In an interview with Sean McDonnell, Sean explains why he transitioned from self-managing to professional management. To watch the video click here.
Do you want peace of mind when investing in real estate? Or never deal with bad tenants again? Then this might be the advice you need to hear. When Sean first began investing in real estate he thought cutting costs on management would make him more profitable. Why pay someone else to manage your properties, when you can self-manage AND SAVE! Well think again. Here is Sean McDonald’s personal experience self managing and the horrors it could bring.
“We didn't supervise them at all or do any regular check-ins on the property. One of our biggest lessons was to have something in the lease about hanging things on the walls or pet acknowledgement. We didn't handle either properly, although we did charge the security deposit thankfully. We ended up keeping most of the security deposit, but they just weren't very clean and they didn't take very good care of the property.”
-Sean McDonnell
Self managing can put a lot of stress and duties all on one person. It's hard to remember everything that needs to be done, for a beginner investor or even experienced investor. It’s important to remember to create clear rules and regulations with your tenants. You also need to do regular check-ins on your properties to ensure it's in good condition and will be beneficial to your investments success.
“One of the biggest lessons was trusting the renter to handle a maintenance issue on his own. The renter reassured me that he was handy and could fix things, so he asked if he could remove a permanent TV Center in the wall. He said he would just need to drywall over it and repaint it. So, I said yes thinking it will save me some money. It ended up not being quality work and we had to hire a professional to redo it. It essentially cost us more than it would have if we had just handled the issue from the start because they had to undo the bad work.”
-Sean McDonnell
Having connections to quality contractors can keep your investment property in the best condition possible. Saving money and cutting corners may seem like the best decision however can end up hurting the investment, and spending more money in the end.
Sean also explains how dealing directly with his tenants can be awkward and uncomfortable, especially when you personally know them. “We learned a lot about the downside to renting to friends too. It took us to bad experiences with tenants to realize that this was not going to be successful. The tenants were overly demanding and asking for anything and everything to be fixed, repaired, or changed on the property. Those questions really put us in an uncomfortable and bad position because we didn't create any kind of professional boundary.”
How I Saved Money & Time by Using Professional Real Estate Management
Lastly, hear how working with a professional property manager will make you more money: started working with Avery Witt from Cedar Ridge Management to help him turn his investment property around!
“We realized we were renting it for well under market rent. Even though I was in the real estate profession I still didn't realize that we were renting it for about $700 less than we should have. Typically investors assume they will pay more if they hire a manager. However, we were able to hire a property manager and still make more by several hundred dollars a month! Paying a property manager with a team to manage these properties is way better and provides us peace of mind. Now we have the time to scale our long-term rental portfolio and continue investing in real estate.”
-Sean McDonnell
If any part of this story resonates with you and you want engaged managers, that are real estate investors, call us today so you too can have mailbox money!
