All Forum Posts by: Gregory Murphy

Hello BP,

I currently own and self-manage two long-term rental properties in different states. Recently, I’ve been seriously considering acquiring a property for short-term rental (MTR) purposes in the Kansas City Metro area. Given my background with managing out-of-state properties, I’m confident that I can apply my skills to the MTR space, but I wanted to reach out to the forums to gather insights from anyone who manages an MTR property out of state.

While I don’t foresee significant hurdles with managing an MTR remotely—provided I have the right local connections and a solid team in place (which I do)—I’m always open to learning more from others who have navigated this path.

If you’re an out-of-state MTR investor or have experience with remote property management, I would love to hear about any tips, strategies, or lessons learned that you can share. Whether it’s about streamlining operations, managing guest communication, or local regulations, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your time and insights.

@Alex Olson, Thanks Alex! I just DM'd you.

Hello BP,

I'm looking for some advice from investors who own and operate 5-15 unit apartment buildings in the Kansas City Metro area. Investors who own this kind of product elsewhere in the country are also welcomed to chime in, as I'm sure everyone is experiencing these issues to some extent.

The biggest pain point I have been having with my underwriting on this asset type is insurance. Last week I got an insurance premium quote that came in at $13,100 for a 6-unit building. Per my insurance agent, this is pretty common for this unit range in this volitile insurance climate, however, it came in way higher than I was expecting. I ultimately pulled the plug on this deal due to this because I am not confident, nor do I believe there is a way, to accurately forecast and budget for your year 2 and beyond insurance premium renewals in this volitile insurance climate. It concerns me that my renewal could jump to $15,000 or $16,000, which would drastically eat away any cash flow as this increase would outpace rent growth. I assume it would also decrease the demand for these buildings, making them challenging to sell, which leads me to my second thought.

I have been seeing a consistent pattern on where these assets have been on the market for long periods of time. Could this be due to high insurance rates? 

I would love to get some feedback from investors who are currently aquiring and operating these assets in the 5-15 unit range on how they are navigating the insurance climate to still make deals pencil out. It would be great to connect. Thank you!

I apologize if this has already been mentioned in another response as I haven't read all of them, but I would consider selling off your worst performing properties and using that money to pay off the mortgage on your best performing/emerging properties. This would help increase your cash flow, keep your equity position high and decrease the amount of stress and frustration for you. After doing that I would be more careful in your underwriting on deals and market selection. Out of many options, this is just my two cents.

Sorry for the long absence in not responding to this thread. What I ended up doing was posting my house for rent before I was finished with all the renovations, this allowed me to have prospective tenants who were interested in the property while I was still at the house. However, I did not get it rented out while I was still working on the house. But overall, the process of renting out the house while I was out of state went very smoothly. I landed some great tenants who moved in August 1st. Overall, the process was very smooth and no problems were caused, you just have to be very weary of who you allow to tour your property when you are not there. You should have already done at least pre application screening and have talked directly one on one with the prospective tenants before you allow them to tour. This allows you to know more about the prospective tenants and their motivations on why they need to move.

 Thanks for sending that articel Drew. I will definitley be careful to avoid the squatters. Before I even allow them to view the property I will already have done a pre screen on them, I will incorporate some of the articles suggestions into the pre screen.

 That's Amazing! let me know how you decided to rent out your units. Best of luck to you too!

Hi Rodney, thanks for the resonse. I was not that clear on that part. I will not be staying in the house until I find a tenant, I will move back to SoCal once I finish the updates on the house. Therefore, I will most likely be in the position of having to rent the house out while i'm in California. Not everyone will have access to gain entry to the property, I will have to provide them a code to get in, and then I will be disabling the code once they finish viewing the house. There are locks on the market that make this very secure, many Airbnb owners are using this system for their guests. I do have a team established in San Antonio. I know it would be easier to contract a PM, but that is not what I want for this property. I am 23, so I have the time to be more hands on, and I want to be more hands on so I can gain some more experinence. I will definitley contract PMs in the future. I do have some PM experince already, I am licensed in SOCal, so I am starting with no experience. 

Hey BP Community! I am about to close escrow in a week on my first property in the outskirts of NE San Antonio. I live in Southern California and wanted to know the best way to rent out the house when I am out of state. I am not going to use a PM, I want to gain experience as a landlord so I can deveolpe more skills to make me a better investor. I will use PMs in the future though as I scale. I will be living at the house for about a month getting it ready to rent out (the house needs some slight updating). But I am not going to live in the house until I find a tenant. My current plan is I will have a door lock on the front door that I can create passcodes for from my phone back home in SoCal, then I will have Simpli Safe cameras inside the house to see the prospective tenants when they are viewing the house. I will use the RentRedi software, and will pre screen them before I even allow them to view the property. What do you guys think of that? I am looking to hear what others have done in this situation. Any tips/information would be greatly appreciated!