Anyone inherit property? Manage it remotely (real estate, renter, HOA)

[gabagolemafia]

How do people manage properties remotely in NJ? I have two properties invested and two inherited. How does one collect rent/manage tenants? Are there people who do this for a premium. About how much an hour?

Taxes, local construction, how does one stay up to date with it?

[HudsonCoNJ]

Do a Google search for property management companies

[gabagolemafia]

Originally Posted by HudsonCoNJ

Do a Google search for property management companies

Wonder if it works when I'm on the other side of the country, and what pricepoint etc. I imagine it costs a good bit and not worth it if rent is set at $1100 or so

[Kevin1975]

Property managers typically charge 8-10% of the monthly rent, they don't charge by the hour. You can have tenants set up direct deposit, send a check out, and they even have services now where tenants can pay in cash at local 7-11s.

The property manager will be responsible for tenant applications, screening, handle tenant calls, and take care of maintenance and repairs.

[masterchef1]

you can always sell and pocket the money and sleep good at night, look into to see if holding onto is worth it financially.

[Annikan]

If you are on the other side of the country, a property management company is the way to go. Much easier to pay the 10% monthly rental fee than to try to fix broken toilets, ACs, etc from far away. Plus they will screen rental applicants for you, do the credit checks, call prior references.


We had a rental house in another state and got lucky for the first 3 years with good tenants...and we managed it ourselves. But in the time, the garage door opener had to be replaced, the dishwasher broke, the fridge went on the fritz, and there was a small hole in the roof that had to be repaired. And managing it all from afar was difficult--we would have to play phone tag to cold call repair companies, ask their schedules, then call tenants and get THEIR schedules and when they could be home, then call the repair company back to schedule the appointment. Then call both the tenant and the repair company afterward to find out what was wrong and if everything was resolved. A production ever time.


Then we got a renter from hell who stopped paying rent. We had to legally evict him which took a few court appearances which required my husband to fly cross country 3 times in a month, and all that entails.

When interviewing perspective property management companies, ask if they handle evictions and how they handle it.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by Annikan

If you are on the other side of the country, a property management company is the way to go. Much easier to pay the 10% monthly rental fee than to try to fix broken toilets, ACs, etc from far away. Plus they will screen rental applicants for you, do the credit checks, call prior references.


We had a rental house in another state and got lucky for the first 3 years with good tenants...and we managed it ourselves. But in the time, the garage door opener had to be replaced, the dishwasher broke, the fridge went on the fritz, and there was a small hole in the roof that had to be repaired. And managing it all from afar was difficult--we would have to play phone tag to cold call repair companies, ask their schedules, then call tenants and get THEIR schedules and when they could be home, then call the repair company back to schedule the appointment. Then call both the tenant and the repair company afterward to find out what was wrong and if everything was resolved. A production ever time.


Then we got a renter from hell who stopped paying rent. We had to legally evict him which took a few court appearances which required my husband to fly cross country 3 times in a month, and all that entails.

When interviewing perspective property management companies, ask if they handle evictions and how they handle it.

I would just tell the tenants who they were going to use and have them make the appointment. I'd call the company and the tenants to make sure that the appointment was made, kept, and the repair done.

[Annikan]

It still takes a few phone calls to find a reputable companies, get quotes, etc. That's not the type of thing I would leave to my tenants, personally. And often, they ask questions tenants may not know--the last time the broken thing was serviced, the model number, any previous repairs or issues.


And of course, a tenant isn't obligated to make repair appointments themselves--nice if they will agree to it, but legally not their domain.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by Annikan

It still takes a few phone calls to find a reputable companies, get quotes, etc. That's not the type of thing I would leave to my tenants, personally. And often, they ask questions tenants may not know--the last time the broken thing was serviced, the model number, any previous repairs or issues.


And of course, a tenant isn't obligated to make repair appointments themselves--nice if they will agree to it, but legally not their domain.

Managing a property in another state only makes sense if you know the area, preferably know someone who lives there, and have a very good tenant. My husband and I only played landlord for a few years, and we had all three of those things because we'd lived there. We dropped the management company because things were going so well. If they weren't, one of our former neighbors would have told us. The other reason was that the tenant started calling us rather than the company we'd hired. We had told them that they could call if they had any questions or concerns---and they did.

Simultaneously, in a different state, we were the tenants in the same sort of situation. We were renting from a woman who had hoped to sell, and she was running out of time. She was moving to another state. Our real estate agent had to talk her into it. Tight market at the time. She'd never been a landlord, and really didn't want to be. We were determined to be the best tenants possible. While it worked out well, she could have had some serious problems. There was no management company involved, and we were paying the HOA fee.

We made the small repairs and performed standard maintenance, called when something broke. She didn't know who to call, so I'd ask around for referrals, get estimates, and hire someone.

Scary stuff.