Showing rental property long distance WITHOUT an agent.

[Ryan Mitchell]

We have a LTR about 2000 miles away from us.  We have been managing it ourselves for about 3 years with no issue.  We recently had a tenant leave after six weeks of living in the property due to work.  We would like to try and get the property rented out without having to list it with an agent again.  In the past we have listed and filled the property using Cozy(now Apartments.com) by ourselves, but at the time we lived in the area.  Now that we are so far away I'm curious how others have filled a property without using an agent? I can run the credit and background, but the disconnect I'm having is the actually showing of the property. There is a key pad lock on the door so I could give out the code for showings then have the handyman change it every week or something. What have you done to get a vacant property filled while being long distance? I'd like to save some $ by not using an agent who doesn't even show the property her selves unless the prospective renters don't have an agent. To my knowledge she just gave the key code to renters agents for showings when we used her last time.  Pay a whole months rent for simply giving out a key code seems like a lot!

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Ryan Mitchell:

To my knowledge she just gave the key code to renters agents for showings when we used her last time.

So you paid someone an entire month of rent and don't even know what they did for that money?

Who's inspecting the property 1-2 times a year? Who drives by to check the lawn? Look for extra people in the home? Unauthorized dogs in the back yard? Who watches the market to ensure you're renting it for market rate? When the Tenant moves out, who inspects and arranges for cleaning and repairs? Who inspects after the cleaning and repairs are done to ensure they were done properly? Who documents the condition of the home prior to placing the next renter?

There are a lot of things you should be doing, but you're skipping them to "save some $" and it's probably going to "cost you some $" in the future. You should seriously consider hiring a professional property manager that can ensure you are kept at market rate. On a $2,000 rental you are spending $2,000 just to show the property to applicants. For another $400 a year you could find a full-time property manager to handle showings, plus another 50 different things that will protect your property, your income, your time, and your sanity.

Stepping over dollars to pick up dimes.