What Is Being A Landlord Like?

Member since 2022 · 4 posts · 4 votes

One of the things that has held me back from investing in real estate is the idea of being a landlord. I see and know many investors with multiple properties and the same question comes to my mind every time: "How do you manage so many tenants?! Is your phone being bombarded with text messages from your tenants about issues with the property? Do you have to be on-call all day to ensure you are responsive? How many plumbers/electricians/handymen do you have to know?" I would love to hear first hand experience from landlord in this community! Thanks everyone!

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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member

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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes

It's like this...

The DIY Landlord Book4.7247 Reviews

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Nick ZupecPro Member
Investor · Saint Joseph, MI · Member since 2022 · 32 posts · 44 votes
4y
If you are going to do it, I highly recommend reading "The book on managing rental properties" by Brandon and Heather Turner. I read it right before I posted my first rental and it saved me from making so many mistakes!
I spend a lot of time and effort up front renovating my properties, screening tenants, and setting expectations. If you have good tenants with appropriate expectations in well maintained properties, it isn't as much work as you would think. If you don't spend the time upfront, you will spend the time later dealing with all of the problems.
No matter how prepared you are, things will always pop up. I got a call about a leak at 9PM on my birthday. I highly recommend having a business line (or at least Google Voice with a different number). If you don't want to deal with those issues, hiring a PM is always an option so don't let that stop you from investing in rental properties. Just be sure to spend the time vetting the PMs and incorporate that into the numbers when evaluating a potential deal.
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Shane Power
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Member since 2022 · 4 posts · 4 votes
4y
Quote from @Nick Zupec:

If you are going to do it, I highly recommend reading "The book on managing rental properties" by Brandon and Heather Turner. I read it right before I posted my first rental and it saved me from making so many mistakes!
I spend a lot of time and effort up front renovating my properties, screening tenants, and setting expectations. If you have good tenants with appropriate expectations in well maintained properties, it isn't as much work as you would think. If you don't spend the time upfront, you will spend the time later dealing with all of the problems.
No matter how prepared you are, things will always pop up. I got a call about a leak at 9PM on my birthday. I highly recommend having a business line (or at least Google Voice with a different number). If you don't want to deal with those issues, hiring a PM is always an option so don't let that stop you from investing in rental properties. Just be sure to spend the time vetting the PMs and incorporate that into the numbers when evaluating a potential deal.

This is some great advice - thanks so much Nick! I am pulling together a list of book to read up on and that will be added to it
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