All Forum Posts by: Diana Froster

I am 37 and plan to “retire” in the next few years. 
but having a baby and considering a second highlights the importance of health insurance so that is a concern in terms of totally leaving an hourly job, very expensive without help. 
I like my job now, I don’t dread it at least. But yea I’ll be leaving the city to go relax with my kids some day soon and do work here and there as I see fit, maybe open a food truck or a cafe, spend time with the parents and help them out with projects. 
and continue my real estate thing. 

it started with a condemned duplex and has turned into 8 LTRs and a STR.

One more killer deal and I’ll be pretty set. Even now I could raise the rent on my tenants enough to cover my living expenses, but I like my tenants, they leave me a alone and pay on time and I make good money every month. 

Anyways, I’m with you and getting pretty darn close to there, but kids aren’t cheap and neither is health insurance so there’s that too. 

Hi there, I personally have out of state properties that I manage but not that many yet so I HANDLE THE MANAGEMENT so far.

1. I purchase in good areas (VERY IMPORTANT). The quality of the area determines the quality of the tenants. One of my properties is located next to an army base center so I get a lot of military families Who are excellent at keeping the place spotless.

2. I vet my tenants very carefully to make sure they are good. I make everyone that’s interested in the property fill out a application that lets me know who they are, what they do, and what their intention is with the property.  Once I have a good amount of applications I look through them and I select the best one from the bunch I do not go with the first tenant that walks in and says they want the place. Once I select a tenant I run their background check at their expense. Very important because there’s always a probability that they will be someone that will lie to you in their application.

3. When investing in out-of-state properties and wanting to manage them by yourself it’s always a good thing to have a friend in the state you’re investing in or a family member that can check in on the property for emergency situations just in case. The state I invest in I have my sister that lives there and if anything were to happen she can always go in and check on the property however it doesn’t really happen too much

4. Try to establish as many connections in that state as possible especially when it comes down to service provider such as handymen, plumbers, etc. that you can call in at anytime and they would be available to go solve the problem should it arise. You don’t have to do this right away. You can do it as you go. I found my servicing company after experimenting with different contractors, I was able to build rapport with this particular company I know I have it set up so if anything were to break or leak my tenants notify them directly and then they notify me to confirm. My tenants love this feature as it makes them feel like their needs will be met.

5. Invest in a state that you do not mind visiting. It is inevitable unfortunately to manage an OUT Of State PROPERTY by yourself 100% remotely. I check in on the house once every six months just to make sure everything is being kept up with maintenance wise. As a homeowner you always have to look after your property, it’s the responsible thing to do. I love going to that state to vacation so honestly it’s not a big deal for me sometimes I even go in every three months but just too vacation. 

As I grow my investment portfolio however I may start looking into a management company once I get overwhelmed with tenants. But so far all my doors are occupied by amazing tenants Who look after the property very well, and and my systems allow for Easy management.


best of luck to you on your journey, I hope this helps