Do you own a rental property in Killeen or maybe you’re thinking about it? Or maybe you are moving (PCS?) and think the best idea is to rent your home out instead of selling? Well, lets talk about the good, the bad and the ugly!
Owning a rental property seems like a great idea. I know, we have a decent number ourselves. You buy it “cheap” (of course, nothing’s cheap these days, right?), you find a tenant, and then you profit from the rental income while you manage the property… how hard could it be? This may seem like a particularly good idea if you haven’t owned the home for too long and want (need?) to build some equity.
Problem is, it’s often much harder than people realize and you may find (as many landlords do) the surprising truth of being a landlord in Killeen: If you manage it yourself give up your personal life – no more private time, no more vacations, no more weekend getaways… all because you’re so busy as a landlord. Or, if you have a property manager, like so many out of state owners do, you wind up making close to zero… and that’s before the first bad tenant. Personal thought, if you are doing it from out of state with a property manager?! Well, in my humble opinion… run!
The work you probably didn’t anticipate
Owning a rental can keep you busy. When everything is going smooth it can be a breeze and honestly, managing one or two properties can be pretty easy most of the time.
I mean, initially there’s the work required to find the property, then to fix it up, but all of that can be fun if you are in to it.
But finding tenants is stressful. You will meet some shady people and lets face it, nobody says “hey, I’m gonna trash your place and not pay rent!”. then to find a tenant, then to answer the phone from them every time they call. Even if they call late at night because the toilet is overflowing, you have to take their call and deal with it. That means: no more vacations, either, because what will happen if the toilet overflows while you’re in a different country?
There’s the time
Some landlords try to own a rental property while they have another job but many discover that it’s just as time-consuming… it’s like having a second full-time job! Between chasing down your tenants to fixing things around the house, it’s one thing after another and you may simply not have time to work at your other job… and that’s with ONE rental property. Landlords who own two or more are even busier.
There’s the cost
Rental properties aren’t cheap. Sure you get some rental income from the tenant but you also have to take care of the property, fix it up, make upgrades, and repair it if the tenants trash it when they leave. In other words, the costs add up and the financial rewards of owning a rental property may not be there for you.
There’s the stress
When you add up all of those things so far, it equals STRESS! You’ve got so much to juggle with the rental property, and you worry about it constantly, and perhaps you even fear opening the mail because you may find bad news in the next envelope. That’s no way to live.
If you own a rental property and want to get rid of it, we can help. We buy houses (even frustrating rental properties that have damage or bad tenants you can’t get rid of). We can deal with evicting an existing tenant or any other problems with the city, code violations, etc. We love to buy rentals, can we make you an offer on yours?
