PM or Self Manage First Rental Property

[Karthik Bujuru]

Hello BP,

I am going to close on my first SFR in Phoenix area in a month and I am trying to identify best route to rent and manage it. Should I hire a PM to manage since this is my first rental and I am out of state or should I self manage? If I were to hire a PM, I would probably end up making just about $50 in cash flow per my calculations. Is PM worth it for a first time investor given it eats up the cash flow considerably?

If I were to self manage, could you please guide me with the steps from the moment I close on the property to the moment tenant steps into the house?

Many thanks,

karthik

[Dick Stevens]

Buying an out of state rental as your first one was probably a mistake.  Is it really worth the aggravation and liability to make $50 per month under a best case scenario?  If you have a moderate repair for say, $300, it's going to take you 6 months to recoup the expense... and that's assuming nothing else goes wrong in the mean time.