If you're considering investing in a rental property, you may be wondering how much work to expect in your new role as landlord.  The amount of work depends largely on the type of building, its condition, and the tenants you acquire.

A single-family dwelling as opposed to a four unit building will present different issues and challenges.  With more units comes more mechanical items to maintain and repair, such as appliances, heating and cooling systems, etc.

In general, the better the condition of your building at the time of purchase the less work you will likely have to attend to.  Deferred maintenance from a previous owner on small items can turn into big, ongoing problems for a subsequent landlord.  A minor leak in pipes that is not corrected in a timely fashion can turn into floor and/or ceiling issues and mold or rot problems.

The difference between a profitable or disastrous can often be attributed to how much work an investor is willing to put into their property.  A successful landlord must be willing to screen tenants, respond immediately to repair requests, and track down overdue rents.  If a landlord cannot or does not want to handle these areas of work on their own, it would be in their best interest to hire a management company to take care of all these important details on their behalf.  For excellent service in the Greater Los Angeles, Fort Worth and Oklahoma City areas, contact us at www.GoldenEstateManagement.com

 
This post has been included in California Information
Post is included in group: Property Management Referrals and References
Post is included in group: Property Management Professionals
Post is included in group: Keller Williams Commercial
Post is included in group: Commercial Real Estate

6 Comments on How Much Work is a Rental Property?

JUN
05
405,366 Points 3 Featured Posts Outside Blog

A good property manager can make a difference but they are hard to find.

6:04am • #1
299,386 Points 3 Featured Posts Hit Router

Thanks James, and don't forget to factor in the potential rental market conditions.

6:49am • #2
180,026 Points 1 Featured Post

The best thing to do is hire a managment company to oversee the day to day operations of your rentals so you, the landlord, can focus on finding more deals.

7:53am • #3
JUL
08

Agreed, a good manager is worth his weight in gold.  The problem we are seeing today is that all these foreclosures have been bought up for rentals and now we are flooded with rentals.  Anybody else seeing this? 

12:04pm • #4
AUG
31
Outside Blog

Multi-units compound problems. "A single-family dwelling as opposed to a four unit building will present different issues and challenges.  With more units comes more mechanical items to maintain and repair, such as appliances, heating and cooling systems, etc." As a person who owns many muli-units I find that when one thing starts to go it"s better to replace everything. If a garbage disposal goes bad in one unit, I change them all out. Saves on down time for the tenet.

12:48pm • #5
SEP
06
Outside Blog

Having a good property manager is CRITICAL if the property owner/landlord is not going to get educated  and experience elsewhere BEFORE becoming a landlord....ON-THE-JOB training as a landlord can become EXPENSIVE!!!

5:17pm • #6

Leave a response…



(optional)
What does the graphic say?
 
Rainmaker_large

James Engel KW Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills, CA

More about me…

Keller Williams Realty Beverly Hills

Address: 439 North Canon Drive, Penthouse, Beverly Hills, CA, 90210

Office Phone: (888) 999-6575

Cell Phone: (310) 985-0985

Email Me



Links

Archives

RSS 2.0 Feed for this blog

Find CA real estate agents and Beverly Hills real estate on ActiveRain.