How Important is Property Management and Maintenance?

I often get asked, “Prof Bruce, Prof Bruce, can you, like, find me a property that has good cashflow, a 12% cap rate, great tenants on longterm leases, a place with really nice finishes, a terrific fitup along no maintenance or property management either, OK? Oh, yeah, almost forgot, it also has to be one where I get, like, independent income, I don’t have to do any work, and I can buy it no money down. Better yet, can you get me cashback on my purchase too?”

Ah, no can do. Everything requires work, even real estate. If you don’t maintain your properties, they’ll end up going down in value. 

Even simple things such as cutting the grass, weeding the flowerbeds, painting the exterior, removing garbage and clutter, fixing broken windows and screens, add a lot of value not least because you will stop attracting vandals, graffiti artists, rodent and insect infestations to your properties plus you’ll get better tenants paying higher rents…

I love this comment about how to quickly destroy property value; it’s taken from The World Without Us, Thomas Dunne Books, Alan Weisman, 2007:

“A farmer once told me, ‘If you
want to destroy a barn, cut an eighteen-inch-square hole in the roof. Then
stand back,’” architect Chris Riddle, Amherst, Massachusetts

@ profbruce @ quatum_entity