How far is "Local" for managing own properties

Question

If i'm looking to be a local investor and self manage all my properties. how far would you be willing to own a property and self manage. I have a very flexible full time job where I could drop everything and leave at once if I needed to for an emergency on a property.

Would 1 hour away from my home address scare anyone? Or 2 hours? Up to 4 hours!? I'm just worried if I commit my radius to a 30 minute drive I might be leaving a lot of great markets and deals on the table...

let me know your thoughts... Thanks!

Jeff B. · Answer

I've self-managed a 6-plex 120miles and 2hrs one way for 19yrs.  I also developed a support team of vendors and contractors to reduce my heavy-lifting.

William S. · Answer

This is a good question. I've done 25 min and that was a hassle to me. If I didn't work full time I wouldn't care that much, but for those of us who have demanding jobs, time is precious. I'm considering investing 5-10min from my house and take $25 or so less in profit a month because of commute time. I like to break everything down into $/hr. A rental that's 5 min away may make $25/m less than one that is 30 min away, but add up drive time/traffic hassle/gas and ask yourself if it's worth it.

Eric James · Answer

I would do around 1 hour. As @Christine Kankowski said, I generally won't be going out for maintenance calls.

Brian Garrett · Answer

I think it really just varies on each person individually. Some people love road trips, some don't mind them, some hate them. Personally I wouldn't want to self manage anything further than an hour drive. If a property was convenient and had an easy path with no traffic I may consider slightly further. So it really just all varies on the person and the actual property location itself in my opinion.

Al Phillips · Answer

I am a professional property manager and my rule of thumb is to manage properties that are no more than 45 minutes from my office.    Any further away and it makes managing the property too difficult, especially if there are emergencies at the property or a problem tenant.  I live in a very congested area, however, so if you live in the outskirts of a city, perhaps a maximum of a hone hour day may work.

Christine Kankowski · Answer

I think an hour is doable.  YOu really only need to be around for showings, move in move outs, and sometimes repairs.  Most repairs can be done remotely using a reputable handyman. Tenants should know where the water shut off valves are (shown during the move in inspection )

How far is "Local" for managing own properties

Most Popular Reply