You may have found and bought an investment rental property in a nearby city that initially seems great – low property cost, high rent, great residents, and only some minor maintenance needed. The drive is only about 45 minutes each way, and you intend to just visit about once per month. Everything looks great, so what could possibly go wrong?
To start with, residents do not last forever. Indeed, the typical resident for a single-family residence will stay for a year and a half. People purchase their own homes and move for job opportunities, and many life events can result in resident turnover. Once your resident leaves, you will need to have the property cleaned and prepared for the following residents. You can hire professionals to do this work, but at the very least, you will need to drive to your rental property to examine what needs to be done and then return to make sure that your vendors did the work as expected. If your vendors have missed a few small things, then this might require additional trips on your part.
Once your property is prepped, you will need to advertise your property. Did you remember to take pictures when you checked your vendors’ work? If not, then another trip is needed. Furthermore, for each showing, you will need to make a trip. On average, it takes 7 to 15 showings to get a quality and qualified applicant. You can try to schedule multiple showings for the same day(s), although what works for your schedule usually does not work for applicants’ schedule, and so you should plan on several trips.
Once you have found a good resident, you will need to make an additional trip for the move-in process. However, residents usually have a number of follow-up requests soon after moving in, whether it is a question on how to operate the dishwasher or small maintenance requests, and so you have to plan a handful of trips within the first few weeks after move-in.
Okay, you now have a great new resident who pays the rent on time. Everything goes well for a few months, but then the toilet overflows. Your resident has to be at work and is unable to meet the plumber, and so there is another trip for you. No problems for a few more weeks, then your resident has a dispute with a neighbor over the weekend, and there goes your Sunday. Everything is smooth for the next few weeks, but then a fuse blows and your resident cannot find the fuse box, shutting off the heater in the middle of the winter…and you receive a call at 3 am.
Though that 45-minute drive seemed so easy when you first purchased the property, it now drains your time and gas, as well as cause wear and tear on your vehicle. How much is your time worth? That 45-minute drive each way for all the various aspects that you will need to deal with will add up.
Purchasing a property in a neighboring city can be a great investment with the low purchase price, high rent, and solid residents that you had initially expected. However, the time and cost of the day-to-day duties can turn that dream investment into a nightmare.
The professionals at Real Property Management One can help. We will show your investment property to potential residents, screen applicants and handle the move-in, deal with resident emergencies and 3-am phone calls, and attend to maintenance issues. Moreover, we continually attend training in resident–landlord laws, such as fair housing and evictions, and are licensed and insured to manage your property successfully in compliance with regulations and statutes.
Have you calculated the true cost of your investment rental property? To see how much time you spend and how your time commitment compares to that of other landlords, contact us online or call us at 925-794-8339 today.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
