Looking For Advice With First Rental

[Erik B.]

Hi All,

So my wife and I are actively making offers on 3 and 4 unit properties in the South Bay (we'd be living in one of the units) and we're thinking we're going to try and rent out our townhouse in San Pedro that we're currently living in.  I posted our townhouse on Zillow to feel out what would be possible in terms of rent and we seem to be getting a lot of interest and applications.  I guess my question is, as a newbie, would you hire a property manager to handle your first few rentals? We'd be going from zero to five pretty quickly.  I'm trying not to let the Los Angeles landlord horror stories get to me and crossing my fingers we don't get taken for a ride on our first 4 doors.  Any thoughts, tips, or advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks! 

[Joe Norman]

@Tucker Cummings nailed it - a rock star property manager should pay for themselves by getting your unit rented quickly and for top dollar. Self managing is definitely doable, especially if you're living in the building, but why bother when you can be more focused on money making activities like sourcing your next deal?