One thing that I learned early in the process is that it is not easy to locate great tenants, not even good ones. I tried. My first, second and third property management companies tried. I went through 3 rental property management companies within a 5 month period. The third one was lousy, but not as lousy as the other two.
One rental house had a tenant with VERY noisy kids. The neighbor was repeatedly calling the police to complain about the noise. I told the property manager, he went to talk to the tenant, then was too lenient with her.
The second house was rented to a tenant who moved in and never made a payment. The newly renovated house was wrecked, the carpet horribly soiled by the dog that pooped IN the house. They were selected by the 2nd manager, and evicted by a company recommended to me by the investor who sold that house to me initially. The 3rd management company charged me for new carpet. Years later I found out that they never even installed carpet! They would hire anyone to do the work, not necessarily licensed. Sometimes they did the work, poorly. Or they did not show at all and I was still billed by the management company.
The third house needed a new heating system shortly after it was rented; a newly "renovated" house. Yeah, right. But I was so happy to FINALLY get a tenant! I had people who signed leases and then disappeared ... forever.
The fourth house was rented to the only decent tenant that I ever had. A mother of 2, my only Section-8 tenant. She worked full time and was getting assistance for her disabled child. The home was well maintained. She was pleasant to deal with when I visited.
Life as a real estate investor owning and trying to make a profit on rental properties was a nightmare. I was traveling out of state on programming assignments and had to make special trips back to Baltimore to deal with tenant issues. UGH! What to do? The trails and tribulations one can endure while learning creative real estate investing.
