Has the feeling gone?

Question

We're closing on our 4th rental tomorrow. We've bought one each year since 2015. When we bought the first one I was so overwhelmed with excitement and terror that it was hard to sleep for days. Would I fail? Would I succeed? What lessons would I learn the hard way? Did I do my homework? Tons of questions kept flooding my mind while I would lay awake looking at the clock hoping I could get some sleep.

This time feels different. It's more about being overwhelmed with all the work and trying to keep everything organized. I have a couple of projects to do at rent house #2, rent house #1 is vacant and i'm trying to do the make ready while trying to get new tenants approved. We also close on rent house #4 today and it needs work plus I need to find tenants for that house at the same time. We leave for vacation in a week and a half and i'm not sure how I will get everything done before I go out of town. Playing handyman, property manager, and working full time on graveyard shift is starting to wear me thin. Is this normal?

Joe Splitrock · Answer

@Alan Pederson it looks like you are about start running a business! Up until now you just had a job that you thought was a business.

I hit the same point. I "could" do most anything, but I started running out of time. Get a good handyman to do the projects. They won't do as good of a job as you and they will cost more than you think they should. That is just how it works. Get a property manager to handling leasing and even management if you think it is necessary. Hire cleaners, mowers, landscapers, painters, plumbers, etc. Once you get a good team, it is amazing what you can get done quickly.

You are going to spend money, but you are buying freedom and time. The time allows you to work on your business, so you can add properties 5, 6, 7. You will still need to manage the business, but your time is spent managing the people and the task list.

Jim K. · Answer

Yes, it's normal. This is where you start building master renovation schedules and track your progress against them every day because it gets harder and harder to stay on track. But time management will only get you so far, and you're going to have to start cutting back on work. At least that's what happened to us.

Kai Van Leuven · Answer

@Alan Pederson

This is common, at least for me. The big thing is putting your nose to the grindstone and keep working.

I was running one day and this thought came;

“Right now you are running uphill and it’s hard. Soon enough you will be going downhill. Enjoy the times you are going downhill, and keep your head down and put one foot in front of the other on the uphill.”

On the downhill- focus of improving your systems (contractors, improving systems, maintenance).

On the uphill- do whatever it takes. Fight like your head is underwater!

Jeff Bousquet · Answer

@Alan Pederson

I think it's normal to burn out a little when you do everything yourself. I've gone through a similar path: three years - three house. All needing work and mostly vacant at closing. I have a young family, demanding job, and am in a full time MBA program.

Either way, a day working at the apartment is much better then a day at my "career" job.

Alan Pederson · Answer

That is all good advice. I'm a very organized person and I have spreadsheets that I put together to keep everything documented so I know what needs to be done and where. I carry I notebook around with me so I can write down notes when something comes up or I think of something important that I don't want to forget.

House #1 (2015) we did very little when we bought it but I knew a few things that needed to be done but put it off. Now those things need done and timing is tough. Murphy's law I guess. I have people wanting to move in on the 15th of July and I should get the inside of the house done this 4 day holiday weekend. Working with Oncor power company, a contractor, and electrician to get power line to house buried. This might take longer than the 15th but really needs to be done before anyone moves in. Tenants are fine with waiting till August 1st to move in if they have to.

House #2 (2016) just needs some grading work in back yard so water will stay away from foundation of storage building and I won't have to replace wood siding again. Shouldn't take a lot of time to finish but not big priority at the moment. No fun working outside in Texas in July.

House #3 (2017) no projects or maintenance issues. We spent lots of time and money fixing this one up over the past year.

House #4 (2019) we closed on this one today and first payment isn't until September. House doesn't need much inside work but it does need a lot of landscaping work. Again, working outside in July sucks. Will hire out tree trimming. It also needs some electrical and plumbing work. Will also hire this out.

Wife nagging me constantly about projects that need to be done at our own house but I never seem to have time to get to it.

I really need to get my wife more involved in the process. She could take over doing the tenant screenings to free me up to do the make ready work. She's off all summer so she has the time.

