Question about selling a rental in Spokane.

[Account Closed]

I am writing on behalf of my sister inlaw. She has a 3br/1.5ba in the West Central neighborhood of Spokane. She lives in CA and is an out of town investor. The current tenants just renews their lease, but in general, I think the property has been difficult to manage long distance. Do you Spokane investors think she should find a new management company? or, given the location, is the property better off being owned by someone local? Thank you for your help. 

[Kristin Whitaker]

@Account Closed Yes, I have a rental property in West Central.  There are some pockets that are great rental neighborhoods, and there are some areas that are really rough.  She's probably in one of the rougher ones.

I self-manage, and as with any area have found that it comes down to tenant selection.  I screen my tenants thoroughly, and have rehabbed the properties nicely enough to weed out the lowest income brackets.

There could be a lot of things going on.  Bad neighborhood, terrible tenant screening, no drive-by checks to make sure upkeep is fair, etc.  Unfortunately a great PM doesn't seem to exist in Spokane.  I don't have experience with a great PM co enough to recommend, and have asked other real estate professionals and investors and no one raves about a company who gets everything done and takes care of their clients' properties like they were there own.  I do know a few you should definitely stay away from however.