Seeking Advice: Remote Management of 30 Properties—Is It Feasible?

Question

Hi everyone,

I'm currently evaluating an opportunity to remotely manage 30 single-family homes located out of state. These properties are owned by a few different investors I work with and know personally, the average monthly rent per property is about $1,300. My wife and I are considering taking on this role as a property management team, managing these properties from our current location in Washington state.

Our plan is to establish a reliable network of local contacts in the area—such as maintenance professionals, agents, lawyers, etc.—that we can call on as needed. I would initially travel to the area for a couple weeks to meet and assemble a dependable team. Additionally, I would plan to travel to the area every 4-6 weeks to handle any major issues and find new potential investment properties.

While this seems like a promising start, the income from these 30 properties alone doesn’t yet justify relocating to the area. However, their portfolio is consistently growing and I am also starting to invest in the area. As the portfolio grows or, if through networking we found more clients, relocating might make more financial sense.

Before moving forward, I’d love to get some input from the community:

1. Has anyone here successfully managed a portfolio of this size remotely? What were some challenges you faced, and how did you overcome them?

2. What advice do you have for establishing a reliable local network when you’re not physically in the area? What other resources such as VA’s could I consider?

3. At what point would you consider relocating to be a necessary or advantageous move?(number of doors)

4. Are there specific tools or systems that you recommend for remote management that could help streamline operations?

Any insights, advice, or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help!

Kevin Epp · Answer

To start: I am a property manager, never managed 30x doors remotely. Goes with the job, I live and work in the territory I work in.

The following things I believe to be true: you could definitely do this; you will definitely take on more risk.

Food for thought: building a strong network of folks you trust would be a must. For sure. By virtue of asking this here, it's clear you're weighing the benefits (feasibility) of doing it yourself or hiring someone. Keep in mind...though you might have a strong network of trust between agents and vendors, that does not equate to a signed property management agreement where the PM is contractually obligated to take care of your portfolio. Read: the trust of the agents and contractors you work with will go so far as their good will does. If you sign a contract with compensation for these agents and vendors to assist your portfolio....well, then, you've essentially done the same thing as a PM but with more contracts and relationships to manage.

Specifically answering your questions:

1. Has anyone here successfully managed a portfolio of this size 
remotely? Never managed remotely.

2. What advice do you have for establishing a reliable local network 
when you're not physically in the area? What other resources such as VA's could I consider? Referrals from local PMs would be a good start. If you don't want to "get sold" by a PM when you're really looking for vendors, then talk to brokers on the buy/sell side instead. I see you're a broker too, so you have your cleaners, other agents to show properties etc.

Virtual Assistants: VPM Solutions is a company that specifically trains and sources VAs for property management. Would be a good start.

3. At what point would you consider relocating to be a necessary or advantageous move?(number of doors) Don't know about relocating, however, the adage is 50x doors per PM. That's with them running everything. Maintenance coordination, leasing, etc. With that said, if you search the forums here you will see folks managing 100, 200+ doors with a small team to assist (showing agents, maintenance, etc.) Doesn't answer your specific question above but worth adding.

4. Are there specific tools or systems that you recommend for remote management that could help streamline operations? There are tons of software to choose from. I'm sure folks will respond here with the list of them. If you're managing remotely, then finding a software that enables remote showings (if you don't have someone on the ground to show it for you) and you can advertise/screen/place folks from it. All the big software companies (RentVine, Buildium, AppFolio, on and on...) have capabilities like this. I use ShowMojo for my remote showings and screenings and it gets the job done.

Sidenote: I'm in Tacoma if you want to shoot the breeze and talk about this more. Don't know where you're at in WA.

Kenneth Jenkins · Answer

My opinion is don't try this in Detroit proper.  I'm sure Detroit isn't unique in this, but managing without being present requires you to rely on others.  Detroit in particular has been a haven for out of state money and there is a sub culture that has developed of "contractors" advertising to provide this type of service while at best underperforming and at worst completely stealing from you.  Yes, on paper you can do it, and seasoned investors with very close ties to the area are also successful.  So it's not impossible.  But we field calls several times a week from investors who fell into this trap.

One very knowledgable and successful guy is @Travis Biziorek take his advice seriously.  He is making it work, and has a multiple year track record.  I see he commented on this thread above, so reach out to him.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

I would think you would need a license in almost all states to PM for others..

