Can A Landlord Go On Vacation Yes

<

b>Can a Landlord go on          you have backup people in place
Vacation? Yes!             to take care of any problems that
                                arise while you’re gone; that you
You heard a lot of reasons why        can be reached in case of an
not to be an active landlord when     absolute, drop-dead emergency;
you first got into real estate        and that you don’t have any
investing. One of them was this:     specific project that requires
you’d never be able to take a         your presence scheduled for the
vacation again.                       same days as your trip.

Maybe now it’s been five years        My longest ever trip was two
since you bought your first           weeks to China in January of
property, and you really haven’t      2005. For 14 days, I’d be
taken a vacation in all that          literally on the other side of
time. Those travel brochures         the world, in a country where my
look pretty inviting. Or maybe       cell phone wouldn’t work and
there’s an investors convention       email would be occasional at
or cruise where you could relax       best. I began preparing for the
and get new ideas about our           trip two months in advance.
industry.
                                      Find a trusted friend
The truth is that you can get
away for a weekend or even a          My first job was to find a friend
week, as long as you prepare          or relative who could take on the
ahead of time. The preparation        property management while I was
is no different than what any         away. He had to meet five
other professional needs to do.       criteria. First, he had to be
Simply put, you must make sure        someone I utterly trusted. I
that everyone who depends on you      could not take a chance on
knows you are going away; that        someone who might misbehave and

cause damage to my reputation.        that time. It’s important to
Second, he had to be a reliable       resolve this question ahead of
person in all respects. Third,       time. I didn’t want Will to do
it had to be convenient for him       it as a pure favor, even if he
to take on this additional            would be willing to do so. We
responsibility. Fourth, he had       decided on a flat fee for the two
to be at least as handy as I was      weeks and an additional fee for
(not asking a lot). Fifth, he        any visit he had to make to the
had to be willing to do it.           properties.

Remember that there is a              If your trusted friend refuses
difference between                    money, you need to find some
trustworthiness and reliability.      other way to show your
My stand-in property manager          appreciation for the big favor
would have access to the business     he’s doing. Give his family a
checkbook. A trustworthy person      terrific thank-you present or
wouldn’t take off with the money      make a donation to charity in his
in the account. A reliable           name.
person wouldn’t leave the
checkbook where somebody else         Let everyone know what you’re
could take it.                        doing

My choice for my stand-in was my      My second job was to let all of
brother in law Will. I asked him     my important contacts – which
with more than a month remaining      included all of my tenants and
before the trip so that if he         regular contractors and utilities
couldn’t or wouldn’t do it, I         – know when I would be away. I
would have time to find somebody      wanted their routines to stay the
else. Fortunately, he agreed.        same as much as possible, so I
We also discussed compensation at     told them about Will, and that he

would have my cell phone and          • Keys and information on
email address. I asked the            any post office boxes I use.
tenants as a favor to not bother      • Enough blank, signed
Will with small complaints, but       checks so that he could pay any
to leave those for me to resolve      bills which must be paid on the
when I returned. And I took care     spot; for example, for emergency
of any current complaints before      repairs.
I left. I similarly cleared up       • A list of all of my
any outstanding issues or unpaid      tenants including their
bills with my contractors and         addresses, phone numbers, and
utilities and made sure they had      email addresses.
nothing scheduled for when I was      • A list of all my
away. I made sure the utilities,     preferred contractors and their
in particular, knew that any          contact information.
bills that came in while I was        • My cell phone, with
gone would not be paid until I        charger.
returned.                            • My email account address
                                      and password.
Put together your “travel kit”        • My personal rules for
                                      contact by tenants; how often I
My last step before the trip,         check email and when I turn my
done as close to my departure         cell phone on and off.
date as possible, was to make         • A check to pay for his
sure Will had everything he           services.
needed while I was gone. I gave
him a package including:              Finally, I took him around the
                                      properties and pointed out
• A complete set of keys              trouble spots. We also discussed
for all properties, including         some of the procedures that might
apartment keys.                       come up (for example, how to

bleed air from hot water lines).
                                      Obviously there’s not much you
One thing to add to this list         can if you are thousands of miles
would be the rules that tenants       away and a serious situation
must obey. That way, your            develops. But you might be able
trusted friend will know if           to give your friend some advice
someone’s doing something he          to help him resolve the problem,
shouldn’t. However, you don’t        or at least make him feel better.
want your friend to have to be         And if the problem involves a
the enforcer. Just have him note     specific complaint from a tenant,
the issues and let you know about     contact the tenant and let him
them for later.                       know what you will be doing.
                                      Obviously such a problem demands
During and after your trip            your immediate attention when you
                                      get back.
Going to China, I really did not
know when I’d be able to call         When you do return home, meet
back to the US or go on the           your trusted friend as soon as
Internet. Fortunately, this is a     possible to get your “travel kit”
pretty rare situation. Most           back and pay him any money he is
places where you might go on          still owed. And thank him
vacation, you’ll be able to           profusely, of course. Then
connect semi-regularly. It’s         follow up on any situations that
clearly better to call than to        arose while you were away as soon
email, since you can get answers      as possible.
right away.

About the Author:

Brendan O’Brien is the founder and president of Property Master Software, a contributing writer to REIP The Rewards® Magazine and an active landlord and real estate investor - pcpropertymaster.com