Manage Property yourself

[Thomas Lam]

Hello BP, have a question regarding rather I should take over my rental property or let PM continue handle it.

I have a property located in Germantown, Maryland and it is currently still under water......unfortunately........need about $120 out of pocket for refinance. When I decided to move to the bay area with my wife 3yrs ago, we had a property management managed the property. Since then we had one family as our tenant signed a 2yrs lease and it's going to end next month. The property manager went into the house and sent me pictures of the house.........it is in a big MESS! Long story short, we decided not the renew our lease and here come the question. 

Should I manage it myself so we can avoid to pay "one month of our mortgage" as PM commission, then they take 2 months hold as a security deposit and 8% of the rent as compensation?

What are pros and cons of manage it myself? Is it even possible for me to manage out of state? Any suggestions and advise will be appreciated. I am all ears! Thank you so much BP community.

[Thomas S.]

It is not practical to self manage unless you can get to the property personally when you need to "manage" what ever is needed. Properly managing a property can not be done by phone. The results will be similar to what you had with the PM when you were managing him.