April was about as good as it gets. This was another great month for my rental property portfolio. Being a landlord is awesome. Like last month, it was a fairly quiet. My rental properties provided great income and little time. In fact, administrative tasks took more time than repairs and maintenance, but I’ll dive into that later in the post.
My rental property had one maintenance item. Otherwise, it was a quite month.
Most importantly, I am THRILLED to announce rental property #4 is ready for renters. The ‘zoning issues’ are finally cleared up. I’ll start advertising the property in May. Can’t wait to share all the details with you in a upcoming series. Rental property #4 has been a huge time suck, but it will also be one of my best cash flowing properties. Lots of great info to share with you.
The Landlord Report- April of 2018
Hello there – welcome to another “Landlord Report”. This monthly report will share my experiences as a landlord. The report will show EVERYTHING related to my rental properties and life as a landlord….
I will discuss the rents that I collected, mortgage payments, and other ‘landlord items’. Additional topics may include repairs, finding new tenants and any other items that might randomly pop up. The report will also share how much money I made and the amount of time (hours) I spent being a landlord. I want to show the world being a landlord is a wonderful thing.
Throughout this process I aim to be as transparent as possible. Being a landlord and owning rental property is a wonderful way to earn (mostly) passive income and allow you to buy back your time faster.
I hope you follow along with this monthly series. The Landlord Report can serve as a guide to owning rental property. Please feel free to contact me with any questions – happy to provide insight.
The table below outlines all my income and expenses for the past month:
As you can see, April was a great month for my rental property portfolio. In fact, it was one of the better months I’ve had as a landlord.
Rental property #1 and rental property #2 had perfect months. A perfect month means that I collected 100% of the rent and had no expenses other than the mortgage. Rental Property #3 required a visit from my pest guy but he performed the services pro bono – more on that later. The ‘expenses’ on rental property #3 are the utility bills.
Being a landlord is not all sunshine and cash flow. But! I still love being a landlord.
Below you will find a detailed account about what happened at each property this month.
Rental Property #1
Rental Property #1 Summary
The rent increase took effect this month. The property is now rented at $2,325 which is a $25/month increase. Gotta love making more money with no additional work.
Otherwise, there was nothing exciting or noteworthy about rental property #1. I love when being a landlord is boring. That usually means everything is going well.
Rental Property #1 Summary
In summary, rental property #1 – earned $406.76* and I spent about 10 minutes managing the property.
My mortgage debt dropped by $724.71 from my monthly mortgage payments. When considering principal reduction, I made $1,131.47.
*Remember – this is an accidental rental that I plan to live in during FIRE.
Rental Property #2
The rent increase took effect this month for rental property #2 as well. The property is now rented at $4,075 which is a $75/month increase. Gotta love making more money with no additional work.
The tenants paid their rent of $4,075 in full and on time. Rent collection required me walking downstairs to get my morning cup of coffee. Does life get any easier than that?
The two new roommates moved in; they’ve been great to live with so far. Sadly, one has already moved out. The guy receive a job offer in another city. More on this next month.
I spent a few more hours than normal this month with tenants moving in. I also started looking for a replacement for the guy who moved out. Rental property #2 required around 3 hours this month.
Thankfully, there were no maintenance items – other than some touch up painting and cleaning to the two bedrooms with new tenants.
Rental Property #2 Summary
In summary, rental property #2 – earned $1,666.43**. I spent about 3 hours managing rental property #2 this month.
My mortgage debt decreased $733.28. When factoring paying down my debt, rental property #2 made me $2,399.71.
Not bad for 3 hours of work. I earned $800 an hour for my time at rental property #2. Most people don’t make that on a single pay check. Oh, and I got a free place to live.
**I also live in the house and get paid to live here. Pretty sweet right? House Hacking is awesome.
Rental Property #3
Rental property #3 required little effort this month. There was a minor pest problem mostly due to the tenant’s cleanliness (or lack their of). The tenant gave me a call because she was having a problem with ants.
This problem was quickly solved by calling my pest guy. He went over to the property to checked things out. It must’ve been my luck day too. My pest guy treated the unit for free. I guess being a loyal customer comes with its benefits.
As your portfolio or property management business grows – you will gain pricing power. I’ve been using my pest guy for years. He helped service the properties we managed for other people in addition to my own properties. I’ve also referred him to other landlords and homeowners. Contractors/repair guys appreciate the referrals and steady business.
Below is a breakout of the utility expenses. I’ve almost finalized the second gas meter which will reduce my overhead. As the tenants turn over, I will no longer pay for gas or electric. However, the DC landlords are responsible for the water bill in multi-unit buildings.
Gas Bill: $238.09
Water Bill: $165.69
Electric for unit 2: $59.10
In summary, rental property #3 – earned $1,353.04 and I spent about 20 minutes of my time managing this property.
Rental Property #3’s mortgage debt also decreased $413.21. When factoring in paying down my debt I made $1,766.25.
Portfolio Summary
In summary, I spent about 3 hours and 30 minutes of my time maintaining my rental property portfolio. This does not count the countless hours getting rental property #4 off the ground.
In April, my rental properties generated $3,426.23 in cash flow. This was an easy month that required little time commitment.
My mortgage debt decreased $1,871.20 last month which further increased my net worth.
Factoring in repayment of debt and cash flow, my rental properties earned $5,297.43. This is $1,513.55/hour which is awesome. My day job doesn’t pay that well. Being a landlord and owning a rental property portfolio is great. What is your excuse for not owning a rental property?
Congrats on your new unit, keep killing it!
Thanks! Just gotta get them leased. Can’t wait to post the rental property #4 series this month.
Think I will also celebrate by hitting the WO&D this week.
Congratulations on #4 and looks like April was an awesome month! We are back in the search after not getting the triplex (I think we lost out to a cash offer… post to come!) but this is certainly inspiring! 🙂
Can’t wait to see the post! Look forward to you buying your first rental as well
April sounds like a great month! With the weather changing are you planning on doing any preventative maintenance for the hots days to come?
Nothing planned at this time. Thankfully the properties are in pretty good shape. May do some landscaping and exterior painting though.
This is awesome! Broken down even further, you are making $25 a minute. Baller lifestyle!
I was just talking about real estate with a colleague today and how it is not completely passive. I’m not ready to buy yet, but I’m seriously contemplating it. Your April certainly makes it attractive.
I will find value out of reading this series.
You can always find partners who can take on some of the “active” components.
That is a valuable suggestion, FiClub.
Woohoo, congrats on property #4 FINALLY being ready to rent!
Love this report!
I can’t believe how high these rents are. Are these single family homes? In my area, market rent for a single family is about $700-$800.
Never thought of the per hour calculation but I think I’ll add it to my spreadsheet. Sometimes when you have a perfect month you start to wonder when something will go wrong. This past year, I spent a total of maybe half an hour on one of my properties. (Installing an air filter and making the payment each month).
Rental property is a great investment if you’re willing to do the work and take the risk if you’re using leverage.
Thanks for reading. DC is an expensive area and rents are high.
Rental property #1 = single family
Rental property #2 = single family
Rental Property #3 = duplex