Prospective landlord in Chesapeake, VA

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Greetings!

My name is Jeremiah Johnson (JJ) and I’m a 25 year Navy officer planning to turn our home into a rental when we transfer this summer to San Diego. I’m looking forward to learning everything I can about this process and possibly turning this experience into a post navy “job.” Any advice from military landlords is much appreciated. 

Cheers!

JJ

[Lynn McGeein]

I'm not a military landlord, but I have been a long distance landlord -- lived in Vancouver, WA, and rental was in Chesapeake, VA. It worked for me without property management as I 1) had a contact in the area who could go check on the property for me during an emergency (pipe burst, etc.), 2) already had contractors -- electrician, plumber, handyman, etc., that knew me and were ok with going there, doing work, billing me afterwards, and 3) had a long-term tenant who worked with me for scheduling appointments when needed. Otherwise, I'd have had to provide access by leaving a contractor box on, which she wouldn't have liked. I have moved back to the Tidewater area now, but I still have some long-distance property, and I hired management to avoid the hassles as I do not have the same relationships in that area. Finding good management is difficult, especially in VB, Chesapeake area (which is why I self-managed from so far away), so interview several before you leave in case you need one later.