Yesterday, Paul and I taught a 90 minute class at The Greater Springfield Board of REALTORS on “Tips & Tricks to Managing Rental Properties” in Springfield, MO. There were probably 60 REALTORS there to hear what we had to say about managing rental properties, hear our war stories and share theirs. Or maybe they were just there for the free lunch that was served, who knows, but at least they showed up.
What ended up being a great class then turned into several e-mails from attendees later that day requesting more info and such. Which is great as I love reading people’s comments on the topic. However, I got one e-mail from a fellow REALTOR that asked me if I really “hated rentals” the way I said I had on one of my online profiles. Wow! How unprofessional of me to make a flippant comment on “hating” rentals.
I guess I should probably change the comment since it really isn’t true.
It’s actually the bad tenants that drive me crazy! There was a time (before Amanda came on the scene) where I was so inundated with property management phone calls, that every little issue was just a tenant that was whining about something. I was managing about 115 units almost completely by myself while Paul was out selling houses. Come to find out, I was letting the issues and work get the best of me and wasn’t managing my job too well. (Hindsight is always 20/20!) So, what started as an office joke about how much I just love rentals and how there is such a thin line between love and hate has now turned into “Jessica Hates Rentals” campaign and therefore it has carried over into my online blogging world. And I never meant for it to.
I’m sure that 600+ units=$30K income is a great thing (although we are not quite there…600 tenants yes, but only 200 actual rental units). And I’m sure that the income in a slow market is most definitely worth it. However, my biggest suggestion is that you have staff in place to assist you as you grow your property management business and a strong procedure/plan in place for how to handle issues as they arise. Kind of like the boy scout motto: “Always Be Prepared”. 
I sure hope that my flippant comment about “hating” rentals doesn’t discourage you from getting into property management. It’s not all bad and it’s actually done me quite well.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for clearing that up!
I appreciate you and Paul putting that class together. While it was more or less just a glimpse into what it involves, it was awesome!
Funny, that post in question is actually the first item that I came across in your blog.
You get good people and bad people all over, in every walk of life and in every profession. I’ve met some wonderfully nice Real Estate Agents, and then I’ve met those that, err, um, aren’t so nice.
People come in all sorts and types, they live in all sorts of manners, a they work in all sorts of professions.
I think property management is either the easiest or hardest job in the world depending on how you look at it. I agree I get more upset at the stupid little problems that tenants may squawk about than the big problems.
Property Management is a lot of work but can be very rewarding! The Las Vegas Real Estate Market is seeing a rise in demand for competent property managers and it should only get busier as homes don’t sell!
While highly rewarding, property management is a lot of work.
I found this invaluable software for those attempting property management:
http://www.rentingyourhome.com
Each rental gets its own advertising website to show photos, description, and basic information.
With a single mouse click, you can transmit your rental ad automatically to over 20 of the top rental listing sites.
You can run credit checks on applicants by pressing a single button.
Reports come back in seconds and provide the full credit report, FICO score, and a preliminary rental recommendation.
High quality leases are pre-filled with your property and tenant information.
30 additional landlord forms for pet addendums, maintenance, security deposits, are available.
Rent collection is made easy by accepting any VISA, MasterCard, electronic check, Western Union, etc at no additional cost – tenants collect frequent flyer points and you get rents on time, every time.
Tenants and landlords can input maintenance requests and track problems more easily.
Over one million contractors with user reviews are provided in a database.
If things go really wrong, RYH provides full service debt collection at no extra cost to you. The tenant pays the fees.
There’s an easy tenant login website. Tenants can log in to pay rent, submit maintenance requests, or communicate with you.
You’ll be able to provide tenants with superior service with the online portal that leave them and you feeling much more open, organized, and secure.
I agree with John’s comment from above.
RentingYourHome.com offers its customers a very comprehensive property management software program that does a lot of the work for you.
It is very simple to use and offers a variety of features such as-
1)Advertising to Attract Qualified Tenants
2)Credit Check Reports
3)Automatic Collection of Rental Fees
…and the list goes on and on.
Really great website.