What I was really getting at when I started this thread was that when we bought our first rental it was like a dream that finally came true. This was something that I wanted to do for 30 years and it finally happened. All the emotions were at play. I was like a junkie getting a fix. I couldn't wait to buy the next one. When we bought #2 I was just as excited as when we bought the first one. When we bought the 3rd one, I was really excited but I knew this one would be different. It needed way more work than I had done to both of the other houses combined. I had just finished remodeling the master shower in my own house and I guess I was worn down a bit from that. Now I would be taking on a house that needed work in every room. I spent every day after work working on it for 4-6 hours a day. I spent every weekend for 6 weeks doing nothing but working on this house.

Over a year later, we finally bought house #4. My excitement just isn't there. It was a business decision and works with our long term goal but I thought I would be more into it like I was with the first 3. I'm not sure if it's just me getting older (55) or more experienced in the rental game but it's just not the same thrill.

Is this what most of you experience?

We just got back from a week long trip to Colorado to see family and our grand daughter that's almost one. While there I was getting call after call about the house we have for rent and things related to the house we were about to buy. My thoughts kept going back to all the work I needed to do when I got home. We are heading to Alaska soon and I have been working on getting the details organized and itinerary put together so we don't show up in Anchorage and say "now what were we going to do while we're here?". It seems like I always have a lot on my plate.

Bill Plymouth · Answer

As you grow in your business/investing new problems arise.  These new problems are a sign of progress.  You need to now find solutions to these problems.

Your problem is that you aren’t back letting go.  You need to outsource what work you can.  I would suggest hiring a reliable handyman you can call to fix small issues at your rentals.  Next hire a property manager to take some of the load off of your shoulders.

Robert Leonard · Answer

Yes, it is normal. It sounds like you need to delegate/outsource a lot of this work.

Robert Leonard

Dennis M. · Answer

As you grow you need to get your network / systems in place so your not racing around like an idiot fixing repairing mowing collecting and the like .get organized automate and sub out menial tasks that are cheap and easy to trusted helpers

Alan Pederson · Answer

My wife spent the entire holiday weekend helping me get our newest rental ready for new tenants that are moving in on the 15th. I'm sure that wasn't her first choice but i'm glad she helped or I would be struggling to get this house ready in time. Everyday we start by looking at the list of things that need to be done. She takes some things that she can do and I get the rest. If we need materials to finish a task, we just write down what's needed and move on to the next task. This saves us time running back and forth to the hardware store. When we're done for the day, we clean up then head to the hardware store to get the items listed so we can start working on things the next day. This is the first time she has gotten so involved in the process of prepping a house. She got to see first hand how frustrating it is to go to Lowe's and spend a couple of hours trying to find what you need. One of the items we were looking for was a light kit for a ceiling fan. They had only one that was the right color so we bought it. Sunday morning I start trying to install it and the screw holes all line up but the screws aren't the right size to secure it to the fan. Now I have to make another trip to Lowe's. In another bedroom the ceiling outlet that the ceiling fan attaches to is to small. I can't do this item so moving onto the next... By the end of the day it just didn't seem like I finished very much. All of the big things are done at this house. It's a dozen or so small things that are left. Towel rods, TP holder, ceiling fans, inti-tip device for stove, straighten 2 door frames, a couple of door knobs replaced, etc... I have 4 days so it should be okay.

Jerry W. · Answer

@Alan Pederson, what you are going through is absolutely normal.  I have had the same problems for 20 years.  Literally everything you mentioned I am dealing with hehe.  To make matters worse 2 days ago we had a major hail storm hit us.  I have not even inspected every house yet, let alone get boards over the windows of the ones with major damage.  Hire a contractor or handyman to help?  They are running like mad doing just emergency stuff at the moment.  I have had a few good handymen in the past that helped a lot.  I lost them to things like better paying out of town jobs, moving to wifes hometown to take care of parents, jail, even opening their own business and getting massively busy.  My best handyman now runs a handyman business and makes more than I do, of course he is working 14 hour days every day.

What I really hate is those dry spells where you cannot rent a house to save your soul.  I have had my two nicest houses empty for 6 months.  I have lots of lookers but nearly 90% of the good applicants end up telling me they are buying a house.  It doesn't help that one is right next to mine so I have to be super picky as my wife will not tolerate a problem family next door and I will pay the price if it happens.  Then there are times I have everything rented and I have calls from dozens of folks asking if I have a house to rent.  My vacation rental houses are really eating up time lately.  I really need to automate that process a lot more.

Has the feeling gone?

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