Say you kept the family house in New Jersey when you moved, bought a condo in Florida, or invest in a duplex in Texas. Now you live in London, Dubai or Manila, and the property still brings calls. Here is how to keep a US number the people around your property can reach, without being on call all night.
Who needs to reach a landlord who lives abroad?
More people than you might think, and most of them prefer the phone:
- Tenants, about repairs, the lease, moving in and moving out.
- Your property manager, for repairs to approve, rent questions and empty units.
- Contractors and handymen, with quotes, access questions and finished work.
- The HOA or condo board, about fees, meetings and building work.
- Your insurer and your lender, about the policy, payments and account checks.
- The county or city office, about property tax bills, permits or inspections.
Some of them call once a year. That one call can matter, so it should reach you, or at least reach a voicemail you will hear.
Why not just give out your home-country number?
Three reasons. Many US callers will not dial an international number: they are unsure of the cost or the dialing format. Some US forms only take a 10-digit +1 number in the phone field. And your home-country number rings your personal phone at 3 a.m. when a contractor in Ohio starts work.
A separate US number fixes all three. It is an ordinary US call for them, and it is a line you can switch off at night.
What does a US number in an app give you?
The TripoSIM US Virtual Number lives in an app on your phone and works over Wi-Fi or mobile data, wherever you live. It includes:
- 300 outgoing minutes a month to US and Canadian numbers.
- Incoming calls, with a fair use of 300 minutes a month.
- Voicemail: messages up to 2 minutes, up to 30 a month, kept 30 days.
- Texts from US and Canadian senders, and verification codes (OTP SMS) from apps, including bank and payment apps.
It costs $100 a year or $12.99 a month. You need a phone, an email address, a payment card and a short ID check, about 2 minutes with a photo ID and a selfie. You do not need an SSN or a US address.
It does not send texts or call 911, and calls out go to US and Canadian numbers only. Our page for property owners abroad shows who calls and three worked call budgets.
How do you set it up for a rental?
- Pick an area code near the property. A local code looks familiar to tenants and contractors. The area code guide lists them by city.
- Record a greeting. For example: “You have reached [your name], owner of [street address]. I live abroad and return calls Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to noon Eastern. For urgent repairs, call [your manager] at [their number]. Please leave your name, number and the address.”
- Put the number on file everywhere at once. Your manager, the HOA, your insurer, your lender, the tax office and your tenants. Keep that list, so you can update it later.
- Give tenants a contact sheet. Who to call for repairs, who to call for rent and the lease, your email, and “call or email”, not “call or text”. Rules on the contact details landlords give tenants differ by state; your manager or a local lawyer can tell you what applies.
- Allow notifications and the microphone. TripoSIM says calls ring even when the app is closed once notifications and the microphone are allowed; a phone that is off, offline or has notifications blocked does not ring, and callers reach voicemail.
- Test it. Run the ten-check test on the phone and connection you will use, including a call with the screen locked.
Own more than one place? You can keep one number per property, each with its own plan and greeting, so you know which home a call is about before you answer.
What should tenants do in an emergency?
Call the US emergency number from their own phones. The TripoSIM number cannot call 911, and from abroad you are not the right first call anyway. What tenants need from you is a person on the ground: a property manager, a neighbor or a contractor you trust who can get to the property. Put that person’s number in your greeting and on the contact sheet. Keep your own mobile line where you live for emergencies there.
How do you deal with texts from tenants?
Tenants will text, because that is how many Americans reach a landlord. The texts arrive in the app, so you see them. You cannot answer from the number, though. Answer a text with a call or an email, and if your tenants text a lot, let your property manager handle that thread. Our page on receiving texts explains what arrives.
When do you call back?
Pick one window inside US office hours and keep to it. From Europe that is usually your afternoon; from the Gulf and Asia, your evening. The US time-zone clock shows the hours for your city. Play voicemail first, call back in order of urgency, and ask for quotes and invoices by email so you check them in writing. Turn on do-not-disturb at night.
How many minutes does that use? Three calls a week of 12 minutes to your manager and contractors is about 156 minutes a month. Add one 30-minute call a week during a renovation and it is about 286, still inside the 300 included minutes. Each outgoing call is rounded up to the next full minute; unanswered calls are free. Calls tenants make to you do not use those minutes. If you go over, extra minutes cost $5 per 100.
Keep the number as long as you keep the property
Once the number is on file with your lender, your HOA and the county, it needs to keep working. When a TripoSIM plan ends, the number is kept 30 days on the yearly plan or 90 days on the monthly plan, then released, and it may later be given to someone else. If you sell or change numbers, update every record first. Our guide to number recycling has a checklist.
The bottom line
A US number in an app gives tenants, managers and US offices an ordinary +1 number to call while you live abroad. Record a greeting with your call-back hours and a local contact, ask everyone to call or email, return calls in one fixed window, and keep a person on the ground for emergencies. If you also rent the place out short term, see the page for vacation hosts, and compare both plans on the plans page.