New to Renting Investment Advise

[Thomas Jacobson]

Hello,

I'm a complete newbie to rentals and anything landlord related. I'm looking to get some direction, advice, and/or wisdom on my rental situation. 

My wife and I are looking to relocate out of state by the end of the year, but would like to hold on to our 2 houses. About a month ago we started contacting property management companies to help us get the rental part moving, but this is where we've hit a road bump. We've contacted 4 property management companies so far and only 1 of them (VSM) followed through to come out and evaluate the properties. They have good reviews and seem like a great company, but it would be nice to have more than just the one rental analysis to help make our decision on not only how much to charge but who to use for a management company. I'd like to try to get at least one more evaluation so if anyone has a property management company they highly recommend, that info would be much appreciated. Our first house in Highland Park will make a great rental property with low operating expenses, but our current house in Saint Anthony Park is a higher-end, modernized home that would make an exceptional profit  if we sold it (as we did a complete renovation ourselves) but would be break-even or negative when renting. We're not sure if moving out of state would be long term or if we would return after a year. Our over all objective is to hold the house for equity growth and future financial freedom, but is it worth potentially just breaking even or having a small monthly expense to keep the homes? Financially we could cover the cost of the homes sitting vacant after we move if we do not find renters right away.  I plan on doing more research on Bigger Pockets, but any overall advice is great. I added the details and expected rent below.

About the homes:

I have a 1200 sqf 3 bed 2 bath house in the Highland Park neighborhood I purchased in 2010. This was my primary residence until 2022 and during those years I did a lot of renovations.

-Expected Rent $2200 month

I also have a 3000 sqf 4 bed 3.5 bath house in the Saint Anthony Park neighborhood in St. Paul that I purchased in 2020 and did a complete renovation with a 900 square foot 2 level addition. This has been our primary residence for over 2 years now.

-Expected rent (according to VSM) $3500 month

Thank you.

[Michael Smythe]

@Thomas Jacobson how much are you paying PMCs to come out and do a bunch of work?

Or are you expecting them to invest a few hours for free?

If only 1 company came out, then the rest are politely telling you they don't need to visit your property and work for free. 

We can give an owner ballpark numbers from our desk in a few minutes. Anything beyond that isn't a good use of our time.

In the end, your properties will be published for rent at a certain number. If there's not enough market interest, you'll get a request to lower the rent - until the property rents. In some cases, the reverse will be true and high activity levels may lead to an increase in the published rent rate.