Managing distant Rentals and Evictions

We are now managing over 50 rental properties. As we have acquired rentals we have tended to stick to the same areas and that makes it easy for us and our contractors to keep our driving miles to a minimum. There are two areas of town that we have been able to collect 13 properties with in a 1 mile radius. We are in these areas often and can react quicker when a maintenance issue arises.

In contrast we also have a few properties that are farther away. We no longer actively look for properties in these areas and that translates to not being there as often. If we did find an opportunity there we would likely send it our to our network as a wholesale instead of building that far away. It just isn't very convenient to drive an hour each way to manage it.

As the individual in our company that actively manages our rentals and repair schedules I have depended on our networking skills to help me care for the needs of our distant tenants and properties. This month I have evicted a non-paying resident from one of our units and these are my notes on how I have handled repairs, service of notice, and regularly checking the property for status updates.

1. Original service of notice to pay or vacate - One of our partners has a cousin that lives in this area. It is convenient for us to email him a notice and instructions for posting and we can usually have this done in 24 hours. We also network with other local investors that we could set up something similar with. We do compensate them for their time. A service notice fee is charged to our tenants to offset this expense, which is far less than what my time is worth for a round trip. For my most recent eviction I drove up there myself to post the notice, not something I would normally do, but I used the opportunity to visit a friend that I don't see as often as I should.

2. Court Documents and Eviction Proceedings - As a real estate agent, I learned long ago to use the proper professional for the proper job. I have never attempted to handle an eviction without our eviction attorney. They have people to follow every step. Evictions must follow the steps and notices or you may find yourself starting over in a 3-4 week process. Do not do the eviction yourself.

3. Regular checks of the property for status of tenants move out - We are advised by our attorney to check the property daily at the end of an eviction proceeding. We want to know if the tenant is moving out willingly, or if we need to hire a constable to perform a lock out. Also, this is the time when a disgruntled tenant may choose to willfully damage the property or leave it unsecured. I network closely with other investors and I was able to borrow a handyman to check the property, also the Section 8 caseworker for my evicted tenant gave me status updates, and my partners cousin was able to check it for me. No one person had to do it every day, and I got different feedback from each person because they look for different things. I was impressed with how closely I was up to date without checking it myself. Also, each person has a camera phone and could send me photos of the property and grounds along the way.

4. Lock out - Lock changes - and Repairs to the property - On the day the constable performed the lock out I again used the handy man from an Investor in this area. The power of networking with other investors takes on a big role for this part of my story. This handy man allowed me to keep my normal crews closer to home working on 2 flip projects, rather than running back and forth and losing a full day each time. My Investor friend uses this handy man regularly and I was able to borrow him for hours at a time to take care of the little repairs that were needed. In this case he repaired the front and back doors, and replaced 2 broken windows for me, coordinated the cleaning of the property, and removed the trash and personal property left behind by my evicted tenant. This was a huge help!

Our rental is now clean and ready to rent, and I only visited the home one time.

Resist the urge to micro-manage the little things. Use resources like contractors and technology to improve your management skills. Empower your trusted assistants to make decisions and handle items that help you be on task for your highest and best use.

What can you delegate with your current challenges to help you find your next investment use your time to earn?