How far would you consider driving to manage you rentals?

[Jack B.]

Being in the Seattle area, the deals are all but gone since the market recovery. While I would love to move my portfolio and I to Florida someday due to the excellent price to rent ratios there, until that time I may end up buying in Spokane, WA, which is about a 4 hour drive from me.

The price to rent ratios there are more favorable, and you can meet the 1% rule fairly easily. Only hang up is the drive time. Just to make one visit is a days worth of driving round trip. Trip is expensable, but the TIME...

It is still at least close enough for a weekend trip once a year to check things out, but if I had to turn a place, etc. it would get really ugly real fast, and property management is not really reasonable in price, taking 10% off the top of gross income, which ends up being more like half of my net profit for merely being available in case something happens. If said property management can do handy man stuff etc. then we may have something. I'd be willing to pay a stipend that they get even if they don't get called, but when they do get called, their service is already paid for, they fix the leak, etc. and all is well. If I get someone presentable enough I can even have them show the houses during vacancies.

Anyways, while that sounds ideal, I think I just answered my own question; four hours drive one way is too far. Maybe I will stick to Tacoma and possibly expand into Bremerton.