battlemaiden Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 My realtor has been incredible during this whole selling process. Really. Her son mowed the lawn and painted our front porch, and wouldn't take a penny. She has poured her heart and soul into getting this house sold- the market just stinks for our type of house. But now that we are going to rent it out for a year, presumably putting it back on the market with her when the rockiness of all the foreclosures subsides, why wouldn't she want us to have a property manager? I know she will check on the house- she lives in the neighborhood- but I worry about what goes on inside. [did I mention how much I dislike making these decisions on my own?] Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie in Oh Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 a friend in a similar boat in that area recommended ahrn.com as a help to those trying to rent, sell, etc. It is sponsered by the DoD. I don't know about not having a property manager. It isn't like you are going to fly over there when there is an issue, and there very well could be. I mean, I guess you could handle it from afar and reimburse the renter if there are repairs. We had that situation with an absentee landlord once. I don't know. Still praying the perfect buyer walks through the door of the realtor this afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon in SC Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Still praying the perfect buyer walks through the door of the realtor this afternoon. :iagree: I'm afraid I have no experience with rental property, to speak of, unless you want to count a condo dh and I rented out in our early years of marriage. The guy was months behind in rent payment and we ended up having to call in authorities. :-{ Based on that experience alone, I can't imagine trying to rent from afar without local representation..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I'm sure she's trying to save you some money but I'd recommend a property manager anyway. What if the tenant falls behind on rent? What if the toilet backs up and you need to call a serviceman? We rented our home in Atlanta for about 8 years and never went more than 4 months without needing SOMETHING done by the property manager...whether it was collecting rent or supervising a routine repair. Money well spent for us, considering the peace of mind it brought when we were far away and unable to tend to it personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 My realtor has been incredible during this whole selling process. Really. Her son mowed the lawn and painted our front porch, and wouldn't take a penny. She has poured her heart and soul into getting this house sold- the market just stinks for our type of house. Jo I don't think I'd do it without a property manager. Would your realtor do it? Maybe that is what she is saying...that you don't need someone else because she will take care of it for you. Maybe she is afraid you will list with the property manager's company when the year is up? Just thinking out loud...I don't really know. If she has been great so far though, I'd just hire her for the job of managing it for the year. It will be 10% well spent I bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battlemaiden Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 a friend in a similar boat in that area recommended ahrn.com as a help to those trying to rent, sell, etc. It is sponsered by the DoD. I don't know about not having a property manager. It isn't like you are going to fly over there when there is an issue, and there very well could be. I mean, I guess you could handle it from afar and reimburse the renter if there are repairs. We had that situation with an absentee landlord once. I don't know. Still praying the perfect buyer walks through the door of the realtor this afternoon. I was just there checking them out. I know we used them when we got to the island, but we walked into their office at the Army base. Unfortunately to do anything online I would need my dh. I would have to use his .mil email address and he would need to confirm from there. He isn't reachable currently. I suppose I can take my Power of Attorney into their office this afternoon. I need to know if I can list with them if I sign the listing agreement with my realtor's company- they get the first month rent when they find the renter. Thanks for your prayers. I need them badly. ;) Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 we rented our home when we moved cross country to a lady I worked with. I was still nervous about the condition inside. But even if we had a property manager they couldn't go inside for random checks you know? (ok, they could lie and say they wanted to check something but really they can't go anytime) Would this person consider being the local contact for issues? and you pay her on a case by case basis? It costs more to have a property manager but they can screen applicants better and handle things. with you being so far it's not easy.(I know!) Oh, if you do rent without a manager get the 1 year home warranty. then they can call them when they have issues. this was a lifesaver when the renter wanted electrical work done!!! good luck deciding. I understand why she says you don't need one but those rare times you do you will be glad you do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 We have one rental house, but it is within easy driving distance of us. So we manage it ourselves. I would not be willing to have one a plane ride away unless I was also willing to fly back into town on two days notice to maintain it or whatever, and unless I had a trust neighbor or friend who would drive by it about once a month to keep an eye on it. There are some real pitfalls here. What if your tenant moves out in the night? You might not even know, and in some states if no one is inside the house for 30 days, your fire insurance is voided. What if your tenant goes on vacation and a pipe breaks? (This actually happened at our