Out of State Landlord who Manage their Own

[Bobby Paquette]

What is the best piece of advice you woul give someone who is going to be managing their out of state rentals? (Without saying "Don't do it") 

[Travis Biziorek]

I have three:

- Keep rents slightly below market.

- Be attentive and willing to pay for repairs ASAP

- Have nice properties

I manage 12-doors in Detroit but I live in California. These three pieces of advice are all designed to retain tenants as long as possible.

A little more on each...

Most of my tenants are on their 4th or 5th year with me. While I raise rents EVERY year, I'm still reasonably priced. I don't mind being slightly below market because that means fewer turn overs which means lower vacancy and less money I have to spend to do the turn. It's a win-win.

When stuff needs to be fixed, I don't nickel and dime my tenants. If it's their fault, I do make them pay for it (hair in drains, etc.). I had a dryer go out in one of my units (I provide appliances). I had a brand new one delivered that week. The tenant was shocked. A door had been giving one of my tenant's issues for awhile. It was sticking and becoming hard to lock. I asked her to call a locksmith and have it fixed, take a photo of the bill and I'd take it off their rent. 

It sounds simple and easy but most landlords are cheap. Tenants appreciate it.

Finally, my homes/units are pretty nice. Nicer than average. I'm also a nice, attentive landlord (even if I do raise rents annually). I believe all of my tenants know they have it pretty darn good and moving doesn't make sense.

I tried hiring a PM for 3 of my doors because I thought it would be too difficult managing remotely. Nope. That was a huge mistake. I went through three different PM's and they all sucked terribly. None of them came even close to doing as good of a job as I do. And I'm 2,000 miles away and rarely need to do much of anything. 

Amazing.