{"id":43748,"date":"2013-05-27T09:58:02","date_gmt":"2013-05-27T15:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/renewsblog\/?p=43748"},"modified":"2024-05-30T10:39:07","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T16:39:07","slug":"2013-05-27-want-to-get-away-tips-for-taking-time-off-as-a-landlord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2013-05-27-want-to-get-away-tips-for-taking-time-off-as-a-landlord","title":{"rendered":"Want to Get Away? Tips for Taking Time Off as a Landlord"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It is Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial beginning of summer.\u00a0 The time when many go on or start thinking abut vacations.\u00a0 One of the most difficult things about being your own boss can be finding the time to get away.\u00a0 We all need the chance to recharge our batteries once in a while, but when you are a small business owner\/landlord it may not be that easy to get up and go.\u00a0 As the owner\/operator, everything is on your shoulders.\u00a0 So how can you find some time to get away?\u00a0 Here are some tips and ideas to help.<\/p>\n<h2>1.\u00a0 Work to reduce the number of phone calls you receive.<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The first thing you as a landlord need to do is to educate your tenants on <a title=\"When is an emergency a true emergency?\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/10\/landlord-maintenance-emergency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">what a true emergency is<\/a> and when they should call.\u00a0 If you are the type of landlord that takes every tenant call, even at three in the morning you are getting what you deserve.<\/li>\n<li>Let your tenants know that you <a title=\"Deal with Tenant Drama\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/19\/dealing-with-tenant-drama-are-you-ready\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">do not do drama<\/a>.\u00a0 Your tenants are adults and should be able to handle and resolve their problems without getting you involved.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>2.\u00a0 Have some people in place to cover for you while you are away.<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>These should include reliable contractors such as a plumber, electrician, general handyman, groundskeeper, etc.\u00a0 These folks can handle any repairs which cannot wait.<\/li>\n<li>Find a friend who is in the same situation you are.\u00a0 See if that person will help you out while you are away if you will do the same for them at some point in the future.\u00a0 They can check your mail, deposit checks and follow up on tenant concerns if necessary.\u00a0 You can often find a friend like this at your local <a title=\"Why Join A Local REIA?\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/17\/why-join-reia\/\" target=\"_blank\">REIA group<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Get your keys lined up someplace or with someone you can trust.\u00a0 You can rest assured as soon as you leave, a tenant will lock themselves out or a contractor will need access.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>3.\u00a0 Make your office and systems as virtual as possible<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Pay your bills online with automatic drafts.\u00a0 This not only saves time but can be reviewed from anywhere in the world.<\/li>\n<li>Have your tenants signup for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/rei\/pay-rent-online-payment-tools\/\" target=\"_blank\">automatic rent payments<\/a> for the same reasons listed above.<\/li>\n<li>Put your important documents up in a cloud somewhere so you can have access to them from anywhere if you should need them.\u00a0 Services like Dropbox are an awesome resource.<\/li>\n<li>Take a small mini-office with you just in case.\u00a0 You should have your laptop, a few checks, envelopes and stamps, just in case.\u00a0 Never rely completely on technology.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Finally, let your tenants know you will be unavailable for a short time and to call only if absolutely necessary. \u00a0Also let them know they may only be able to leave a voicemail message.\u00a0 Most tenants will understand.\u00a0 Plus, it is unlikely that anything major will happen.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, until you hire a full time manager you can never fully get away, you will always have to keep minimal tabs on things.\u00a0 But the tips offered above will give you a chance to get away from the routine and recharge.\u00a0 And if something does happen you will be prepared to deal with it.<\/p>\n<p>Enjoy your summer.<\/p>\n<p>How do you, business owners of BP, manage to get away for a while?\u00a0 Share your tips with us in the comments?<\/p>\n<p><span>Photo: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/boltron\/4905496369\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">nate bolt<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial beginning of summer.\u00a0 The time when many go on or start thinking abut vacations.\u00a0 One of the most difficult things about being your [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":169823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4241],"tags":[190,1612,1615,569,415],"class_list":["post-43748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-business-management","tag-landlord","tag-real-estate-business","tag-running-your-business","tag-tenant","tag-vacation"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}