ou’ll buy a property, find a tenant, then charge that tenant rental income that allows you to cover all your expenses and reap a small profit every month.
As a landlord, you’ll be responsible for a host of tasks, including maintaining the property, communicating with the tenant, and planning for taxes at the end of the year.
But do all these responsibilities constitute a full-time job? Could you conceivably manage a rental property while maintaining a different full-time job?
The Short Answer
Managing rental property can be as simple or as complicated as you make it, so the shortest answer is this: managing a rental property can be a full-time job if you want it to be. Some landlords focus on managing only a single rental property, allowing them to spend only a few hours per week at most on their investment. Some landlords have robust portfolios of different properties, forcing them to work full-time hours and hire additional employees to shoulder other burdens. Some landlords start out as part-time, then gradually transition to full-time as they add more properties to their portfolio.
Much depends on your priorities, the nature of your properties, and the size of your portfolio.
Key Responsibilities of a Landlord
Landlords are responsible for the following:
- Legal compliance. It’s your responsibility to know and follow the laws dictating rentals and property management in your area. Laws vary by state, and sometimes by city, so do your due diligence proactively.
- Vacancy management. When your property is vacant, you won’t make any money. That’s why one of your biggest responsibilities is finding and screening new tenants. You’ll be in charge of marketing and advertising your property, as well as validating prospective candidates.
- Property repairs and maintenance. You’re in charge of making the property habitable for your tenants, which means practicing repairs and maintenance when necessary. Sometimes, this means addressing an emergency repair – like a leaking roof or an electrical issue.
- Rent collection. Ideally, your tenants will always pay their rent on time and in full. But most property managers occasionally face issues with this, forcing them to chase down rent when it’s due.
- Conflict resolution. If you want to keep your tenants happy and keep making money, you’re also going to be responsible for practicing conflict resolution. How do you handle tenant grievances and complaints?
- Eviction. Most landlords avoid evictions whenever possible, as evictions can be both time-consuming and expensive. However, if you have a problematic tenant who refuses to abide by the rules or pay rent on time, eviction may be the only course of action.
The Problem With Predicting
As you can see, some of these responsibilities may never even arise at your rental property; if you get lucky, you may never have to evict a tenant. Many of these responsibilities are sporadic and temporary, only requiring your time and attention occasionally.
Still, when all these responsibilities hit at the same time, they can become overwhelming. Some weeks, you might not have to do anything for a specific rental property. Some weeks, you may feel like you’re constantly running around. And if you have a portfolio of multiple rental properties, this equation gets even more complicated.
The sad reality is that it’s very difficult to predict exactly how much time your rental properties will demand from you.
The Influence of Scale
One thing is certain about the scale of your rental property portfolio; the more properties you add to that portfolio, the more time you’re going to need to spend on it. That’s why many landlords who only manage one or two properties can afford to treat their rentals as a part-time job or side gig – but landlords with many properties are almost exclusively full-time.
Property Management Solutions
It’s also worth noting that many property management solutions exist for rental property owners who want to reduce their hours or make sure they have enough time for all their responsibilities.
For example, you can hire a property management company to take over all your rental property management responsibilities entirely. You could also hire specific managerial employees to handle things on your behalf, or work with a network of contractors to help you with specific needs like maintenance.
So is managing rental property a full-time job? It can be if you want it to be. But managing a rental property can also be a relatively hands-off experience, especially if you’re willing to work with property managers. It all depends on your financial goals and personal needs.