At what point does it make sense to bring Property Mgmt in house?

[John Acklen]

Hi All - 

We're looking to start growing a multi-family portfolio in the Midwest and I'm trying to line up property managers to handle the units so I can keep my focus on acquisitions and development, but I'm not finding much in the way of 3rd party managers for bigger apartment complexes.  

Our focus is to acquire buildings with between 40-100 units to start.  A lot of the bigger apartment complexes I'm seeing in the area seem to have their own property management in-house.  But since we're just starting in the acquisition space, I was thinking it's better to have a 3rd party management team to start, and then bring the services in-house down the line.  

At what point do you think it's worth having your own management wing? Am I putting the cart before the horse by even considering it at this point?