Managing a rental from another state withut a PM?

Question

I manage two 11 unit apartment buildings myself but we are planning to  move to Florida (from Minnesota!) in a few years.  I would hate to hire a  PM company to manage my properties.  Is is possible (have others done  it??) to manage my properties from another state?  For example, could I  hire a cleaning service and perhaps a maintenance man (who could show  the vacant apartments)?  I could screen tenants and set up service  remotely.  I could fly back a few times a year to check up or handle an  emergency.   Has anyone done this successfully? How did you do it?

Would some variation of Karpinski's "How to rent vacation properties by owner" work for a normal long term rental property?

My tentative plan would be the following:

1. caretaker would be "eyes and ears" and clean building, mow and shovel

2. caretaker would show vacant apartments and would fax/scan applications to me and I would screen. Caretaker has tenant sign lease and does checklist.

3. Caretaker would evaluate vacant apartment and let me know what needs to be fixed/cleaned. Send video of apartment to me.

4.  Caretaker would inform me of any repair/maintenance needs and I would call service  contractors.

5. rents would be mailed or deposited into my bank account.

6. caretaker is vital to this process so compensation would be ?  Free apartment + ???

Any problems with this approach?

Thanks
	 Jeff

Bryan H. · Answer

Sounds like you are just substituting the word Caretaker for Property Manager.  Except you have some input throughout the process.

If you give them 1 apt as compensation, you are only getting rent on 21/22 apts or 95%. For a couple percentage point more, you can relieve yourself of the responsibility and enjoy yourself.

Now imagine if your care taker needs to be fired, evicted, sued, etc. You will wish you didn't have an employee living in your apt.

Paul J. · Answer

We're very small, but this is my model right now.  I have 3 units and my maintenance guy also does showings and paperwork.  He is a part time 1099 contractor for me.  He owns his own business doing cleaning and renovation work already so our business together is just one part of his work, which sometimes can cause some scheduling conflicts but we have worked thru it pretty well.

• Tenants pay rent direct electronically or by bank deposit
• I sign the leases here and send electronically, with the maintenance guy handling the paperwork and also witnessing the signing.
• He gets paid about 1/2 of what a full service PM company would per month for being available and responding to minor repair calls (1 hour), and 1/2 a months rent for handling showings and performing in-person screening.  He's also supposed to drive by monthly and inspect inside every 6 months.

• For-rent phone calls come to a google voice number advising of unit currently for rent, instructions for how to obtain an application online,  and to contact maintenance guy to schedule showing.  I think this helps a lot in screening as our internet-based process self-selects for folks who can perform these tasks ahead of time .  We dont like to accept any kind of paper money unless there is some odd circumstances or at move-in.
• I perform tenant screening and follow up on application verification items, as well as all the bookkeeping and processes.
• He gets first shot at any maintenance work that he can perform himself and bills hourly, uses my company Home Depot card for supplies.  Otherwise he makes the properties available as needed for licensed trades and inspections.
• We use tools like Google Drive, Buildium, Chase Quickpay, Camscanner, and lots of photographs to bridge the physical divide and work together remotely

I have to say that the market I work in is the area I originally grew up in, so this was not some maintenance group off the street but someone I had already known for years, but this process is working pretty well.  My plan is to visit the area the properties are in 2x per year as I can, although it was only once last year.

Michael Seeker · Answer

Hey Jeff J. - I'm in the process of doing this myself.  I don't have all of the details hashed out yet, but same idea.  I'm considering having a newer realtor/realtor's assistant do this for me or a reputable PM company do it for a discounted rate.

One thing that I've found instrumental is to collect all rent electronically.  Depending on the demographics of your rental this may be difficult to implement (especially on short notice - I now require it for new tenants).

We're both in that sweet spot where a part/full time employee is overkill, but the cost of a PM seems excessive when most things can be done remotely these days.  I personally plan to spend more money on my rentals and also travel back and forth at least 4x per year, but likely much more when I have projects going on.

Will you continue investing in the area or just sticking with these 2 properties for the foreseeable future?

What part of FL?

Susan Gillespie · Answer

Jeff J. response) and emergency issues. I would have a back-up plan for each situation. Sometimes it's not a true emergency, but it's good to have local connections who can help you evaluate and address the situation.

I know a property manager who offers ongoing maintenance with emergency service for a reasonable fee. That option also offers peace of mind.

Jeff Blanchard · Answer

+1 for not scanning/faxing applications; also not dealing with paper money/checks. These can be handled electronically, and more directly, without having to involve your caretaker.

I think this is a good approach though, yes, and similar to how I operate. I do tend to find tenants that have a sense of ownership about their apartments, and will take care of minor issues without texting me (or using our web app to report a repair issue) in exchange for modest rent discounts when they happen.

Paul J. · Answer

I guess we cant edit in the new BP yet, but I swear that was neatly formatted in bullet points when it left me!

Tom Yung · Answer

@Jeff Johnson

I have to agree with@Bryan H.

You are substituting caretaker with PM. Personally I will prefer live in caretaker over  PM. on smaller units(under 20).

Anything over 20 & under 100, I will say a good PM is more efficient & economical.

I got this from my previous RE business experience in the past.

Jeff J. · Answer

We will just stick with the two, although we also have a 2 bedroom condo in Huntington Beach CA where we have a terrible PM. I plan to find a better PM soon or maybe try to do it myself, if possible.

We would be in Fort Lauderdale.

Last summer when we were on vacation for a month in Florida, several severe events happened at one of the buildings in MN and I was surprised how easily I could fix the problems remotely with just a few phone calls.  This started me wondering if I could manage the apartments once we permanently moved to Florida.

Thanks

Jeff

Managing a rental from another state withut a PM?

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