I wanted to add one to this response here. I've started the blog - it's coming along nicely now. But your question about how did I get things started Out Of State (i.e. "Long Distance Real Estate Investing") is an interesting one. As mentioned, my realtor #Cory Robinson found a 2Br / 1Bath duplex on Riley Ave - about 6 blocks from where I would eventually call HOME here in Indy.
The deal was for sale on the MLS in April 2018, and wasn't having much interest from buyers at $85K. Long-term tenants were already living in both units - a 6 year tenant in one side, and a 3 year tenant in the other - tenants who are still in the units TODAY, but now under Better Managed Properties LLC leases. Both units had lots of "deferred maintenance" - 10 year old carpet, no repainting for at least 10 years, stick-on tile-laminate-flooring in both kitchens were peeling and looked awful (and still do). There was some exterior cleanup needed - flashing around the chimney, clean-out of the gutters, and overgrown shrub removal - that took a weekend to finish up. I'm planning to do the kitchen floor work, and painting on the flip if either of these tenants leaves. The tenants do not think of me as the 'owner', and I always represent myself as "A Property Manager" with the faceless corporation Better Managed Properties LLC. So far they're happy with me as Property Manager, call whenever there's an issue (it's happened 3 times in 2 years so far) and mostly pay the rent on-time. When not on-time, they pay the late fees as assessed.
I closed the purchase remotely, signing documents electronically, and got the keys in-the-mail. The next time I returned to Indy, the weekend was spent cleaning the yard, and doing chimney flashing and gutter cleaning. Naturally the cost for the cleaning trip was deductible off my 2018 income taxes as a business expense.
I had already decided I was moving to Indianapolis, so I didn't hire a Property Manager - choosing instead to DIY the property management work. I enjoy home improvement / rehab work, so I pulled out my tool belt, and went to work fixing things.
New skills learned: re-keying doorknob locksets. In the time after purchasing the first TURN-KEY duplex, I used YouTube videos (like this one) and other on-line resources to learn how to re-key locks. It's easy enough to purchase a lock at the home center, and for $5 have them re-key it to your existing key, but with a little on-line learning now I can do it myself. A rekeying kit is a must have (IMHO) for a property manager. I purchased THIS ONE - it includes pins, springs, a pickle-fork, and key-guage for kwikset locks.
When first purchased, each unit had FIVE (5x) keys per unit! One of the tenants only had 1 key - the key to the front door, so I used that key as the pattern to re-key ALL the other locks to match the front-door key. I repaired a malfunctioning garage door opener in one unit, ordered a replacement key-fob online, and gave it to the renter.
If I had decided to have a PM company do the work, they would have come up with new leases, done the maintenance work for me, etc. based on what I wanted to have done. In the 2 years I've owned the properties, the only remodel work done was to install laminate flooring in high traffic areas - such as the living room and hallways of both units. New carpet was installed in the bedroom for one unit, the other tenant wanted laminate flooring, so I obliged. I found a great deal on laminate flooring at the local Ollie's Bargain Outlet, used a miter saw to cut pieces to fit, and click them into place. Finish work was installing white quarter-round molding around the baseboards. I spent $600 for laminate flooring for BOTH sides, and four 8-hour days on each. I paid Home Depot carpet layers to install 1 bedroom of carpet - I let the tenant pick the carpet from a selection of samples, and the tenant now thinks of it as HIS carpet. So far, it has been well taken care of.
