Long Distant Landlording Concern

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bows00
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Posted

I live in Hawaii and have a paid off condo and I am planning to purchase another condo for rental income during my retirement in the Philippines. My plan was to hire a local manager to look after my properties, but I am having second thoughts.

About a month ago, my neighbor was arrested for drug use and for running a meth lab in his unit - it was all over the local news. He was arrested but has recently moved back in. His property went through the foreclosure process, but for reasons I am unfamiliar, they cannot kick him out and he continues to live there. I am unfamiliar with the tenant laws, but this gives me some concerns about being a long distant landlord. Yes, consider yourself lucky if you have reliable tenants that takes decent care of your place and pays rent on time, but you never know...

Does anyone on this site receive rental income from a property outside of the Philippines? Are there other concerns I should be considering? Would you recommend selling your property(s) before making the move there?

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scott h
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Does anyone on this site receive rental income from a property outside of the Philippines?

 

My Sister, Brother and I inherited the home we grew up in and own it jointly. My sister lives in the area but my brother and I are overseas. We found a well established property management company, lots of review, references and all that stuff. As Dome said the rental company takes about 15% of the rental income. Part of our contract mandated that a "slush" fund (I think its either 10 or 15,000 USD) be set aside in case major repairs are needed. If that fund is used we are required to fill it back up from our income. As it stands now my siblings and I each receive about 500USD a month from the property.

 

We could charge more (the market would bear it) but the current tenants have been there for years now and are very reliable. Having said that we are not looking so much for the rental income, but the long term "cash out" benefit.

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OnMyWay
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I have been renting my house in Florida since 2006.  I don't have a manager but I have a realtor who gets my tenants for a payment of one months rent.  I'm lucky in that he also has done a lot of other things for me and never charged me extra.  If work is needed on the house before re-renting, he arranges for the work and I just pay the vendors.

 

The farther away you are, the harder it becomes.  I've decided to sell the house and my tenant is interested, but I'm not sure he can afford it.

 

My biggest headache has been dealing with the gestapo at our homeowner's association.  If you have one of those, take that into consideration.  My tenants have been good, but the HOA finds fault with everything.

Edited by OnMyWay
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virginprune
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I did consider renting out my property but in the end I decided I didn't need the headaches that that can involve. So I sold up my assets and I do not regret that one bit. However, each individual has to make their own choices regarding this.

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Dave Hounddriver
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You are right to be concerned.  Tenants who want to 'put one over' on the landlord love to find absentee landlords.  Using a property management company is good but they can only go so far and when there is a problem they cannot handle they will inform you that you need to fly back and deal with it.  Family members and friends sound like the way to go. NOT.  They will screw you over faster than a stranger as they feel you are richer than them and can afford to go without rent for a while.

 

I speak with the voice of many negative experiences from trying these different things.  If you are lucky you will get a good tenant who will stay for years and look after the place as their own.  But that is as likely as winning the lottery.

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sonjack2847
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My first tenant ripped me off and caused damage of about 700uk. The next on has been really good for the past 2 1/2 years and all is going  ok. I had what I thought was a reputable management company who didn`t hold up their end of the bargain. If you do it get refs from the management co and the tenant which can be verified in some way.

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Thomas
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His property went through the foreclosure process, but for reasons I am unfamiliar, they cannot kick him out and he continues to live there.

Things used in crime can be foreclosed.

I don't know the US law concerning evicting in such cases, but when it's just unpaid dept, then it can take some TIME to get the eviction AFTER it's decided too.

 

But I agree with you, it can become much problems, which are much harder to solve - and NOTICE - when living in an other country.

(I'm trying to SELL my house for a decent amount instead of renting it out. A done deal to rent it out became a mess by the tennant didn't follow the deal. (But just weeks ago I got approval from Swedish officials, they agree about the amount of my claim and they will handle it for a small fee, taking some money from the ex tennants paycheck each month and send to my acount.)

Edited by Thomas
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sonjack2847
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Any law in any country is ok but you have to be in the country to get it enforced or bang your head against a brink wall

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Thomas
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Any law in any country is ok but you have to be in the country to get it enforced or bang your head against a brink wall

Not in Sweden  :)   

Here the government solve much if we just send corect letters signed. Some juridical things can even be solved through Internet.

(As for instance the assistance of geting pay, which I wrote about. I did just send a letter plus the small start fee. Then the government will do the rest.)

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