Looking for input from landlords who own rental property in one state but live in another.

My wife and I own an owner-occupied multifamily property in Massachusetts. We currently live on the first floor and rent the other unit. The rental income covers the mortgage, and once we eventually move out, renting the first floor should also create additional income.

We are considering purchasing a home in another state, possibly Florida. We are not looking to sell our Massachusetts property because it has appreciated significantly since we bought it, and the rents are enough to cover the mortgage. If we rent the first floor after moving, that income could help us pay toward the new home while still leaving approximately $600–$800 per month for property expenses such as water, sewer, trash, and common-area electricity.

The challenge is that the property would be more than 20 hours away by car, and flights could be around $250 each way. We would not be close enough to handle every repair, tenant issue, inspection, turnover, or emergency ourselves.

For those who have owned rentals in a different state from where you live:

• Did you hire a property manager? If so, what responsibilities did they handle, and what percentage or fee did they charge?

• Did you keep certain tasks under your own control, such as tenant screening, leases, rent collection, or major repair decisions?

• How did you find reliable contractors, plumbers, electricians, snow removal, or emergency contacts before moving?

• Did you have problems with tenants knowing you lived far away?

• How often did you travel back to inspect the property or handle major projects?

• At what point did hiring a property manager become worth the cost?

• Would you do it again, or would you recommend selling instead?

My friends own lots of property out of State. Their secret, each building is 200 plus units. They employ several resident manages at each property and have an outside management company take care of everything. My friends only receive checks--leave the management to others.

I have real estate interest in a total of 5 states.

What this comes down to is how comfortable are you in delegating specific task to other people. There are many folks on this site that are even too afraid to go away on vacation for fear that they will be needed somehow. So I commended you for researching ALL the possibilities in front of you.

AI will allow you to break down the various task into small chunks that can be delegated out. Yes, it is true, no one can __________ as good as you can (at least in our own minds). Does that mean, just because you are awesome at that specific aspect of the job, that the job warrants you doing it at all.

Delegation however isn't for everyone. And all types of real estate are not created equal. Some require even more work than others. A STR in Florida would require much more work than the same house as a LTR - yet it is the same house.

Depending on where you are at in Fla, I suspect that finding a property manager would not be that difficult. Again, AI can help you create of expectations that you want from the manager. Yes, there is a price for the management, upwards of 10%. Then again, there is also a price for hiring someone to clean up a place during a turnover. I see that as money well spent, as I really don't want to clean up after anyone. Others on here might have a different opinion, but cleaning up after people isn't the highest and best use of MY time. For others, it might be for that specific day.

If you plan to hold the original place I would suggest starting to test out some property managers. Act as if you are already gone, but watch how they perform.

Be ready to cycle thru a few of them. It will be tough to give up all the control at once, but you will see how they perform that way.

Having a rental house that you can not get to easily is difficult. My suggestion is to sell the house, get your owner occupied tax break while you still qualify and then buy a replacement home and replacement rental property in whatever new place you decide to live in.

"We are not looking to sell our Massachusetts property because it has appreciated significantly since we bought it"

That isn't an argument for keeping it unless you think MA will continue to appreciate faster than other areas. You can 1031 exchange to keep from having to pay the tax on that gain if you move it to Florida.

Counter arguments include:

Florida is much more landlord friendly making it easier to manage. The costs for eviction, should you need to do one, are much cheaper and quicker in Florida. That means a lower cost to operate a rental.

FL has no income tax where MA does. Property taxes are slightly cheaper in FL than MA. Those two may reduce your overall tax burden.

Bottom line, don't rule out selling and reinvesting in the new local market. Owner-occupied multifamily properties are way less common the further South you get. The up-side is it's nice keeping some distance between you and tenants when you reinvest.

Thanks everyone.

Robert J, in my case i don't have tons of units lol, yes i was thinking into agreed to something with one of my tenants, but i also thought that could be a sword of 2 sides... Or using a PM, some are 8-10%, others around 15%..

