Advice leasing out home out-of-state

[Robert Liao]

Hi everyone. I’m new to BP and investing. Looking for advice on how to lease out a home remotely.

I'm located in Southern California and I'm currently in contract on my second SFH in the North Atlanta area. The first one was tenant occupied at the time so I just drafted up a new lease with the existing tenant. No issues there. (By the way, it's not professionally managed. My girlfriend has family in the area and her brother helped with general maintenance/repairs.)

For the home under contract, I’m not sure if I should contact a property manager to screen tenants and show the property. Or is it possible to avoid a property manager for these tasks? I haven’t spoken to any property managers yet but heard they would charge approx one months rent?

So my question is if it’s worth it to have a pro take care of leasing it up. I’m just going with the flow at the moment, but would love to know the most effective and least expensive way to get this done.

Thanks everybody!