• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Disclosure
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy

Military Dollar

Simplified personal finance for military members

  • Military Money
    • Military Members Start Here
    • Blended Retirement System
    • Retiring On A Military Pension Case Studies
    • Thrift Savings Plan
  • Financial Basics
    • Investing Series
    • Taxes
  • Financial Independence
    • Financial Independence
    • Early Retirement
  • Budget Travel
    • Travel Hacking
    • Credit Card Churning
  • Miscellaneous
    • Summary Sunday
    • Q&A
    • Real Estate
You are here: Home / Q&A / Mini Blog Post: Managing A Rental Property From Afar

Mini Blog Post: Managing A Rental Property From Afar

July 3, 2018 MilitaryDollar 16 Comments

managing rental property

As promised, I was asked a question so now I’ll be answering it in a mini post!

managing a rental property

For those of you that don’t know, I currently have one rental property. It’s a single family home and the current tenants just renewed their lease. They are my third set of tenants.

Managing A Rental Property From Afar

How hard it is to manage a rental property from afar is going to depend on a variety of factors, but probably the most important is how you feel about being a property manager. Good tenants who follow a well written lease are also very important.

For my first set of tenants, I did not have any help or property manager. I rented to a family member so I didn’t feel there was a need for one. I know a lot of people probably think I’m crazy for renting to a family member, but I know this person very well and I know how they treat their houses. I basically could not have had a better first tenant. Zero concerns with this one (I was living nearby for most of their time in the home).

For the second and third set of tenants, I’ve continued to self-manage my property. By that I mean I am still in charge of all leasing, financial, and repair/maintenance decisions. However, I do have someone with the authority to arrange maintenance and repairs on my behalf since I obviously can’t fly there every time the air conditioner acts up or painters need to come in. This is a legal arrangement via a power of attorney.

This has worked well so far. My second set of tenants were a headache, but I stuck by what the lease said in all matters and got through it. My third set of tenants are just as good as my first set, and I’m not just saying that because they might be reading this 😉 They should know I appreciate how well they’ve taken care of my house!

Do I like managing a rental property from afar?

All that being said, I’m not a huge fan of being a landlord. That has nothing to do with being a long distance landlord (it might bother me more to be local!) and everything to do with the fact that I crave simplicity in my investments. Do you see the tagline under my blog title? That’s not just for show.

Financially my rental property has been a good decision. I’ve done the math and it’s worked out roughly as well as if I’d put all of that money into the S&P500 years ago. That is saying something considering how well the stock market has done for the last decade. But I don’t love it.

If I had put the money into the stock market instead of buying a house, I wouldn’t have had to pick out a washer/dryer set. I never would’ve had to choose paint colors. And I never would’ve heard somebody complain that the garage was too big (that was an actual complaint!).

So…it’s fine. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it. Managing a property from afar isn’t really too big of a deal if you have good tenants and a good lease. But if you like simplicity, there are better options.

Property management

You could hire a property manager, but that will eat into your profits. And ohhhhhhh the horror stories I’ve heard.

If you are going to hire a property manager, I hope you’ve done your homework. And I don’t just mean reviewing the prospective PM.

I mean understanding that a property manager is not going to treat your home like a magical oasis that must be maintained in pristine condition every second. I mean you need to understand that they will treat it like property that helps you make an income. And that people – real live people – will live in it.

I find that a lot of people who don’t like being a long distance landlord are upset because the house isn’t kept to their standards. Well, that’s what happens. When you are a long distance landlord, you lose control. Heck, that happens even if you’re a short distance landlord. If someone else lives in your property, you are going to lose some control over what happens there. It’s part of the game.

(Plenty of people I know love their PMs, so I don’t want it to sound like I’m disparaging them. I’m definitely not! I find that most PMs do their job as agreed to, just maybe not as the owner expected. Realistic expectations are important.)

Or….

You can always invest the money in stocks. Or if you like the thought of real estate investing but don’t want to manage from afar, you can look into Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Or one of a thousand other options that don’t involve answering phone calls about whether you approve the latest repair.

Okay, that’s enough for this not-so-mini post. Yes, typing an entire post on a phone is hard, Ms Fiology! Fun fact: I’m not actually sure how to figure out how long this post is using the WordPress app.

Got another question that you want me to answer in a mini post? Ask it in the comments!

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Related

Q&A Real Estate

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Angela @ Tread Lightly Retire Early says

    July 3, 2018 at 4:34 pm

    Wait wait wait… what was the complaint about the garage being too big?? I’m so confused. And you can check word count at wordcounter.net 🙂

    Reply
    • MilitaryDollar says

      July 3, 2018 at 9:38 pm

      Yep. It’s a two car wide, two car deep garage, meaning there is room for a full workshop/storage area plus two cars inside. And the feedback from the husband was that he didn’t like it.

      Reply
  2. Ms. Fiology says

    July 3, 2018 at 7:00 pm

    Thank you! Yeah, it is sounds like I imagined – harder and more work than investing in the market BUT with a greater pay off. I do like the thought of having a hedge against inflation so I’m pretty sure I’ll enter the real estate market in the nearish future.

    Self-managing from afar but giving someone the authority to schedule maintenance sounds smart. Do you pay this person with said authority? I assume so but wanted to ask.

    Reply
    • MilitaryDollar says

      July 4, 2018 at 12:18 am

      I don’t appreciate the diversity of real estate enough I think. When I’m thinking about it I love it, but all too often what I’m thinking about is the hassle and not the benefit. While I don’t love being a landlord, I do recognize that benefit and I’m open to more property in the future if I can find a good deal.

