We help an an out-of-state owner here by having found her a good yard guy. He is at the property every week or two. He will let us know if anything is out of place.
I would be very nervous, you out-of-state buyers, if you don’t have anyone monitoring the property.
Furnishedowner
FO, I’m nervous about it and my vacant property is only 10 minutes away! Although I’m more nervous about run of the mill vandals or thieves getting in there and messing the place up.
That’s one reason I decided not to buy a property out of the area on my first one. Even with a PM there are so many things that can go wrong. I know there are some people who invest this way right off the bat but it isn’t something I would want to do unless I was already experienced.
One of the first actions I do is to put up mini-blinds/window coverings throughout the house. I’ll leave some wood/drywall on site, but I pack up my tools and take them home at night. Try to meet some of the neighbors too. A lot of times the neighbors are genuinely interested in what you’re doing to a house that’s sat vacant for a year. If you were really worried about the place, you could put a couple lamps in there on timers. If someone wants in there, NOTHING you do will keep them out. Your goal is to just not make it enticing for them. If anyone watches me leave, they’ll see all my power tools leaving with me.
You guys need to check out ePropertyWatch from First American CoreLogic (the developers of RealQuest). The free ePropertyWatch service monitors your property for any public record filings and sends you an email alert. It also has alerts for changes in estimated value, nearby sales and foreclosure activity.
Just saw post. I would certainly put the property into a land trust. Use your corponame as trustee and I would also recommend acorp or LLC as the beneficiary. If the thief wants a conventional sale, the title company will want to see the trust agreement and any articles of incorporation to prove that you’re the one running it. Most thieves will run iin confusion. Let me know if I can be of more help.