Managing Several Rental Properties

[WestonSF]

I own three properties, One I live in and the other two I rent out, but I'm looking to move out of the one I live in soon, which will mean I own three rental properties. I've only had the three properties a year or two, but find it quite stressful owning them. I know there are investors out there that own many properties and I'm just wondering how you manage them?

At the moment my two rentals are managed by a property management company, but I still get involved with maintenance issues etc. I find it takes up a lot of my time and costs more money than I thought it would. There are ongoing things to own a property like painting every 5-10 years; making sure there are no leaks and just general things that need fixing. I own three properties and find it hard keeping tabs on everything, so if you own many properties like 10-20, how do you manage these? And how do you manage repairs/renovations? Do you do these yourself or let the property management company do this for you?

Maybe I just need to stop worrying about it...

Cheers

[flyernzl]

Have 10.
A full-time job - plus additional help.

You can delegate the work but - as you have found - you cannot delegate the responsibilty.

Best bet would be to get a Labour/Green MP or an Otago University Academic to run them for you - according to them its no sweat at all.

[PTILoveYou]

i own 9 rentals and managed all by myself for 3 years and i only have started using a pm for 3. i have a full time job too.

at the start it was a bit stressful finding several tenants at once but its been ok for the last 3 years.

all i can say is focus on the positive ie capital gain better retirement etc and dont worry too much about things you cant controll.

[Glenn]

It is all a matter of skill and systems.
I have been doing a few hundred with 3 staff plus myself. I am down sizing and retiring at the end of this month to a more manageable portfolio of 30. That includes a few commercials as well.
I do enjoy doing as much as possible myself. Today I fixed a washing machine (I have about 80 of them) and lugged it back up a long stair case to a first floor flat.
So much for having holidays. I did manage to get in a mountain bike ride of 40km and an evening stroll tonight with the wife of 6km. I had to carry a heavy pack to try and slow me down.
So yes doing difficult things does take skill and hard work. But it does not need to be stressful. It should be fulfilling.

[chrisrussell]

I own three properties, One I live in and the other two I rent out, but I'm looking to move out of the one I live in soon, which will mean I own three rental properties. I've only had the three properties a year or two, but find it quite stressful owning them. I know there are investors out there that own many properties and I'm just wondering how you manage them?

At the moment my two rentals are managed by a property management company, but I still get involved with maintenance issues etc. I find it takes up a lot of my time and costs more money than I thought it would. There are ongoing things to own a property like painting every 5-10 years; making sure there are no leaks and just general things that need fixing. I own three properties and find it hard keeping tabs on everything, so if you own many properties like 10-20, how do you manage these? And how do you manage repairs/renovations? Do you do these yourself or let the property management company do this for you?

Maybe I just need to stop worrying about it...

Cheers

If you're property management company is good enough (which they should be), let them do it.

[flyernzl]

There are ongoing things to own a property like painting every 5-10 years; making sure there are no leaks and just general things that need fixing.

If you're property management company is good enough (which they should be), let them do it.

I have yet to find a PM who will paint the house for you.

[chrisrussell]

There are ongoing things to own a property like painting every 5-10 years; making sure there are no leaks and just general things that need fixing.

If you're property management company is good enough (which they should be), let them do it.

I have yet to find a PM who will paint the house for you.

So have I! I did mean one who can organize this for you.

[artemis]

Possibly consider establishing a relationship with a person or firm who can take the hassle off you. Here's our experience (note am not advertising for business).

We have a small property maintenance company in Wellington, and find that most new clients - own home or rental - start with a list of fiddly stuff. Things like fixing doors and cupboards, drier install and vent, hanging curtains, holes in the wall. Sometimes that's it, sometimes we are asked to do (or quote for) bigger jobs. We are spending an increasing amount of time organising these days - including sorting out labour and subbies. And issues. We put quite a bit of work the way of sparky, plumber, drainlayer, carpet guy, glazier etc and pay them smartly so get good service.

So, if you are prepared to pay for someone to do all that then maybe start out with smaller jobs until you find someone that suits you and that has a range of good subbies they work with.

And finally, there are plenty of good clients out there but some not so much. We usually get too busy to work for the not so good ones, or maybe give them a high quote so they either go elsewhere or pay over the odds. .

[Courham]

We own 5 rentals and a holiday home that we purchased last year and rent out via book-a-bach. We've always kept to a max of 6-7 rentals as for us that is a manageable number (and keeps our mortgages at a level we are comfortable with) and we've always looked after everything ourselves. I do the maintenance stuff, my wife manages the tenants and paperwork. For a while it was paint an exterior each summer (did about 7 years in a row) but upgraded a number of properties over the last few years to reduce maintenance costs.


