ForumsStarting a Business

A rule of thumb to factor in is $0.20 per square foot per year for a property in good condition for capital expenditures. Management fees will probably be somewhere around 5% of your rents again depending on the size and condition of the property, more important is their responsiveness, I would suggest finding a few small apartment buildings that you think are run well and finding out who manages them.

If you decide not to have a property manager, think about whether being a landlord is for you.

My parents were in the landlord business my whole childhood and it was really a headache for them and therefore me. There are at least two possible (and in my experience likely and potentially frequent) annoyances you'll have to deal with. The first is things breaking, potentially when you are about to go on vacation or sometime when you really don't have time to deal with it. Without a manager, you'll have to either fix it yourself (you said you weren't very handy) or hire someone else. That can be expensive. The other is dealing with people not being able to pay the rent. Could you really kick a mother of three who just lost her job out if she can't pay? Probably not for a while, but how long would you let it go on? Believe it or not, it's actually a fairly common experience for people to try to disappear without paying and they can be difficult to find unless you are willing to pay a lot for someone else to find them. Apartment building would be better since there are lots of people and on average this won't happen. But, then you definitely need someone to manage.

Good luck.

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