All Forum Posts by: Michael Robertson

Thanks Helen, 

Sounds like your PM saves you a bunch of time, and probably money. I never considered that good PM's would have good local connections for repair/maintenance, but it seems kind of obvious now. That combined with the good tenant insight makes it sound like you have quite the asset there. I'm glad things are working so well for you.

Thanks for sharing.

Definitely seems like a necessity once your portfolio gets big enough, but what about for only a few properties? What about for only one? Anybody use property management on their starter portfolio?

Hey everybody,

I'm new, and trying to figure out my plan for the foreseeable future. As I am very interested in buy and hold investing, I'd also like to automate this investing as much as is reasonable. Thus the property manager. As a newbie I'm left wondering about how these guys really fit into the overall dream of living off cash flow and quitting your job. 

I know they are important, and I know there are plenty of resources to find and evaluate property managers, but what is YOUR experience like?

What do they actually do for you?

How much time do they save you?

Are they worth the cost?

Are they actually that hard to find?

How much managing the manager do you do? 

How is your interaction with the manager if you are investing out of your market?

Any thoughts, experiences, stories or advice in dealing with property management is greatly appreciated.

I love the idea of partnering, but get the sense that it is more effective for flipping or shorter term deals. If I had some one to partner with that shared my goals I would. But that still leaves the question: if I could get capital from a partner would it be best used in cali?

Sounds like the BRRRR strategy. Very attractive to me but I don't have much in the way of rehab skill/experience. Still that is a great suggestion and one I will definitely consider for a strong appreciation market like SD.

I'm ok with property management cutting into my cash flow, especially at first. The way I see it if a company can do all the heavy lifting management wise to save me a few hours a month, I can use that time to more than recoup the cost of management by working my job more. I intend to have my main source of income be something other than real estate.

FYI appreciation would be a great bonus, but I'm 100 percent in it for the cash flow (and equity i suppose). I'd like to live off it in the future.

Thanks so much for the input guys. I will weigh my options carefully for my first property, which is slated for spring next year.

Thanks Clayton, that is pretty much what I was thinking. There's so many advantages to investing close, but my market is just not the easiest one. 

Hello everyone!

Super newbie here. I'm very very interested in buy and hold investing. As I start to put my long term plan together one issue is becoming more and more unavoidable: I live in the San Diego area and its hard(er) acquire property and to get cash flow going here!

So it seems I have a choice: I can start investing in a harder area (San Diego) where properties cost more and cash flow less, but where I know the area and am within driving distance of my rental properties. Or I can research and find a more favorable market far away to invest in where I know no one, but conditions will be more favorable.

What do you all think about buy and hold in your back yard vs buy and hold at a distance?

Which would be easier?

Which would be more profitable long term?

How does property management factor into all this?

Should I do a combination of both?

Are my underlying assumptions silly anyways?

I know you can be successful either way. I'm just trying to decide what would be best for me. I appreciate any thoughts you guys have.

Thanks!