Manage friend's properties?

[Bryan P.]

I have a good friend who has a few hundred thousand to invest and he wants to buy 10 rental properties. He lives about 3 hours from me. He wants me to manage his properties for 75 dollars/month per unit. Two questions: Is this legal? Is this wise?

I would not perform any of the manual labor on the properties. I would simply collect rent and manage repairs and move-outs.

[Dawn Anastasi]

@Bryan P. what state are you in? Maybe someone from that state can advise you more on what you can and cannot do from that perspective. There are some tasks that you might be able to do legally without having a license and some you cannot. (For example, going over to the property and sticking a "for rent" sign in the ground or signing leases on the owner's behalf.)

[Wes Eaves]

@Bryan P. I think this depends on what state you are in. I believe in FL that only licensed real estate professionals can manage a property that doesn't belong to them.

For the second part, generally 10% of the monthly rent is the fee paid to an individual/company to manage properties.

[J Scott]

Yup, as Wes said, this will be state dependent. In many states, you either need to be a licensed broker to do property management, you need to have an equitable interest in the property (i.e., be an owner), or you need to be an employee (not a contractor) of someone who holds an equitable interest.

[Dawn Anastasi]

@Bryan P. what state are you in? Maybe someone from that state can advise you more on what you can and cannot do from that perspective. There are some tasks that you might be able to do legally without having a license and some you cannot. (For example, going over to the property and sticking a "for rent" sign in the ground or signing leases on the owner's behalf.)