Do you own a rental property in Connecticut? Make sure you know the surprising truth of being a landlord in Connecticut because it’s not always what you think it’s going to be…
Owning a rental property seems like a great idea. You buy it cheap, you find a tenant, and then you profit from the rental income while you manage the property… how hard could it be?
Problem is, it’s often much harder than people realize and you may find (as many landlords do) the surprising truth of being a landlord in Connecticut: You give up your personal life – no more private time, no more vacations, no more weekend getaways… all because you’re so busy as a landlord.
There’s the work required
Owning a rental will keep you busy. There’s the work required to find the property. You may need to work with several real estate agents or investors to help you find the right property for you. Ideally, when starting out you will probably want the property to be close to where you live. You are not going to want to drive an hour away to meet with prospective tenants and or to perform property maintenance etc. Once you find the right property, does it need work? What will the cost be to fix it up? Will you do the work or will you find contractors to do the work for you? How will you go about finding the right tenants? Do they have references? Have they been evisted before? Do they have criminal records? Are you equipped to perform the proper back round checks? Getting the right tenant in place the first time will save you a lot of headaches and money!! Do not simply take the first person who shows interest in your new rental! How will you manage the property? Will you be managing it yourself? What time commitment does that involve? Will you mow the lawn, shovel snow, change light bulbs etc or will you hire a management company? If you hire a management company, have you included that cost into your analysis? Even if they call late at night because the toilet is overflowing, you have to take their call and deal with it. That means: no more vacations, either, because what will happen if the toilet overflows while you’re in a different country?
There’s the time
Some landlords try to own a rental property while they have another job but many discover that it’s just as time-consuming… it’s like having a second full-time job! Between chasing down your tenants to fixing things around the house, it’s one thing after another and you may simply not have time to work at your other job… and that’s with ONE rental property. Landlords who own two or more are even busier.
There’s the cost
Rental properties aren’t cheap. Sure you get some rental income from the tenant but you also have to take care of the property, fix it up, make upgrades, and repair it if the tenants trash it when they leave. In other words, the costs add up and the financial rewards of owning a rental property may not be there for you.
There’s the stress
When you add up all of those things so far, it equals STRESS! You’ve got so much to juggle with the rental property, and you worry about it constantly, and perhaps you even fear opening the mail because you may find bad news in the next envelope. That’s no way to live.
If you own a rental property and want to get rid of it, we can help. We buy properties (even frustrating rental properties that have damage or bad tenants you can’t get rid of). Can we make you an offer on yours?