But let me get to my point…I’ve had some real challenges come up since I’ve been out of town.  I’m right in the middle of one of the most challenging evictions I’ve ever faced.  The legal part is not the challenge.  That part was easy.  The challenge was the very sad situation with the tenant.  Now there is sad, and then there is SAD…I"ve probably evicted 100 tenants over the years, but this one stands out.  I won’t go into the details, but let me just say that one of the former tenants is being detained for his involvement in a related shooting. 

In addition, I’ve had multiple service calls for several of our rental properties.  I’ve had another eviction I’ve dealt with in which we’ve had to do a lock out with the Sheriff. 

All of these issues are being handled by a competent team I’ve set up. 

In years past, before we set up an office, we had the calls forwarded to us.  We’d handle calls on the road.  Folks, this is not the way to relax.  When service calls come up, there needs to be coordination that’s handled by someone on the ground.  It’s really tough to do that when you’re on the road trying to enjoy your vacation. 

The main cog in our office is the office coordinator.  This is a position that most people would call the office manager. 

The consequences of not having a competent team on the ground is you can’t leave for short periods of time.  This is not a step towards freedom. 

If you aren’t big enough yet to hire someone for your office full-time,  hire someone to handle the coordination on your behalf while you are gone.  One possibility is to get a property manager to handle this responsibility while you are gone.  You’ll want to get this arrangement set up well in advance of your leave. 

You also need to think about where your business is going in the long run.  You need to set up a situation where you can step out of the picture.  Who knows, you might decide to relocate to another community.  Your life may change unexpectedly.  Setting up your business to run without you is the right decision for most people.  It’s definitely where I look to be. 

Right now, I’m still involved in many key aspects of my business.  But I’m the first to acknowledge that I can be replaced. I don’t want to be married to these rental properties for the rest of my life.