Hire a property management company or do it myself

[Kevin Toland]

Hello all,

 I am about to complete my first rehab and have it rental ready. I've never done this before, so I'm looking for a little "been there done that" knowledge. I'm an active duty military member with a couple of young kids and I will be deploying in a few months. My wife has no interest in dealing with tenants (understandably) but I have an offer to rent coming from the guy who has done most of the work on the house. He and his wife are established contractors who've been in the town for like a decade or more and own a business there. He's a busy contractor who sub contracts for my main contractor and I know they have a lot of work (I'm mentioning this because I think it speaks to him not skipping town). My question is- Should I spend the money and hire a property management service or give a shot a doing it myself? If I do the lease and paperwork right up front then what's the worst that is likely to happen and I'm not asking that rhetorically - am I not protecting myself by using the tenant screener tools on here and having a lease drawn up by a lawyer? Property management is about 10%, but on the flip side I will be out of the country for a few months. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance for your time. 

[David Dachtera]

@Kevin Toland,

Your answered your own question. Hard to "fix toilets" when you're deployed. Hire it out.

Be aware that you may need additional education and licensing to do property management. Check with your legal professional.

On-line tools will NEVER substitute for you for anyone else. They're assistance, not replacements.