Does anyone have a property out of state? Do you have a management company run it?

Looking at one 10 hours away.

It's a 5 unit, rent about 370/unit.

They're asking 150k.

Really low crime rate.

Would make an estimated profit around 800/month.

I would never buy a property more than a mile or so away, but that's just me. Out of state? No way.

$1850 a month rent if 100 percent full.(5x370)

40-50 percent operating expenses leaves about $925/month

Payments on a loan =??? Say about $500 on 100K, leaving $425 on an investment of $50,000 (1/3 down).

If you paid 100 percent cash, then about $925 a month on 150K plus closing costs. $11,100 per year on 150K+ is only about percent return if nothing goes wrong. A 7 cap rate or IRR (internal rate of return/ cash on cash) isn't very good. Maybe only for pristine properties, in my opinion.

Considering the govt giving out free rent directives and our inability to evict, I'd recommend being careful. You could have zero return.

I'm with Jeff. Actually I can walk to all my places. One is directly behind our house, two others are on the next block in either direction from our house. The furthest away is 2 miles away. We're all neighbors here! I think that's part of the reason we have the tenants we do. They WANT to be near the landlord!

I was downstate 3 hrs and had PM who didn't do a great job, I realized 2 ways a) poor quality of tenants put in b) by inspecting turned over units and seeing sloppy paint jobs (roller marks on ceilings when only walls are painted)and cob work. I am near all my properties, have considered moving farther out. My happy medium would be to split my month between camp and where the rentals are.

If you had to get ten hours away, how would you get there? I am good for 6 hrs driving, but I don't have to.

Okay, so the rent is around $370 each unit and it's a 5 unit. Gross monthly income, around $1,850.

You are 10 hours away. A tenant has a problem. Lets say it's one of the following problems:

a) no power to their refrigerator, food is going to spoil

b) no heat, freezing cold and tenants may die.

c) The tenants locked themselves out and have no extra key.

What are you going to do? Your part time manger isn't answering their phone. Their normal business hours are from 8AM to 6PM.

So you call an electrician to check out the NO Power to the refrigerator and it turns out to be a sensitive breaker that had to be re-set. This service call cust killed that units monthly profit and then some.

Or the heater isn't working, it's natural gas. You call a plumber and it was just a blown out pilot light or the gas earthquake valve sent off... There goes 2 months profit.

Or the tenant get's locked out. They will break a window to get inside. Your manager with an extra key isn't available for 5 hours. So you call a locksmith and there goes another "C" note!

Unless you tenants are perfect and your property is in top condition, you're in for a world of hurt being 10 hours away.

I would recommend against it.

I have one out-of-state rental. It happened because I was fairly temporarily living in another state. This was before laws protecting families, and no one would rent to me because I was a single parent with three children. I had to buy a house. I lived in the house for one year and then moved back to Missouri.

I made the decision to move back very quickly and while deciding what to do I received a call from the local housing authority asking if I would rent to a Section 8 tenant. I did, and she was there for about two years.

Then I was going to sell it, but I got another request from the housing authority asking me if I would rent to a new person. I did. She has now been there almost 40 years, and we have never met in person. I do not have a manager of any kind.

One reason it works is because the housing authority there is reasonable to deal with regarding inspections, repairs, and such. In a way they are my eyes for knowing work I should do. The renter tries her very best to take care of things, including two hurricanes.

The down side is I am getting very very low rent - and over the years the renter has aged (as I have) and can no longer handle things she used to be able to do.

I think she is near needing to live in assisted living. When she moves, I will immediately sell it.

Josh,

No way.

Gotta be able to put eyes on, even with a PM.

Surely there is a decent deal in Ohio.

My farthest is only 22 minutes away. It's amazing how I can make excuses to not drive there.

And no, I do not want to live with my renters as neighbors. They have their lives and I don't want them in mine. For MY safety and the safety of my family I do not want them knowing where and how I live.

My furthest away is an hour and a half. This is the exception, not my rule. My kid is there with friends attending college. Something goes wrong there (as long as it's not an emergency), I can drive up and fix it. Then, take my kid to lunch and see them. Emergency arises, there goes a month's profit since I will have to call someone. I knew this when I purchased the place and still took the risk. (Funny thing is I have also been able to walk them through 2 small repairs over facetime.

Worked really well!) I would highly advise against it though. My plan is to sell the place as soon as my kid is done with school. Probably do a 1031 exchange depending on the economy and rules/laws when the time comes.

My next farthest place is 30 min, which is just across town where I live. My truck gets a lot of miles every year, but 30 min is much more manageable. Plus, I rarely drive to go to just one place. I stack up the appointments to take care of 2 or more at a time.

Josh,

More...

I see this all the time. Eager investors jump on a deal because it looks good.

I get the call in 12-24 months when they finally figure out this was a huge mistake - 2-3 bad PMs, city fines because the bad PMs did not mow etc, large repair bills because the PMs just called plumber to fix a drippy faucet for $275...

Unless you live in Portland or LA, invest locally. You'll make more money and spend less time on it.