New landlord. Has been a complete nightmare.

[Account Closed]

Hello all! I was eager to get the ball rolling on investing. I own a townhome in Baltimore County and decided to rent it out. I was short on time and used a property management company to find my tenants and it has been a complete nightmare. I would love to find a mentor or something close to that because I am completely lost in all of this. If anyone has any advice or book suggestions I am all ears! Thank you in advance!

[Jack Seiden]

Quote from @Account Closed:

Hello all! I was eager to get the ball rolling on investing. I own a townhome in Baltimore County and decided to rent it out. I was short on time and used a property management company to find my tenants and it has been a complete nightmare. I would love to find a mentor or something close to that because I am completely lost in all of this. If anyone has any advice or book suggestions I am all ears! Thank you in advance!

So one of the reasons I like managing my own properties is I can vet the tenants myself, not only screening criteria but in one of my units I had someone who contacted me, and frankly her credit score was below my criteria but she reached out told me she has two kids and really loved the unit and she’d be sure to make the payments, I decided I’d at least show her the unit, and when I met her she was super sweet & I could just tell she would take good care of the place and really prioritize making her payments, and I was right even the few times she’s been late she’s apologized and has never missed a month of payment, so I’d self manage your properties in the future & I think if you know how to both screen & read people you’ll do better than with a property manager.