Military & rental properties

[Cornelius Brady]

Hey all! Green investor here. 

Quick background: I've been in the Army for a year and a half and will be for the next 12 years before I have the opportunity to get out. I bought a single family home as my primary residence in San Antonio, and plan on renting it out upon leaving for my next duty station. I have two main questions:

1) I hear in the podcast and reading through the forms that knowing your market as an investor is critical. If there are any active duty military reading this, how do you go about really getting to know a market while moving every 2-3 years? Of course, advice from those not in the military is greatly appreciated as well. 

2) This one is for military - how do you go about managing rental properties when you have to deploy? I assume it would involve having a spouse who understands the needs of your portfolio and how to deal with issues when they arise. However, what if you don't have a spouse? 

Thanks in advance. Looking forward to the conversation. 

-Neil 

[Karl McGarvey]

Fellow Military here!

Honestly, in my opinion the moving every 2-3 years puts you at an advantage, and here is why. First, you have the opportunity to diversify in multiple markets over your career in markets with large populations of members who are getting paid a monthly housing allowance. These same members have significant incentive to pay their rent on time and in full since going to collections of any kind will affect their security clearance. Second, chances are, at your current duty station, you will find PLENTY of people who have been stationed at all of the other places you may be going. You just have to ask the right questions to them to start getting an idea of where in town you may want to invest. Then, volunteer for TDYs to those locations and use those TDYs to explore and refine your information (PAID TRIP!).

You're right, deploying makes the management more challenging. Spouse is one option, but this is actually why I opened an LLC with my investing partner @Holly Brown. She and I are able to travel the world knowing the other one is covering the operations during that time.

Any questions let me know!