self manage vs property management company

[Mark Vandzura]

Hey BP members, 

Does anyone have any advice on hiring a property manager? I currently manage 16 doors myself, all within a 10 minute drive from each other. (I do everything). I looked into a few property management companies but they want 10% of the gross rent plus other fees to renew leases and file evictions, etc. On top of that, the realtor wants the first months rent when they find me a new tenant. Nothing against property managers for sure, if thats what people are paying, then God bless you :)

But I was thinking of hiring a part time employee (property manager). I could pay them a salary or hourly wage and I am thinking that would be less expensive and give me more control? 

If anyone has ever done this, I'd love to hear your thoughts and how you went about it.

Here's what I'm thinking: If I hire an employee I can determine the job description. I'd like them to handle everything such as handling all phone calls, maintenance requests, posting and showing vacant properties, signing leases, filing evictions, etc,etc,etc...They could even work flexable hours.

I'd love to get some feedback from the BP community.

Wishing everyone loads of success,

Mark

[Amy H.]

@Mark Vandzura I used to work for a property management company and I can say I saw with multiple properties and vendors that the property owner's best interest wasn't always the forethought of the property managers. There were multiple occasions where a property manager would go with a vendor that was friend/someone who took the PM out to lunch occasionally/etc, even though the prices were higher or the work was lower quality than the competitors. It's not the PM's money and they don't make more money by saving you money, so I definitely suggest self manage as long as you can! Unless you somehow can find a trusted PM (but good luck with that!).