ChiliPalmer
Member
What is the name of your state? I live in Florida. Hi, South!
Update on previous thread(s): The move went fine, did the walk-through and turned in the keys to the old place a while back, new house is lovely (hideous carpet aside). According to ye old incompetent rental company our deposit check is in the mail.
My husband and I are tired of the whole renting thing, mainly the lack of any sort of equity or asset building. If you recall, however, we be military folk. Purchasing is foolish when you can't be certain you'll stay in the area for more than a couple of years. Further, we don't much care for Florida (bugs, humidity, hurricanes, ridiculous insurance rates... blah).
I was thinking, though, that even if we don't want to purchase a home to live in here, we could buy one as an investment. The local rental market seems to be thriving, what with the many thousands of military jobs here (plus the DoD civilians). In that spirit, I've been researching property management services. What sort of things should I watch out for, and what is standard in the contracts? It seems to vary wildly depending on who I call.
Let's see, what will South yell at me for.... We have plenty of income to make rent and pay a mortgage as well as all pertinent expenses pertaining therein.
I'm considering putting a real estate attorney on retainer. Good idea/bad idea?
Most importantly, what happens if something goes wrong with the tenant/the house and we live out of state? One realtor said their office literally handles everything, another said they were merely the go-between who find replacement tenants when the former move, a third said they do nothing except take in the rent once a month.
Oh, and if anyone has good links for researching property management realtors, I would appreciate it. Thanks all!
Update on previous thread(s): The move went fine, did the walk-through and turned in the keys to the old place a while back, new house is lovely (hideous carpet aside). According to ye old incompetent rental company our deposit check is in the mail.
My husband and I are tired of the whole renting thing, mainly the lack of any sort of equity or asset building. If you recall, however, we be military folk. Purchasing is foolish when you can't be certain you'll stay in the area for more than a couple of years. Further, we don't much care for Florida (bugs, humidity, hurricanes, ridiculous insurance rates... blah).
I was thinking, though, that even if we don't want to purchase a home to live in here, we could buy one as an investment. The local rental market seems to be thriving, what with the many thousands of military jobs here (plus the DoD civilians). In that spirit, I've been researching property management services. What sort of things should I watch out for, and what is standard in the contracts? It seems to vary wildly depending on who I call.
Let's see, what will South yell at me for.... We have plenty of income to make rent and pay a mortgage as well as all pertinent expenses pertaining therein.
I'm considering putting a real estate attorney on retainer. Good idea/bad idea?
Most importantly, what happens if something goes wrong with the tenant/the house and we live out of state? One realtor said their office literally handles everything, another said they were merely the go-between who find replacement tenants when the former move, a third said they do nothing except take in the rent once a month.
Oh, and if anyone has good links for researching property management realtors, I would appreciate it. Thanks all!