail?
Thanks for the ■■■■■■■■ guys
I’m still undecided as yet. I’m responsive to questions and problems, but like I said earlier, I travel a lot for the real job.
I would expect a tenant to treat my property like it was their own. I’d be willing to negotiate breaking a lease due to reasonable circumstances, especially if the tenant was working with me. Honestly, I’m still leaning toward a management company for at least the first year or two. Marketing the property and getting it rented to a quality tenant would be worth the fees.
Boat drinks, Waitress I need 2 more boat drinks!
It maybe just as difficult to find a good property manager as it is to find good tenets. A friend of mine has been through several PM.
My wife and I separated years back and I had to rent a house. The owner lived in Disgusta but made an appointment to come see me. After we got finished with small talk he asked me to take him to see my home I was moving from? I asked why and he said anyone who takes care of their own house will probably take care of mine. I rented his house, but he turned out being a very strange individual.
Been using Copper Roof to manage a small condo in Charleston. In 6 years we have only had 2 partial months. Fees aren’t bad, 10% plus additional fees during change over.
As this was not an investment property, it’s good to know we don’t need to spend any effort or stress on it.
Worth every penny.
through research on your tenant and you know your house and its condition also if you know your way around tools. ride by and take a look at the place they are currently staying at, if it will be a headache call a management company. the 10% is a easy way to ensure it gets done when its needed… plus whats 10% for a piece of mind
I’m learning to be a numbers guy and trying to train myself to have financial discipline. That 10% I would pay to a property manager allows me to put an extra two payments on my note annually. It’s not worth it to me to give that 10% up, but it may be to some. Currently on pace to pay it off about seven years early.
Redfish Baron Extraordinaire
I’m a number geek Ricky, so you’ve hit on my primary stumbling block to hiring a management company. I think that I’ll bite the bullet for at least the first couple of years while I learn the ropes.
The goal for the new place will be pay off in 5-7 years; buy another house before I retire and let the first two pay for it, then provide supplemental income.
Boat drinks, Waitress I need 2 more boat drinks!
Good plan, that’s all I’m looking to do too is provide supplemental income after the wife quits working. Or at least put us in a position where if she wants to work she can but doesn’t really need to.
Redfish Baron Extraordinaire
It’s a tough choice. Anne worked part time at the kid’s school ages ago, then switched to stay at home Mom for the past 10 years. Make the choice that best aligns with your values and go for it. I’d like to have 10 years of her earnings in the bank, but instead I have healthy, happy, well adjusted kids. I think it was the right choice for us.
Boat drinks, Waitress I need 2 more boat drinks!
My thoughts on your traveling. If you’re hands on and do repairs yourself, you’re SOL when you’re out of town and you just have to call a repair guy. If you’re using a manager, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in town or not, repair guy gets called, right? What’s gained? 10% for making a phone call every now and then?
When it comes to tennent screening…what screening do they do? If they have the money to pay the deposits and have a credit score above 001, they’re in. Manager doesn’t give a hoot about anything else. The work required on the owners end is minimal IMO to equal or exceed the amount of applicant screening that a manager does.