Question: for someone starting out renting property, is it advisable to do an out-of-area rental, even if you have a property manager? Serious question….I mean a lot of this is about experience, right? Is it feasible to learn when something is in another state managed by another person?[/quote]
A friend of mine owns a rental on the other side of the country. He bought it through one of those all-inclusive services that helps you find and purchase the property and then manages it for you. I believe he has still never laid eyes on it to date. After a couple years, he decided he didn’t like them as a property management firm and switched to another management firm.
It was the first rental he owned. However, his mother is in real estate and has experience managing property, so perhaps he shouldn’t be considered a total neophyte buying sight-unseen across the country. Seems to have worked out really well for him.
On the flip side, I’ve also heard personal anecdotes of people buying sight-unseen and being told that the management company “just can’t seem to get it rented”, only to find out belatedly that the management company’s had it rented all along, and they’ve been pocketing the cash. If you do buy a rental far from home, maybe make it somewhere that you or a friend can drive by on occasion if it stays “vacant” for a while.
