Is landlording, especially from out of town too much of a hassle?

[Mariama R.]

I was talking to a relative, about my interest in being an out of town investor and what this person had to say was pretty negative - this person was saying that it is alot of hassle to be a real estate investor and landlord, particularly, an out of state investor/landlord, even with management companies - have you found this to be true, including for out of state investors?  This person said he/she preferred to sell his time for money and even gave up real estate deals to avoid the hassle - yet this is what many of the Gurus such as Robert Kiyosaki teach against - selling time.

I've read on some of the forums here that it could be much hassle if one can't locate a good property management company.  But there are so many success stories in real estate in terms of wealth building, it would seem that real estate investing would be preferable to earning one's money as an S - a small business owner selling one's time.

[Mike D'Arrigo]

@Mariama R.Yes. That's why you don't want to be a landlord. You want to be an investor. They are two different things. Equity funds like Blackstone that owns over 40,000 single family homes aren't landlords. Investors hire good property managers to handle all of the "landlord" activities of managing the property and the tenants. Many people successfully invest out of state.