We did for 10 years. We had 5 duplexes and had 9 apartments rented. We did everything ourselves, but had a tenant who collected rent and took care of small stuff. If it wasn't something he could fix, he had phone numbers to call. That worked okay for us. We, however, did all the renting, so if someone moved out during the winter months, it sat empty till we got back. It worked well, but as we got older, we didn't want to do that much physical work and we also wanted to travel more in the summer.
We started selling off 3 years ago. Sold 2 one year and 2 the next, all to the same family, all for cash. Easy peasy. We have one left, the one we have used for storage, etc. We are going to work hard at getting it cleaned out this next summer and ready to sell. Same buyer wants it as well as the tenant in the back apartment, so still have a cash buyer in the wings.
We were very reasonable on our rents so didn't have problem tenants. Didn't want to use a property management outfit. Saw apartments where they were involved and they didn't take the care we did with ours. We wanted to maintain the care and quality of our units. They still look nice.
It can be done, but I have to say. . . it's a liberating feeling to be done with it. This summer we visited with the family who bought all of ours and they were complaining about all the work they had waiting for them. . . Better them than us! We put the money in investments and can draw as much as we need out every month.
Dale
