Location, location, location! You’ve heard this touted countless times about real estate. But have you considered how location impacts your ability to manage your rental property? It isn’t just the property’s physical location, but how close it is to you and your other rentals.
The further apart your rental properties are, the harder it is for you to manage them and the more time you’ll spend traveling between them. The further away you are from your properties, the more hands-off management you’ll have to do.
This article will give you four insights into how important proximity is to your rental property.
1. Farming
Farming is when a real estate agent specializes in one type of real estate or geographic area. This allows them to become an authority on that specific market. You can apply the farming strategy to property management.
When you farm an area, look for rentals in a specific zip code, neighborhood, or community. If you’re successful, you’ll cultivate a cluster of rentals all in the same farming area. This makes it easier for you to manage all of the properties.
2. Maintenance Duties
Your close proximity to your rental property can increase your response rate. It can also improve your ability to find a reputable vendor to resolve the issue. When you own rental property, things will go wrong, and emergencies will arise.
It’s a lot easier to assess a situation and determine the appropriate solution when you can see the issue for yourself. Otherwise, you’re left relying on your tenant’s description of the problem. This can be unreliable and result in further damage to your property or an overreaction and wasted money spent on an unnecessary vendor visit.
3. Drive-By’s
Many owners make a point of driving by their property. This gives them a real-time view of their property’s condition and status. While you could look at Google Maps for a street view, this imagery isn’t real-time and may not accurately portray your property.
Owning a property close to you will make it easier to perform regular drive-by’s. This quick and simple act doesn’t disturb your tenant’s quiet enjoyment and gives you peace of mind.
4. Understand Your Area
Each community, neighborhood, city, and county has its own personality. While you can get a general idea from research and data, there’s no substitute for living there. When you live in close proximity to your rental property, you understand the finer points and culture shifts that can happen.
The close proximity allows you to understand the past, current, and future development of an area. You become a subject matter expert in your investment area, which will enable you to better evaluate property and make smart decisions.
It also allows you to keep your thumb on the pulse of the area. This enables you to react with more agility and ensure your rental properties succeed in the long term.
Consider Property in Your Close Proximity
Hopefully, these insights help you to analyze potential deals and focus your property investment efforts. If you’re new to rental real estate investing, begin with farming one 10 mile radius. This gives you a focused geographical area to develop your first investments.
You may discover that farming one area won’t give you the financial freedom you’re looking for. Once you have a system in place, begin to farm multiple areas. This allows you to develop clusters of properties that aren’t more than 30 minutes from each other.
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PMI JCM Realty Group
rcharles@pmijcmrealty.com
p: (813)333-9617
