In 2015 I purchased a brand new construction property near the beachfront. I've always lived in Virginia Beach and wanted a house near the water. The house was and is great - I don't regret the purchase at all. I purchased it at 439k and 4 more nearly identical houses popped up between 2015-2017 ranging from 440k to 500k.
However, I ended up deciding after traveling from Virginia Beach to Washington D.C. for work that it was best to just move up there and try it out. My goal has always been to purchase this first property and eventually make it a rental. I was 24 at the time so I had no intentions of living there forever. My goal was to buy it and ultimately let renters pay it off.
I hired a local property management firm that has been doing "okay". They were able to book it for a majority of the summer (weekly rental) at a great rate. I have high hopes they will rent it for the winter months as well without any issues.
The problem I have is I'm a perfectionist and I bought a brand new / perfect home that I kept in pristine condition. Now, whenever I drop by to see the house I see something else being damaged. The good news is for the most part it has been minor marks on the wall, grease splash from the stove, carpet stains, dings on the molding, moved furniture etc.
So far nothing expensive and in some cases the tenant paid to get fix (carpet that was stained is getting completely replaced for example).
I'm just having a really hard time coping with the fact that it's getting damaged and that the PM doesn't catch everything that I would and sometimes we can't charge the tenant (and therefore I end up paying for it).
I guess my question is here - as a first time landlord did you all feel the same way? how do you rationalize it/make it okay?
Edit - adding numbers
These numbers aren't perfect, but:
Mortgage: $3,200 a month ($2,700 required + $500 a month extra)
PM fee: 16%
Utilities: $400 a month summer / tenant pays in the winter
So far this summer I have booked $37,000 gross so after subtracting the mortgage, PM fee, utilities, and misc. fees I expect with the winter rental months that after the mortgage, utilities, all other misc. fees I'll end up pulling a profit of 5k a year + the extra principal going into the house and the tax write off.