      Reply
  3. Co-host Lytic says

    July 4, 2018 at 7:53 am

    I am managing my San Antonio house from Doha Qatar. If you haven’t heard of http://cozy.co, it really has helped the administrative parts of renting.

    Reply
    • MilitaryDollar says

      July 4, 2018 at 2:33 pm

      😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣

      I know people won’t understand why I’m laughing but trust me, something he wrote was funny.

      Reply
  4. freddy smidlap says

    July 5, 2018 at 12:19 pm

    our painters start today. we picked colors about 6 months ago. every time mrs. smidlap brings up the detail of which blue to use and what color will go where i just glaze over in a stupor. i just want it done.

    Reply
    • MilitaryDollar says

      July 6, 2018 at 2:49 am

      Yeah I enjoy picking one color – one – and then I want it to be done already.

      Reply
  5. Liz says

    July 6, 2018 at 2:28 am

    Was this when you decided to buy a house at a duty station or was this simply because you wanted to try your hand at a rental property?

    Reply
    • MilitaryDollar says

      July 6, 2018 at 2:50 am

      Both?
      I bought at a location I knew I was moving to, but it was always intended as a rental.

      Reply
  6. Erin | Reaching for FI says

    July 6, 2018 at 8:40 pm

    Wait, I’m sorry, the garage was too big? Uh, don’t use all the space then?

    Stock investing is what I’m doing because it’s all I can afford right now. And yes, at least it doesn’t call me in the middle of the night saying there’s a leak. I’m the one doing that to my landlord 😂

    Reply
    • MilitaryDollar says

      July 7, 2018 at 2:08 am

      Also: dividends don’t sell drugs!

      Reply
  7. Femme Cents says

    July 6, 2018 at 9:37 pm

    How did you show prospective tenants the house from long distance? That was my biggest hurdle with a long-distance rental and we ended up using a PM company. Luckily, the PM ended up being great, but suffice it to say, we ended up selling the house and I don’t miss being a landlord.

    Reply
    • MilitaryDollar says

      July 7, 2018 at 2:07 am

      First tenant: I didn’t choose a house to buy until my prospective tenant approved it. He went on house tours with me. I was buying it for him to live in. No background check.

      Second tenant: a family member showed them the house, and I reviewed their file from afar. Partly it was scanned docs delivered email, and partly I used an online background check service.

      Third tenant: tbh I can’t remember if they saw it in person before moving in. I think so? I definitely sent them pictures. If they did see it in person, then it would’ve been a family member who let them in. They were preapproved because I knew the husband.

      Reply
  8. Cooper The Millennial says

    July 9, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    I did this for about a year and a half. I had such a hard time with my PM company. I just don’t think we were on the same page with expenses/repairs. I don’t think they were doing anything shady or wrong but the communication just wasn’t there.

    I think more than anything I learned the importance of being on the same page with PM company if that is the route you take. I learned more about myself during this time which is probably the biggest takeaway (for me).

    Reply
    • MilitaryDollar says

      July 10, 2018 at 2:40 am

      I think if people were honest with themselves, this is what most would say. I’m on a few landlording forums and so many questions are along the lines of “I wanted X but my PM did Y” and much of the time, its stuff that could’ve been resolved with clear rules and communication from the beginning. It’s good to hear you learned that lesson. Do you still have the house? If so, did you fix it by finding a new company that meshed better with you, or by resolving the issues with the first company?

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Rockstar Finance

Want exclusive content? Join the cool kids club

Subscribe to the Military Dollar Newsletter

* indicates required
Are you a U.S. military member?
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Hey, do you have any information about…?

Latest Posts

  • Free Real Estate Tracker Printable March 25, 2020
  • Traditional vs Roth: Social Media Saturday March 7, 2020
  • Create Your 2020 Financial Plan December 23, 2019

Search the Archives

Tags

Blended Retirement System Blogs Books BRS Budget Budget Travel Charity Combat Zone Credit Credit Card Churning Debt Early Retirement Emergency Fund Finance Fridays Financial Independence FIRE Frugal Living Investing IRA Military Allowances Military Benefits Military Mondays Military Pay Military Retirement Podcasts Printables Q&A Real Estate Retirement Roth Savings Side Hustles Social Media Saturday Summary Sunday Tax-Advantaged Taxes Thrift Savings Plan Traditional Travel Travel Hacking TSP Values Veterans

Recent Posts

  • Free Real Estate Tracker Printable
  • Traditional vs Roth: Social Media Saturday
  • Create Your 2020 Financial Plan
  • Financial Things I’m Thankful For
  • Air Force Financial Readiness Training Debuts. How Is It?

Recent Comments

  • MilitaryDollar on Off Duty Employment for Military Members
  • MilitaryDollar on 80+ Things You Can Learn From Your Leave and Earnings Statement
  • 10 Things To Know About Money and Deployment • KateHorrell on Tax Considerations in a Combat Zone
  • Angel on 80+ Things You Can Learn From Your Leave and Earnings Statement
  • dp on How To Make Car Camping Comfortable And Safe

Archives

  • March 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017

Categories

  • Budget Travel
  • Finance Fridays
  • FIRE
  • Investing Series
  • Media Reviews
  • Military Mondays
  • Miscellaneous
  • Q&A
  • Retiring On A Military Pension
  • Social Media Saturday
  • Summary Sundays

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Footer

Search by Category

Find me on Facebook

Find me on Facebook

About me

I am a USAF officer who is passionate about personal finance, financial independence, and teaching. I’m hoping to teach you that personal finance can be simple, rewarding, and – gasp – sometimes even fun!

Copyright © 2025 · Daily Dish Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

← Summary Sunday for July 1st, 2018 ← I Wrote A Mega Thread On Twitter About The Blended Retirement System
 

Loading Comments...