So much rental chaos, need advice!

[Chloe Dawn Murphy]

The past two months have been wicked crazy.

I own a 3 bedroom 2 bath house that I turned into a four bedroom student rental making $314 in cashflow. I rented 3 rooms out while I lived in one for the past two years and had little to no problems other than washer and dryer issues. I moved out 6 months ago and hired a property manager in order to free up my time better. 

The past two months I have had to: replace the roof due to it leaking in the laundry room, fix major plumbing issues after the basement flooded, three of the four tenants gave their months notice the same day, manage drama induced tenant issues that lead to my first eviction, and now an hour ago I was informed that the power is out on the entire first floor for no apparent reason. 

Was I simply lucky the first two years and am now paying my dues? Did I hire the wrong property manager? I would come out even if I rented the entire place to a family, would the stress relief be worth the loss of cash flow?

I'm generally a fact based lady, but should I read the signs that theres some bad juju and sell out now at the top of the market with 70k in equity?

I would very much appreciate some realistic advice!

[Nathan Gesner]

How could your PM possibly be responsible for the roof leaking? Or the basement flooding? Or the power going out on the first floor? I don't know how the PM could be responsible for any of these, particularly when they've only been involved for six months.

Three tenants leaving at once? That's probably three people colluding together, assuming that if they all leave at the same time you will just let them go.

Your PM should have policies and procedures in place to handle those tenants. Your PM should have handled the tenant that was evicted. And your PM should be prepared to replace your tenants and minimize your losses. If they are not handling those issues properly, then you probably need a new PM.

Would a single family be better? Probably. You claim to be making more cash flow but you've already had to evict a tenant and three more are moving out so it sounds like you'll be losing money.

My suggestion: step back and look at the condition of the property because it sounds like you have some deferred maintenance issues that are finally coming to light. Get it fixed up so it is safe, functional, and sturdy. At the same time, figure out how to handle a multiple roommate situation and avoid the drama/losses or start renting to a single family.