Managing Your Apartments Long Distance

By R. Brian Matza, ABR, CRB, CRS, e-PRO, Real Estate Business Magazine, June/July 2007

Many REALTORS® have gone the route of buying or trading into apartment buildings that are well beyond their physical sight and control in an effort to maximize profits. There are inherent risks to owning any piece of income-producing property, but those risks certainly are higher when the investment is a distant apartment building. The potential returns look good on paper, and the idea of outsourcing the management of the building certainly is enticing, to say the least. After all, who would not like having a monthly cash flow rolling in without having to do much, if any, work?

In reality, it's never made sense for a business owner to simply turn his or her business over to someone else to run. Many people look at apartment ownership as strictly an investment that can be managed by others. This attitude can, and in many cases does, lead to disappointment. No one will take care of something you own as well as you will.