All Forum Posts by: Lane Krejcik

Read David Greene's book Long Distance Real Estate Investing. Best source of knowledge to get your questions answered on this topic. 

I bought a property four states away and I have zero issues. Even if the property is a 10 minute drive from you, you shouldnt be doing anything different than you would if its 10 hours away. Example: if there is a clogged toilet at 10pm, you shouldnt be the one driving over there unclogging it yourself. You would call your local plumber or handyman to go fix it. 

#1 factor in easy long distance management (self managing OR outsourcing management) is good tenant screening!! Additionally, I only accept tenants who agree to do virtual walkthroughs & inspections and I only accept tenants who agree to online-only rent payments. I use the PM software Buildium and I really like it. 

Greg is doing well managing properties in other states, but I think that's the exception, not the rule. In my experience, most people suck as Landlords even when they live next door to the rental.

You have to know the law, have good screening processes, a solid lease, and the cajones to enforce the lease. It's hard to do that no matter how close you live to the property. Managing from a distance adds some new problems like handling showings on a vacant unit, inspections, coordinating vendors, checking vendor work, etc. 

It can be done, and it can be done well. Just go in with eyes wide open to the potential problems, educate yourself, and prepare.

I'm from Minnesota, but my first deal was in Wisconsin. I purchased a 4plex with an FHA loan. During my purchase I reviewed the current leases on each unit, it cash flowed about $500 a month at the time after all expenses (Mortgage, Insurance, Property Tax, Lawn Care). The advice I would give here is be sure to look at rental comparisons - I just use Apartments.com to do this. Zoom in on the neighborhood and find out where your property should rent by comparing it to rentals nearby. This will give you confidence that you can cashflow and make money

What sort of "red flag" would this be for a first property and for whom would it be a "red flag"?

Almost all of my investing has been in states other than where I live, both single family and apartments.  While this has required me to figure out how to manage it, the fact that I was out of state created no barriers from others.