Debating on selling my 4plexes

[Steve Smithy]

I have 3 fantastic 4plexes, when I purchased them the ROI was well above the normal 1% rule, and they still make decent money today. I am thinking of selling them because I haven't focused on finding good property managers and staying on top of them. So the property managers don't seem to be putting good tenants in and then the turnover is higher, repairs are higher, their placement fees are higher, etc. I am sure if I spent more time focusing on them I could do better, but if I spent that same time on another venture I am sure it would pay more in the long run.

I was thinking I could just sell and stop worrying about them, and invest the money in something else. But I don't have a better idea to invest in, other than just "the stock market". I was really into it when I first bought them and thought I would keep buying more, but now I lost the interest.

I chose 4plexes because of volumes of scale (1 tenant turnover doesn't mean I am losing money that month), mortgage implications (easier to just get a personal mortgage, with 5unit and up you need commercial mortgage), and I thought it would be easier to manage.

2 of the 4plexes are in Indiana and 1 is in Pennsylvania. I am near Boston.

What would you do?

[Mark Whittlesey]

For buy and hold management is absolutely key.

And even more so for multis. Even small multis like 4-plex.

The vast majority of "professional" managers I have run into are bad. REALLY bad.

The one thing you cannot do is maintain status quo. You either need to find really good managers and then manager the managers. Or you need to sell.

That is really a lifestyle/personal decision, not an investment decision.

It sounds like management is the vast majority of the problem. If it were me, I would fix that problem.

The other thing to keep in mind is that even with small multis, cash flow does matter in terms of valuation. So with all your management problems, you may not get top dollar if you sell without fixing that.