Moving out of state and away from your investment properties can introduce new challenges into the way you lease, manage, and maintain that rental home. Without proper precautions, you risk costly maintenance surprises, missed rental payments, and even potential conflicts with your tenants.
Protecting your property while living at a distance doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By implementing the right strategies and working with the right management team, you can ensure smooth and stress-free property management.
Here’s how to protect your investment property once you leave.
Hire a Reliable Property Management Company
One of the most important steps you can take is to work with a trustworthy property management company. We will be your local expert, handling the day-to-day operations, including finding tenants, handling repairs, and ensuring rent payments are collected on time. We will also understand how to best position your property during market shifts and changing tenant demands.
Perform a Detailed Inspection Before You Leave
Before you move, conduct a detailed inspection of your property with your property manager. Document its current condition with photos or video and address any maintenance concerns promptly.
This inspection will help you identify potential problems that could grow worse (or more expensive) over time if left unresolved. It’s critical to leave your property in excellent shape for your current and next tenants and avoid disputes and discomfort.
Evaluate Landlord Insurance
The right insurance policy can provide a lot of peace of mind when you’re investing from outside of the area. Make sure you’re covered adequately against property damage, loss of rental income (due to events like fires or storms), and liability. Review your coverage options and make sure your policy aligns with the specific risks of the area where your property is located. In Florida, we always have to think about the threat of tropical storms, hurricanes, and oppressive heat and humidity.
Invest in Good Technology
Your property management partner should have the type of technology in place that keeps you connected to your investment property. We provide online rent collection and maintenance reporting for tenants through their tenant portals, and we also give owners a portal where they can follow those rent payments, see accounting statements and financial reports, and review maintenance invoices and lease agreements. It also gives you an easy way to communicate with us, even if you’re in a different time zone.
Commit to Responsive Communication
You hire a property manager so that the day-to-day responsibilities are not yours.
However, you want to be available to your property manager in case approval is needed for an expensive repair or there’s a problem with a tenant breaking the lease. Make sure you understand the communication expectations of your management company, and make sure that your needs are met, too.
Stay actively involved in monitoring your property, even when you’re a hands-off investor. You’ll trust your property manager to do what needs to be done, but take some time each month to review reports, inspections, and any updates about the property.
Protecting your property is more than possible when you’re working with us. Please contact us at Oceans Managing Group by calling (386) 255-8585, or visit www.oceanspropertymanagement.com. Moving out of state doesn’t mean your investment property has to suffer.
