Out-of-state investing only works because of the people on the ground, and the single most important hire is the property manager — they run showings, maintenance, tenant relationships and the annual inspection so you never fly in for a leaky faucet. Interview at least three local managers; rates and styles vary more than you'd expect, and the cheapest one is rarely the best. Under about a dozen units an off-site firm is plenty; past 60–80 units you start needing a full-time on-site manager and maintenance staff. Round out the team with an investor-savvy agent, a lender, a contractor and an inspector, then lean on video walkthroughs and regular check-ins to stay close from a distance. Build the team first, buy the building second — every experienced out-of-state investor learned that the hard way.
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Counterpoint, said with respect: this works great until your situation changes. It carried me for a year, then I outgrew it and had to rebuild. Any sense of when someone should move past this approach?
The simplicity is the whole reason this sticks. Every time I've over-engineered something like this I quietly abandoned it within a month. Stripping it to one clear step is underrated. Do you have a fallback for the days you just don't feel like it?
I'll be honest, I was skeptical reading the title, but the reasoning holds up. The bit about cutting what you can't explain in a sentence is the part I needed. What's something you cut that you don't miss?
Bookmarked — I've sent three posts like this to my group chat and this is the one that'll actually get read. What got you into this in the first place?
House hacking is genuinely the cheat code for getting started — living for free while a tenant pays the note is hard to beat. Did you go duplex, or rent out rooms in a single-family?