Starting Out, DIY and Working On My Business

[Tim C.]

So I'm starting out with buy and hold investing. Have one rental (former primary residence) and have a newly acquired duplex with one side that has existing tenants.

I'm at the mental crossroads about whether I should do as much of the repair work as possible or just contract the entire package out. I see pros and cons of both.

Doing it myself

Pros - Save labor cost, Develop standards for future repairs, Use saved repair costs for next investment?

Cons - Will take longer (working full time job), Higher holding costs during repair, Spread too thin? (will need to find new tenants for both units soon)

Contracting all repairs

Pros - Shorter duration, lower holding costs, more time dedicated to tenant screening and property management, begin developing relationships with contractors

Cons - Higher labor cost, harder to develop specifications/standards, less money available for future investing.

What are other folks doing out there starting out? Keeping in mind this is for buy and hold so generally time is more on my side than a flip.