Reluctant Landlord in Pensacola, FL

[Charles Baisden]

Hi everyone!

First of all, let me start off by saying this website is an INCREDIBLE find! I've been reading articles for HOURS already. I feel like I'm reading people's life stories and learning so many things about what to do, and what NOT to do! So thank you!!!

My name is Charles, and I hail from Pensacola, FL! My wife & I work full-time as professional wedding photographers. I also work part-time at the local community theatre as the Box Office Manager. I never intended to get into real estate as an investment, but here I am!

I'm a "reluctant landlord" in Pensacola, FL. My wife & I moved to the area in 2005 shortly after graduating from Florida State University. We were coming out of college apartments in Tallahassee, FL and knew that we wanted to buy our first house. We did, and we were loving it! Within a couple of years... surprise! Our $108,000 home was worth $70,000 or less.

Of course, being first time home buyers, our credit was so good that the bank didn't even require a down payment!!! (that was a bad joke in case you didn't catch it). What is the result of not putting money down... oh yeah... no equity!

At first, it didn't matter. I kept telling myself "it's just on paper". But after a while, our neighborhood got a one-two punch that I didn't expect.

Many of the owners in the neighborhood were original owners, and therefore fairly old. They started to die off in the 7 years we lived in the house. What happens when old folks die off? Their good for nothing kids take over the house, and rent it out to the first person that comes along. Ugh.

So with prices falling, no equity at all, and rentals rising, we knew we had a mess on our hands. Worse - these weren't the kind of rentals you hope for in neighbors... not the kind of renters a seasoned member of BiggerPockets would screen for. No... these were the drug dealing nightmare renters, and they were popping up all around us.

We decided it was time to move. We listed the house, fully expecting that the wonderful over-improvements we had done would make our house a hit with prospective buyers. Not so much. Turns out that remodeled kitchens, and custom decks don't fly in crappy neighborhoods in a declining market.

So we had two options - stay in the 'hood, or rent it out. The choice was clear: we were becoming landlords.

For year one, I was certain that using a property manager was the answer. I had read articles espousing the benefits of property managers that explained how wonderful these people were, and how they will protect you and your asset.

However, I quickly discovered that our property manager was in business for himself (duh), and was not protecting our interests. It felt like they were working us just as hard as they were working the tenants. We were actually getting bullied by OUR vendor.

At that moment, I knew it was time to make a change. It was time to manage the house myself.

So here I am, just about to step off the ledge. I've got 3 months to consume as much information as I can, and get ready to try leasing the house on my own. I'm looking forward to getting involved here, asking lots of questions, and hopefully, learning from all of you.