After being out of the country for a year and a half, I finally returned to Myrtle Beach to walk through my beach house rentals and see what had been happening while I was away. I expected dust, wear, and a long list of fixes. Instead, I found a mix of relief, a few surprising problems, and one moment that reminded me why remote investing succeeds or fails based on the systems you rely on. If you have ever wondered what really happens inside your rentals when you are managing from a distance, this behind-the-scenes walkthrough reveals what held up, what quietly declined, and the simple operational structure that kept everything running far better than I expected.
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I am sharing my own real estate investor story right now as I am here in one of my beach house rentals in Myrtle Beach. I came here just a few days ago and I want to share what it was like when I walked in after being out of the country for the last year and a half.
So let me tell you exactly what I found when I walked these properties. The good, the surprising, and the one thing that totally caught me off guard.
First, I was honestly impressed. The houses were really clean. The kitchen was stocked, the bedrooms looked great, and there wasn’t much to replace beyond a few worn linens. I was kind of worried the houses would be really dirty, that we’d have a lot of dust or things like that because sometimes guests complain. Sometimes guests complain about cleanliness, and I was concerned if they were going to be as clean as I’d like them to be. I was surprised by how clean they were.
I did add a few kitchen items that I like to have as a guest. I updated some worn bedding where comforters had gotten a little worn out. I did some tiny touches that you only notice in person. Overall, I was relieved that things were in excellent shape.
Now, here’s my surprise. The things that my cleaner and my handyman check every single turnover or every single visit were perfect, spotless, and dialed in. But the things that weren’t on their list, like the outdoor furniture, slowly declined. Some of the furniture I had put outside when I was here a year and a half ago had metal frames, and we had sprayed them with a rust-oleum to protect them, but they were so rusty. You can check out this photo of just how bad it got. If you are listening to the podcast, go check it out on YouTube if you want to see the photos. I was surprised that no one had flagged it, that guests hadn’t mentioned it in the reviews, or that the cleaner or handyman hadn’t said anything. That’s when it hit me.
Remote investing is not about trust in the cleaner or the handyman. It is really about systems. Your team cannot manage what you do not tell them to look for. If you are hands off or in person, if you are using a team to leverage and grow, you need a clear checklist and clear expectations and workflows to keep the properties where you want them to be and to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. It is really about systems and having a system for everything you need.
What does my team look like, and what do my systems look like considering my houses were about 98 percent great? I have a great cleaner, a great handyman, and an incredible virtual assistant from Workergenics who coordinates everything. I only step in and get involved when we have big expenses or difficult things like new couches, major repairs, or upgrades.
Here is what the system looks like. First, we use hospitable.com on the backend to help manage everything from different properties. Then Hospitable connects to a system that my cleaner uses to get cleaning notifications, get them on their calendar, and handle everything on that end. Then we have a handyman who goes to the house once a month to do routine checks. He changes out the air filters. He checks that the bunk bed screws are tight. He checks that there are no leaks, that there are no burned-out bulbs, things like that.
He goes by once a month and handles everything. When we get guest complaints about small issues during their stay, unless it is urgent, we put it on a list and he addresses it during his next routine check. So we have a system with the cleaner, we have a monthly handyman check, and then who runs all of this and coordinates it? My Workergenics virtual assistant. He is the one going into Hospitable, using our virtual phone number to text the cleaner and handyman, and getting those handyman visits scheduled. He runs everything on the backend. While I have been here and we have done some updates and replacements, he has coordinated all the orders and handled the logistics so I am not spending my time on online shopping platforms.
If you are wondering what we did for the outdoor furniture, we are not getting anything else metal. Because it is November, there are a lot of sales on outdoor furniture, and with Black Friday, even more. We are replacing everything with plastic or polywood. When they do have metal screws, we are sealing them to prolong their life. We have had good luck with anything that is plastic or polywood. It has lasted a long time. So we are taking the time and money to replace all metal furniture, eliminating that issue for good. We are also adding outdoor checks to our routine handyman list. He will make sure the outdoor areas look okay, the furniture is clean, and the ash bucket from the barbecue is emptied like it is supposed to be.
I was very pleasantly surprised by the condition of everything here in Myrtle Beach, even as a long-distance investor who was gone for a year and a half.
If you are interested in learning more about this, stay tuned.