Very rarely will you meet someone who is a full-time landlord. In most cases, landlords have full-time careers and use real estate investing as a mechanism for growing their capital. But to be successful, these people have to first figure out what it looks like to balance landlording with a full-time job.
Before you dip your toes into the world of real estate investing and landlording, you need to make sure you’re prepared – not just on a financial level, but also practically speaking. In other words, can you continue to perform well at your full-time job and simultaneously find success being a landlord?
Thousands of landlords find a way to juggle both aspects of their professional lives. Here are some tips designed to help you do the same.
The first step is to take a genuine look at your schedule and determine whether or not you can fit something else into the 24 hours you have in a day. Some people think they’re busy, when they really have plenty of time. Other people fool themselves into thinking they can take something else on, when they’re already maxed out.
Grab a pen and notepad and break your weekly schedule down into one-hour segments. Include everything from sleep and family time to work hours and time spent at the gym. This will give you a pretty good idea of your situation and, perhaps, help you identify time-wasters that can be eliminated.
According to real estate investor Dawn Anastasi, dedication and persistence are two of the most important ingredients to being successful in real estate investing – especially when you’re holding down a full-time job.
“When I started investing, I knew what my goal was and I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy street,” Anastasi explains. “No one was going to hand me a completely finished real estate investing business on a silver platter wrapped up with a little bow. There were days where I had to work nights and weekends to make it happen. But looking back, all the dedication and time paid off.”
When you pair dedication with persistence, progress really starts to happen. You’re going to run into obstacles, but you must stay the course and patiently wait for certain situational factors to unfold in your favor.
It’s a whole lot easier to be a successful real estate investor if you identify a niche and stick with it. Having a niche simplifies the world of real estate and allows you to block out the noise.
Investing in rental properties and being a landlord is one niche, but you can further narrow your focus by zeroing in on rental properties in a certain price range and location.
Many real estate investors find it helpful to work with a partner. Not only does this cut the financial risk in half, but it also allows you to pool your time and strengths and eliminate much of the heavy lifting.
When searching for an investing partner, look for someone who complements your skillset and has adequate financial resources. While it might be tempting for one person to invest money and the other to put in sweat equity, these partnerships don’t always work. It’s best if you’re equally invested.
Much of your time as a landlord/real estate investor will be spent at your desk paying bills, crunching numbers, running calculations, and moving money around. With that being said, you can save yourself a ton of time by staying organized. Have a specific folder for every property and meticulously document every last detail. This will allow you to quickly access whatever information you need, saving time and money over the long run.
One of the biggest challenges with being a landlord is dealing with problematic tenants who miss payments, destroy your property, break lease agreements, and otherwise cause trouble. If you want to make your job easier and less stressful, spend time screening prospective tenants.
“Get written permission to contact the applicant’s current employer and create a form with specific questions regarding length of employment, salary, dependability, and other pertinent details,” investor Christina Burch suggests. “Information gathered from an employer may indicate if the applicant can afford the rent.”
As a general rule of thumb, a tenant’s income should be 2.5 to 3 times the amount of monthly rent. So, if the rent is $1,500 per month, the individual should be making at least $3,750 per month.
If you’re working a full-time job, it’s nearly impossible to be 100 percent hands-on with your rental properties. There are definitely tasks that you should do yourself, but there’s also something to be said for outsourcing certain duties.
If there’s something you’re really good at – say marketing – do this yourself. But if there are tasks that are outside of your wheelhouse and/or require a lot of time and energy that you don’t have, it’s better to hire someone to perform the work for you. In the end, this will prove to be money well spent.
No matter how well you streamline processes, select tenants, and optimize your schedule, it’s always helpful to have some assistance. A professional property manager knows how the industry works and can do most of the heavy lifting for you, so definitely consider going this route.
As someone who is working a full-time job and trying to manage rental properties, there’s nothing wrong with getting a little assistance. At Green Residential, we’re here to help. Our comprehensive property management services allow you to maximize cash flow and peace of mind without spending time on the small, cumbersome tasks that zap up so much of your energy.
For more information – and a free property analysis – please contact us at your earliest convenience!
TREC Broker License # 9001367
CALL US
CALL US