Ideas on using property management. Newbie on first property

[Michael Randell]

Hello guys, 

Just a quick question, looking to see what more experienced opinions are on this...I'm doing all my research at the moment before stepping into real estate investing with a full time job (40-45 hours a week). 

I plan to owner occupy and I was originally looking at duplexes and figured that I will definitely be able to handle one tenant and understand that this will be a great learning experience going this route but I lean towards valuing my time (as we all do..) so lately I have been thinking about another option. That being, buying a 4-plex which will have the potential to bring in more cash flow to offset the costs of hiring a property management company. 

The way that I'm looking at this right now is that I'm looking at multifamily investing as my long term investing strategy. So assuming I will be buying more properties in the future, I will eventually be hiring a property management company anyways. Why not go with property management right from the get go?

Any advice would be appreciated very much, thank you!

[Thomas S.]

"Why not go with property management right from the get go?"

The advantage of starting out self managing is you will learn the complex and often difficult task of actually managing a PM when the time comes.

The primary reason investors have difficulty with PM companies is because they have no idea of how to manage a property themselves. Inexperienced investors believe hiring a PM relieves them of all responsibilities. Nothing could be farther from the truth when turning your entire investment over to a stranger.