Ray-N-PA i don't mind to delegate if needed to, i have 1-2 people, handymans, that i can call to do a few things, although they are always busy. Yes, ChatGPT is my friend, i ask lot of things to clarify/polish my ideas. And yes i could also find someone to clean for the turnovers.

plenty thanks for sharing. My biggest hurdle is if i have a PM and there is a situation and they do not answer the tenant call and they start calling me xD... We have had a very good luck with tenants. normally our tenants stays for more than 3-5 years, i have had a very good experience and interaction with at least the 90-95% of my tenants, most of them do not complain, not only do not complain, but also take care of the home... Also another concern will be the trash and recycle bin, to bring them to the curb on the designated days, or during snow time to clean the snow...

Zero yes that is our ideal plan if we can. Thanks

Oregonwoodsmoke i asuume it won't be, but my thinking is: if some others do it, why can't i? And if i don't try it, i wouldn't ever know if i would be able to manage or not, i am not afraid of trying, i am only concern in trying and wasting a lot of money just because i wanted to try LOL.

MikeA in 8 years the building has almost double the value, and i think it will continue to growth. Is not that i am closed mind onto not selling, if the situation arises and we have to sell, we will. We bought at 490K, we owe like 390K, right now the estimated value will be over 850-950K, we have received several cash over of 750-800K, if they are offering that amount, is because it is worth more than that... I am open to any ideas.

We have been multi state property owners for over 16 yrs.

Hi Bet, long time. Thanks for reminding me not to tell anyone where will be going to xD. Yes we are considering all those insurance extra, we will weight all of that to see if it will be worth it for us, we don't really want to leave MA, we are just looking better options for a 4+ bedroom home.

I live 500 miles away from some of my rentals. Not part of the plan, but when DH got a job transfer I wasn't quite ready to sell them.

I had a handyman, HVAC guy, and plumber. That took care of most issues. I made trips there 3-4x/year to get eyes on the properties and take care of issues that tenants hadn't reported or didn't notice. Then I got tired of traveling there, visits dropped to 2x/year, property condition started to slide.

I didn't tell any of my tenants that I had moved out of state, but they all figured it out. I kept rents $200-$300 below market rate, and they reciprocated by taking care of minor maintenance issues themselves. Not always in the way I would have. (Who replaces a broken stair tread with particle board??)

Very low turnover--only twice in ten years. Hired a friend to hold open houses and scan the completed applications to me, then sign the lease with the approved tenant.

Now, after 11 years, we're selling. Too stressful when there's an issue you don't have someone to fix. Too hard to assess the severity of an issue. We're now comfortable with the RE investment options in our new state so we're going to most likely roll over into local properties.

Robin thanks for your input, i appreciated, is very helpful. Here in MA i can say i have a very few friends, but less friends available to assist with these type of things. I know 1-2 handyman, electrician, plumber that can assist... I am also part of the MassLandlord group here in MA, there are a few of them here, very helpful like Steve, Bet, Johnnie, Still Learning, among others.

LZ, IMHO you & your wife would be wise to start checking out the areas that you're thinking of relocating to especially their local LL / tenant rules, regulations & laws. Once you've narrowed your search down make a trip to put eyes on the area & the properties. Keep good records of the money that you spend searching for potential RE investment & deduct the appropriate costs on your tax returns.

When & if you find your next RE investment, I'd be inclined to unload your present owner occupied property & not worry about dealing with an investment that 1,000 - 2,000 miles away.

Hi Steve long time haven't read you around here.

Yes, we had done the trips, visited several areas there, and we are talking, interviewing xD, several people related to us that live there, investigating the school system, hospitals, supermarket, things near by, crime, insurance, all of that.

Yes i am in the talk with my tax person, is a mix of sentiments, she is in favor of us keeping the unit, the balance is right now like 50/50, that is why i asked here to see others point of view.