When first starting out my wife and I were only working part time so had plenty of time to do all the day to day stuff. The last 4 years I've worked full time and have found it more difficult (and my wife has done more of the day to day stuff as she has been studying fulltime)- but we still spend 1-2 weeks over the summer doing major interior or exterior work each year (we try to do something major to one property each year and lesser stuff as and when needed). 2015 will be my last year of fulltime work (my wife will finish her full time studies and intends to work full time), my plan is to drop back to 3 days per week of work and focus more on looking after the properties and probably starting to add something that needs some major renovation work done to keep myself busy.


The holiday home rental we set up last year requires much more hands on management (dealing with inquries etc) than any of our normal rentals do.

Craig

[Perry]

To gain a better perspective, what age
bracket are you and the missus in, now,
Craig? And how long ago did you start out?

[Keys]

We spend lots of time and energy to build assets only to retire to work on the assets to maintain their value. To what point?

[Courham]

Hi Perry


We started in 1997 while living overseas. I was 30 (left NZ with next to no money and lived in Japan for 3 years earning good coin) so brought 4 properties while we were there, each of which was a house divided into two flats, in a town where prices were cheap as my plan was to not work when we returned to NZ to have kids). We returned late 1999 and and lived in one (which was by then freehold) and the income from the remaining 6 flats we had meant that from the beginning of 2000-2011 my wife and I both only worked part time (about 12 hrs per week each) while we focused on raising our kids and spending as much time as we could with them- the rentals allowed us to do that. Been buying and selling properties ever since.

A couple of years back my wife decided to retrain so we sold off several properties and were mortgage free but have been adding a few more properties again since then. I was going to cut down my full time role last year but bought a holiday home instead, so need to work another year or two (2015 is my final deadline) to get the mortgages to where I want them to be when I put my feet up a bit more. So semi retired (again) by the end of this year, work 3 days a week at the job I enjoy for a couple more then intend to focus on rentals fulltime after that. We will then live in the holiday home and rent out our current family home.

I'd like to buy a at least one more rental more this year but will depend on how things go, while not working herself my wife isn't too keen to add much more to our current debt levels, so may be towards the end of 2015 when I can add something else.


Didn't get into property to get rich but to be able to live the lifestyle we wanted to and work on our own terms. I see maintenance etc as part of the deal, and doing as much of it as we can ourselves means we have always kept costs down and money flowing into our bank account and not into someone else's. There are a lot worse ways to make a living.

[ScottSI]

My thoughts on this are below and should work if you have 1 or 100 places so hopefully can help you plan. All but 1 of my rentals are out of town so require travel also.

Management is the most time consuming so I would contract this out (I have sold my management business as it was using up to much of my time).

Maintenance:

Programmed Maintenance:

In the interests of saving some money (and paying down more debt) I allow 2 cycles of 4 weeks per year to get round my houses (69) and complete general maintenance work.

This covers the following:

Cleaning gutters
Pruning trees
House / path / driveway cleans
Checking window & catches, cupboard & door handles & hinges (oiling locks / hinges )
Checking tap washers (if dripping replacing etc)
Visual check of roof
Bathroom check - Silicone, traps, shower heads etc
Kitchen check - Sink, stove
Clean out gully traps
Check fences & gates
Heat-pumps / Fires
Hot-water Cylinders for drips

Most of these items are issues that arise over time so if you check every six months and repair them yourself you will save a lot on contractor costs. You build up some general stores of bits and pieces to improve your time usage and I get the PM to contact tenants regarding any up coming maintenance so I can look at most things in these cycles.

Property Specific Maintenance

I allow a total of 4 weeks pa. for painting interior or exterior, decks, installing fires or heat pumps, bathroom upgrades, full renovations etc. This can increase or decrease depending on new purchases or tenant transitions so is a more fluid allowance of time.

Urgent Maintenance:

The PM organises this unless they know I am in an area and can do but most of these things - tend to be the likes of blocked drains, electrical issues, ruptured HW cylinder, broken windows etc (so need specific contractors).

By being proactive with your maintenance you will reduce your overall operating costs and keep more money in your pocket.

You also have to weigh up your income/skills vs contractor costs. If you earn good money and have limited skills then it may be cheaper to go to work and pay someone else. If you have time and skills and income is lower it may be worth doing your self etc.

I don't work other than investing so I can justify doing some work & renovations pa (plus I have kids in school) to decrease my operating cost and increase my portfolio growth.

Keys makes a valid point above also as many people end up tied to their assets. You need to work out how the operation of your portfolio will work in the big scheme of things, it is not just about owning 10 houses per se, you actually need to gain a benefit from their ownership.

[WestonSF]

I have lots of respect for you guys that own around ten properties and have a full-time job too!

Thanks for that post ScottSI, lots of good information. I'm semi-skilled at DIY, but there are lots of things I don't trust myself to do, but find contractor costs to be quite high and I don't always trust them, so find that balance quite difficult.

[PTILoveYou]

weston, its all about having a good wife to help you out with everyday stuff so you have time to play monopoly.