rental. Thankfully a neighbor noticed it before any real damage was done. But still...) I think that you have too much capital tied up in a home to risk leaving it to take care of itself, even just for a year. And what if it turns out to be 2 or 3 years before you put it back on the market? If the realtor is going to essentially 'be' the property manager, that might be OK. Otherwise it's not wise, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 My realtor has been incredible during this whole selling process. Really. Her son mowed the lawn and painted our front porch, and wouldn't take a penny. She has poured her heart and soul into getting this house sold- the market just stinks for our type of house. But now that we are going to rent it out for a year, presumably putting it back on the market with her when the rockiness of all the foreclosures subsides, why wouldn't she want us to have a property manager? I know she will check on the house- she lives in the neighborhood- but I worry about what goes on inside. [did I mention how much I dislike making these decisions on my own?] Jo I think it would be well worth your peace of mind to have a property manager. Maybe your realtor is trying to help you save money, knowing that having it empty for months hasn't been great for you. But there are all kinds of things that could go wrong and you would be too far away to deal with them. You really want to be nursing that newborn and have renters calling you over a backed up toilet? And forgetting the time difference? And what would you do then anyway? Does your realtor's company have a property management office? At least that way it would keep things in house rather than her having to deal with a different company to show to potential buyers. Or will your realtor sign a property management contract (I'm not sure if this is even ok, I can't remember if my manager had a different type of license.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Dh and I have had at least 3 rental properties for the last 7 years and I wouldn't worry about it for a year. I agree with Tess, the PM wouldn't be able to keep an eye on the inside anyway. If your real estate agent is willing to handle emergencies for you than that would be enough. We do have property managers because ours are long term rentals and in different states and all they do while the residence is occupied is collect the rent and send us statements. They earn their money when the place is empty getting us new renters and arranging for repairs in between tenants. HTH, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summer Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I do not know about your state, but a property manager cannot go inside the house without the permission of the renters. So, it is best to be very careful about who rents. That is exactly why we decided not to rent out. I would think with stimulus payments coming out, some people might have money now to buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 We've now had several homes that we needed to rent...Only once did we not use a property manager. We only lived 2 hours away and could come and check anytime there was a maintenance issue. We also rented to a family that we trusted and knew that we had direct recourse should anything happen to the house. The second time we tried to rent without a property manager we ended up with a "prospective tenant" who was clearly trying to pull the wool over our eyes about their ability to pay the rent and clearly setting us up for a situation in which we would be stuck with them living in our house, not paying rent and needing to take them to court to remove them. (It is my understanding that in VA, which is where our house was, that once a tenant is in it can be very difficult to remove them for breech of lease or non-payment.) Once we knew that was where we were headed we hired a property manager who could request financial information and who's problem it would become if rent were not paid etc. (Needless to say the prospective tenant was referred to the PM and never called them.) I have also discovered that PMs have access to repair services that are often cheaper than if you contract a repair yourself. I know that the 5-10% they charge is high, especially for a year, but once we were too far from our property I loved having the peace of mind. Having a property manager is about more than just getting a tenant and doing repairs. Ours knows all the legal ins and outs and once caught a tenant who brought in pets without adding them to the lease without ever going in the house. You can certainly interview one or more prospective PMs that your agent recommends and decide then. Best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 MilitarybyOwner.com? My neighbors (Marine Pilot) were able to rent their home out to an army family for the next three years. Their home is similar to yours, but our neighborhood doesn't have the amenities that yours has. hth K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie in NE Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Speaking from personal experience here, I would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER rent out a house again without a property manager unless I could 1) drive to it within 2 hrs., and 2) do the work both maintenance-wise, and tenant-contact-wise myself. Do you have a friend who would like to earn a few dollars, and would have the skills necessary to interview and sift prospective tenants? Even if your friend is maintenance-challenged, it is important to have someone there to actually interact with tenants, and actually see with their own eyes what needs to be done if problems arise. You won't even miss the 10% (possibly less if a friend does it for you). But you will regret it if you get into a situation you can't control because you're too far away, and your house is damaged or your tenant skips on you. My 2 cents, Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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