Do you self manage your properties? I have a question...

[Tom V.]

I'm going to hold rental properties in my own name and manage myself, however I'm unsure about whether to manage the properties under my own name as well.

I"m not interested in the LLC vs sole proprietor debate please. That topic gets beat to death every day here on the forums, and I've concluded that sole prop + insurance is the right structure for my situation.

For self management, I'm thinking of just starting a simple sole proprietor DBA bank account, i.e. "A1 Properties". That will be the name the tenants make payments to, and the name on the lease and all other tenant relations documents. Of course I'll have a phone, email, PO box that is different from my personal as well.

My reasoning for this setup:
1. Appear more professional to tenants.
2. A layer of anonymity between my family and the tenants.

This is not about hiding my identity, I realize that anyone can look at the public property records. It is more about professionalism than anything else.

On the other hand, dealing with the tenants more personally could have positives too. The properties I'm targeting are in the upper end of the rental market here, and with my screening criteria I'll be placing some pretty good quality tenants. They would look at their landlord as a person rather than a company, which could also be beneficial in the landlord/tenant relationship.

I'm on the fence about this, what would you recommend?

How do YOU do it, and why?

Thanks!