Kathi Thomas is our special guest today, and she is a licensed Realtor, a seasoned Property Manager, and a professional with prior years of experience in the Title industry. We’ve asked her to shed some light on a topic that’s important to many of the owners we work with: concerns for out of state owners and even owners who are out of the country. Kathi is going to highlight the top 5 concerns a property investor like that might have.
Planning the Money
The first concern for a real estate investor outside of the state is always the money. ROI is important, and part of our job is to create a Return on Investment for our owners. The obvious expenses right away are the mortgage and insurance. Then, there are always other expenses that are not so obvious, like HOA fees. So we have to make sure that an owner is prepared for everything. We want to discuss long term property goals and whether the owner will keep the property as an investment or retire to Florida and live in it someday.
Local Expertise
For a rental investment to be successful, someone must have knowledge of the local area. Owners expect us to guide them through the local rental market. We have to know what is renting for how much money, and where the subsets of various markets may be.
Local Laws
To avoid rental problems, a good property manager will understand local laws. An out of state owner is not going to know the Florida Landlord and Tenant Laws. As a professional management company, our owners can rely on us to know these laws and to track the changes. This helps us to mitigate risk. We watch for notices and security claims and we know how to navigate through those legal issues.
Finding Qualified Tenants
Most problems with rental property can be attributed to bad tenants. We make sure we’re placing good tenants who are not only able to pay rent but are stable. We conduct a full background check, and that doesn’t include only the criminal check. We collect a good overall picture of a tenant’s stability and ability to pay the rent. The lifeline of any rental investment is income production through a hihigh-qualityenant.
Maintenance Costs
The maintenance costs are not a fixed item. Owners, especially new investors, don’t always consider the costs of maintaining an investment property. So we help our investors understand that there are some unknowns. We do our best to maintain a property and implement preventative maintenance measures to keep costs down. It’s important for out of state investors to ask if there are mark-ups on maintenance work or if savings are passed on to the property owner.
The bottom line is the bottom line. There are a lot more things that out of state investors are concerned with, but these are the top five. If you have any questions or need any help with property management in Orlando, FL, please contact us at All County Property Management.