Another Retirment Question

[tmifune]

As of now. I will be eligable for retirement in 2 years and plan to buy rental property for my retirement income. I was wondering if any of the expats on this board are doing the same thing. If so, can you share your experience with property management companys? ( positive/negative ).

Thanks for your replys in advance.

[soundman]

Moved to Real Estate forum.

[tmifune]

As of now. I will be eligable for retirement in 2 years and plan to buy rental property for my retirement income. I was wondering if any of the expats on this board are doing the same thing. If so, can you share your experience with property management companys? ( positive/negative ).

Thanks for your replys in advance.

Sorry. This post shoul read.....

As of now. I will be eligable for retirement in 2 years and plan to buy rental property in the US for my retirement income. I was wondering if any of the expats on this board are doing the same thing. If so, can you share your experience dealing with property management companys overseas when your in Thailand? ( positive/negative ).

Thanks for your replys in advance.

[Gary A]

In my opinion it is definitely NOT worth the hassle. I had some rentals and can tell you nightmare stories. If you have the money to buy rentals. you have enough to retire with no headaches.

[PeaceBlondie]

I agree with GaryA. Absentee landlords have to trust a third party who is simply on commission without having liability for damages and nonpayments.

[chiangmaibruce]

I have a rental property o/s and live in Thailand. First I gave it to managing agents, then I self-managed, then I gave it back to agents. Still not entirely happy. I haven't exactly had nightmare tenants but enough issues nevertheless! I don't have any family in the relevant city so I find that I do have to rely on friends to help out with things that fall through the gaps (and I feel bad about having to impose on them).

Agents do NOT remove headaches/worries for the commission you pay them, and sometimes are just another hurdle for communication. When you have agents you find that you are chasing them for replies to your emails (and/or to do things on your behalf). When you don't have agents you are chasing the tenants ... but at least you know that the tenants are getting an unfiltered message.

In short - you might be lucky with dream tenants that always pay on time, take care of your place, etc but I sure wouldn't count on it. If you have a bad run then this will aways be on your mind here in LOS, ie. have they paid? when will they pay? how much will they pay this time? are they having big parties? I keep going with in mainly because it's a great house (and great investment) and I want the option to maybe move back in at some stage.

[JetsetBkk]

I agree with GaryA and PB. I looked into it several years ago before moving to bkk and decided against. There is so much potential for things to go wrong, having to return "home" at short notice if there's a problem. The rental income isn't so great, you have to pay tax on it and the agent's fees aren't insignificant.

You may be lucky - I'm sure others here will have good stories to tell.

The only good side is that you still own the property and it's value normally increases faster than other investments. (Not sure about nowadays though. )

[alantheembalmer]

You might want to take a look at commercial rentals, as oppossed to residential. They tend to be easier to manage, with longer lease periods, and the tenants have less need to contact you for minor repairs, which they will be liable for in many instances. Good luck. Alan

[tmifune]

Thank you all for your excellent replys! It seems to me I will have to work out some kind of business model that factors in the ocassional bad tenant. I have talked to people who own property that never had a problem and others with horror stories. As for living overseas whilst depending on a property manager to handle maintenance, damage, or an eviction, I don't think I would be able to do it. Maybe just prepare myself too jet back when an issue occurs? Guess I'll have to find out what my jet back and forth tolerance levels are. ;0)