Self Managing vs Property Manager

[Michael Fortier]

Hi All,

I am currently working on finding my first small multi-family property, the plan being to combine the house hack and BRRRR strategies. Something I've been going back and forth on is whether to get a property manager to take care of the other rental unit(s), or manage the property myself. My initial gut feeling says self manage as a way to get hands on experience, but I will still have a full time job until I can expand my RE portfolio further.

Looking for any advice, lessons learned, and opinions on the topic from people on both sides of the coin.  

[Nicole Heasley Beitenman]

I would absolutely self-manage the first year. You can make it as easy or difficult of a job as you want. If you screen tenants well and don't skimp on repairs to save a few pennies, it shouldn't take up more than a few hours a month. Managing a property will help you understand what to look for in a PM when the time comes.