INTRODUCTION
In Part 1 of this series, we went over some of the basics for getting a tenant into your newly purchased GO Zone property. In this article, we will go into more details on the options you have for getting that tenant and, more importantly, starting that cash flow as soon as possible.
As you may remember, there is a lot involved with getting to that first rent check. All the marketing, potential tenant due diligence, and then management of the tenant after they get into the property can be very taxing on an individual.
RENTING FROM LONG DISTANCE
All the previous discussions are further complicated depending on how far you live from the property. Take it from me, trying to do all the lease-up work and property management yourself from a long distance is an all consuming task; one which I do not recommend to anyone who has other obligations (i.e. a life). More on this shortly.
PROFESSIONAL PROPERTY MANAGERS
Enter the professional Property Manager. Typically, a property manager gets paid for both the lease up of a property, and also on the management of the tenant once in the property. During the lease up, property managers spend very real dollars advertising the property and thus they typically can command a lease up fee. In many locations (both inside and outside of the GO Zone), this typically equates to a charge of 1/2 of the first month’s rent.
In addition, a management fee is also received by the property manager on a monthly basis and is a percentage of the monthly rent amount. For long term leases, this averages in the 10-12% range. Note that the actual management fee can vary widely depending upon the area where the property is located, the type of property, etc.
OPTION 1: DOING IT YOURSELF
If you are like the overwhelming majority of GO Zone investors, you most likely do not live near your GO Zone property. In this situation, as a property owner and a real estate investor you need to think hard about taking on the property management task yourself.
With the Internet, you may be tempted to do some Newport Residences Condo of the marketing on your own. However, there still is the need for the local presence on the ground for showing the property to potential tenants, getting contracts and agreements in hands, reviewed and executed, and for knocking on the door when rent is late.
In addition, if you are new to real estate investing and new to rental properties, it is probably not a good idea to try this on your own from a distance. It is usually recommended that you try your hand at self property management in your own back yard first before even considering the task of doing this long distance.
OPTION 2: COMBO PLATTER 1
Here is the case where you would pay someone else to lease up your property, and then you manage the property yourself. For this, you may get a property manager, licensed professional or other lease-up specialist to go out and market your property, find a tenant, do the tenant screening, etc.
Unfortunately, not many professionals, rental managers, etc., want to do all this work and only get some of the front end funds. IF you can find someone to take on this portion of the front end business, you should really also consider the additional lease up time that may be required; especially if they are managing other similar properties where they also get a portion of the monthly rent that comes in.