When is it beneficial to hire a property management company?

Question

Currently, I own 3 rental properties that are completely occupied. I own a single-family home and a duplex. I guess my question is that now I'm in school full time and managing 3 properties on my own, which I don't know about. When I'm not doing school work, I'm consuming as much information as possible on managing rental properties and understanding every aspect of real estate overall. I've been extremely exhausted and fatigued recently because I'm only one brain consuming all this information, and it's been very stressful. None of my family understands my vision, and they're not willing to help at all. I don't think managing rental property is complicated, but I don't have much experience yet, and I don't want to do something that could cause me to go to court or potentially get sued due to my lack of knowledge. Really, I want to be out looking to buy more properties; I love running the numbers and determining if a property will cash flow or not. I don't enjoy the management side, though, while I'm in school. Although I also don't just have a ton of money to fork out to pay a company to manage my properties for me, I'm trying to increase income and decrease expenses. Any advice, fellow investors? Thanks so much.

Terrell Garren · Answer

You must not get out much. I've self managed for 12 years, no regrets.  I spend maybe 3 hours a week on 23 SFHs.  It's all about tenant selection, efficient processes and ongoing maintenance.  PM cost would be $2,500 a month and they will put someone in my house that changes their Harley oil in the living room.

Ronald Allen Barney · Answer

Of the investors I work with every one of them that has tried to self-manage their properties has learned to regret it, and none of the ones that have hired PMs have regretted it.

Steve Vaughan · Answer

For me it was when I was large enough to matter to a PM and get some fees like placement and renewals waived.

I also waited until I was at the capital preservation phase.  PMs and good cash flow mix like oil and water. They have no incentive to reduce your repair costs.

Most PMs have an override that benefits them the larger the repair or maintenance bill and they don't troubleshoot or triage service calls prior to a site visit like you or I would .  Maytag man every call or submission.

1st year PM fees will be 16%.  12-14% then on.  10% is a lie and a disservice to all who read or hear it said.

Davartay Miller · Answer

@Jayden Hamilton

First, I would like to say keep grinding! Keeping getting after it. I remembered being a husband, father, investor, and getting my master’s all at once and not knowing how to balance it all. But guess what? It’s life! You will get the hang of it. Like you — others didn’t see my vision — and that’s okay. What you have to do is have the “excuse me you are in my way” mentality. What does that mean? It’s simple. If they can’t see my vision, aren’t helping you get there, not willing to help you continue your education in whatever the matter is and have excuses - they are simply in the way!

As a real estate investor, you shouldn't have to worry about a leaky faucet, residential disputes, or any other emergency that may arise at one of your rental properties.

You want an excellent property management team behind you. You want to ensure that the experience is professional and stress-free for you and your residents.

Investing with a property management team is not just about choosing a company. It's about choosing an experience. You want an excellent customer service team bagging you up, a standard keeping an open line of communication between investors, residents, and property managers. Monthly updates, in-house professionals, and exceptional customer responsiveness are all part of the process.

Best of Luck,

Nadir M. · Answer

@Jayden Hamilton

Quick question: current tenants needy?

Patrick Liska · Answer

what is your goal ? do you want to manage your properties all the time? I have had a property manager since my 1st property and never regretted it. I went into investing with the mindset that I did not want to deal with that part of it and to be as Passive as possible, also because my properties are about 3 hours away. I could hire other people and have them on "Standby" to do repairs but they cant handle evictions and chasing after tenants for money. If you run your numbers for the property, just make sure you allow for the Property Manager to make sure the property will be profitable if you decide to hire one.

Nick Barlow · Answer

@Jayden Hamilton it sounds like “now” is the time for PM In the situation you described. Your focusing on education, not catching professional tenants. You have, by your own assessment, no help from friends/family you can trust.

There was a post the other day about a tenant owing $60,000 over something like 19 months, and walked away with no consequences.

When you’re focusing on your schooling, do you have confidence that the screening you’ll do for the first time for a long time, you will catch that?

Full disclosure, I outsourced to PM when I had a duplex and added a 4 plex. I already knew 6 units was more than I would be able to focus on to the correct standard.

Theresa Harris · Answer

If the rentals are local and in good condition, you shouldn't have much to do and can handle them yourself.  Reasons why you may want a property manager: you aren't good at saying no and tenants will take advantage of it, you have a job where employees are likely to be tenants and put you in a conflict of interest or if you have a remote property.

You say you are spending your free time reading info on how to manage properties and real estate-that isn't necessary.  Yes you want to know your local rules, but that doesn't require a lot of time.  If you are looking to buy more rentals having a PM isn't going to solve that problem.  Don't confuse all of the time you are spending looking for new places, reading because you want to with actively managing your properties.

Managing your properties is time spent doing repairs, dealing with tenants, collecting rent, getting it rented.

Drew Sygit · Answer

@Jayden Hamilton life is all about tradeoffs and investing is no different.

Focus on what makes you the most money and delegate everything else.

Name every successful investor you can think of and guarantee they've either hit a wall or they've learned to delegate to keep growing.

There are three main components of hands on real estate investing: acquisitions, rehabbing and managing.

What order of ROI do you think those go in?

The lowest should be the first one you delegate.

And yes you'll have to pay to delegate.

When is it beneficial to hire a property management company?

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