Ditching your PMs

[Ian Dikhtiar]

Are you one of those landlords who manage their own property without paying PMs? I want to talk to you. I want to learn about your experience and struggles of being a self-managing landlord. Basically looking for any advice on how to ditch a property management company.

I am a landlord, Notion geek and AI enthusiast myself. If you are interested in hopping on call to talk Real estate, technology, and just landlord life - let me know!✌️ Ian

[Melissa Hartvigsen]

Hello @Ian Dikhtiar,

I self-manage my properties. Before becoming a realtor, I was a property manager for a number of years. 

The best advice I can give you is to get systems in place for how/where to advertise, properly screen tenants, where to get rental agreements that are legal in your state, easy ways to track expenses, how to find good contractors and vendors, etc.

You should join the local landlord association, as this will help you with the majority of systems. It should cost less than $200 a year. They will have a ton of resources to help you along the way. My association has a "monthly mentor roundtable" where the more experienced landlords give advice to newer members. We also have a hotline where people can call for advice, a directory of trusted vendors, legally compliant rental contacts for purchase, etc. It is a great value and resource.

For advertising, rent collection, and expense tracking, try to do that in one place. There are several free platforms for this, I personally use apartments.com. I advertise here and accept applications through their platform. When I approve a tenant, it is easy to convert them to a resident and set up online payments. One of my favorite features is the phone app for expense tracking; quick input and I can take photos of my receipts. At the end of the year, it is easy to download the income/expense reports for each of my properties (just one click to excel) for tax purposes.

Good luck!
Melissa