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I have a beach-front second home, which I hope someday will be my retirement home. I found this to be true of many persons that I have talked to who have property in my area. I need to rent it for the most part of the year to carry the mortgage. I started renting it myself. I ran an ad in my local paper and had great response. Then the fun began. I had to hire a cleaning company. Well, for the most part you get what you inspect not what you expect. After changing twice I finally found one. They didn't do as good a job as I would have liked but they showed up and left it presentable.

That was just the beginning of unexpected troubles. I got calls in the middle of the night,Sundays and holidays. One lady called me frantic she had locked her self out and left her purse and baby upstairs asleep.I called a locksmith and he came out at double time on Sunday and got the problem solved. Another called and said the air conditioner wasn't working. I called a company had them go out and they just needed to changed the thermostat to a lower degree. There was nothing wrong. Another called and said the iron didn't work right and he would buy one and send me the bill. I was grateful he would until I got the bill for almost two hundred dollars. Another called and said a glass shelf in the kitchen had fallen.

Actually, it had not he had taken it down and could not get it back up. Snowbird husbands like to piddle and fix things! I got notes from most saying how much they liked the location. They preferred my town home to a condo any day. But I needed to change the decorations to different colors. ( I have it furnished Beachy ) Others made a habit of trying to get me to rent to them at very low prices. They had rented from me before. Their finances were not good this year. Would I rent to their daughter whose husband had left her so her poor children could have a much deserved vacation? The list of reasons I heard were unbelievable. I lived five hundred miles away and every problem became a long distance nightmare.

Do I still rent? Yes. But I use a local property manager. The renters do not know my name. The property manager handles all problems and only calls me when it is absolutely necessary. I met some wonderful people renting myself. Some have become friends. I do have the rental company give them a discount. Yes it cuts into my profit but is the rental company worth it? Yes, Yes, Yes. Every Penny

Learn more about this author, Lealyear Fisher Rae.
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