I am sure you have checked on that one.

Chris Grenzig · Answer

@Seth Mattox so we manage some that are over an hour away, so we have to do some of this stuff, but not to the same degree. Some keys for managing remote that I can think of are:

-Leasing, are you going to pay local agents to do it or use self showing software like showmojo or tenant turner. What are you legally allowed to do?

-Maintenance, find a local NARPM chapter and they probably have a bunch of affiliate vendors on there. They've all paid to be on that list, so they might not be THE cheapest option, but they want to work with PMs and probably do already which should simplify things. Also other PM companies will be members of that NARPM chapter, you could try networking with them to see if they have any vendors they can share with you.

-Softwares, definitely use a property management software like Buildium (thats what we use) but there are others like Rentvine, rent manager, appfolio, etc. We also use showmojo for leasing which allows for self guided tours. Lockboxes cost $75-100 per lockbox to use the software.

- Accounting, not mentioned, but make sure you can confidently run the trust accounting and security deposit which is compliant with state code.

- VAs, I don't think this is necessary for 30 doors, but depends on how much availability you have and how time consuming these properties will be. You shouldn't hire a VA until you have all your systems and processes in place and you have specific repsonsibilties and roles for the VA to have. Hiring a VA is like hiring anyone else, and sometimes more difficult since they're remote and you can't sit down and show them the ropes every day for a month until they learn it all

- relocation, you might not have to relocate, I know there was one property manager on peter lohmanns podcast who only does remote PM, but they have some employees in the area in which they manage, so that might be worth finding and listening to. Eventually I do think it would make sense to hire someone in the area though to help do somethings as boots on the ground. Usually a PM can handle 50-100 units depending upon the makeup of the portfolio.

Travis Biziorek · Answer

I agree with pretty much everything you're saying, Kenneth. I manage remotely on my portfolio in Detroit proper. But I have a team and deep network. The average person will have an extremely difficult time doing it.

And I agree 100% about the sub culture of "contractors" and other tradespeople. I do about a dozen calls each week with investors that are either wanting to get into Detroit or have already started. At least 1-2 of those calls are folks that trusted the wrong people and are now in a bad spot.

As always, I'm happy to talk with anyone about Detroit and/or share some resources. A lot of the bad stuff can be avoided by just doing some homework and moving slow. But it's shocking how many people don't want to do those things.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

I know your company. You are a business developer for a large, professional PM company. That's not the same Are you telling us you personally manage 100 properties from a distance? Who's driving by the properties to see if lawns are maintained? Check for unauthorized occupants and pets? Conduct regular inspections? Handle move-outs, turnovers, showings, etc?

@Seth Mattox it can be done from a distance, but I think the quality of service will be sub-par and it will take a lot of extra effort. The wise choice is to hire a professional property manager in that area until you have enough properties to justify moving someone there.

Melanie Thomas · Answer

1000% it is doable. I have done it for 100+ SFH's with the closest property over an hour away. The biggest hurdle was finding reliable vendors. There are many companies out there that can assist with that. Paid reliable boots on the ground was the next. Again, there are many vendors out there willing to hot shot to a property for $10-$20 depending on the task needed. Everything can be managed remotely. Happy to chat offline if you have specific questions. Check out NARPM if you are not already a member. TONS of great resources for property managers! Good luck & happy investing!

Peter Mckernan · Answer

I have seen it done with other clients doing it and also have some friends that do this as well. There are ways with remote software etc. There is a lot you can do far away, the benefit for you is making the money remotely. The struggle will be finding those great contractors, agents, and boots on the ground to get stuff done for you!!

Drew Sygit · Answer

@Seth Mattox know someone doing it in Cleveland.

Their biggest challenge is finding reliable boots on the ground to keep an eye on everything.

Take videos instead of pics. Make sure they narrate the videos and describe what they are showing you.

You can try Zooming, but connection often drops on mobile.

Contractors will try to rip you off once they know you are remote. You have to be familiar with costs of labor in local market.

VA's are only good for "busy work" as they don't care about your company, costs, etc. All they do is punch the clock and push buttons - no thinking.

Better to try to find a Remote Team Member, pay them well and make them part of your decision-making process. You can try to turn a good VA into a Remote Team Member though.

Seeking Advice: Remote Management of 30 Properties—Is It Feasible?

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