Hiring a property manager without a company?

[Bill Goodland]

I am curious to hear everyone's opinions on outsourcing property management for a portfolio of rentals to a specific person that you the investor hires. I know a lot of people prefer to manage their own properties because nobody takes care of your properties the way that you do, however I know one person can only do so much as one scales up. While I'm sure there are plenty of quality PM companies out there, most of the experiences I have heard have been rather negative such as fees incentivizing turnover and repairs being "band aid fixes" to a bigger problem. What I'm wondering if in the situation of let's say I build up a portfolio of say 20 rentals located within a half hour of one another, quality tenants in place with online rent autopay or and I no longer want to manage it myself. Is there anything stopping me from hiring a personal part time manager to basically just take the calls, contact my subs, and turn the unit over for say a flat fee each month with bonuses for every lease renewal(to incentivize keeping tenants happy)? I'd be curious if anybody has had success with, see it as an unrealistic position to manage only your rentals or if it's really only worth the effort if you want to start your own PM company?

[David D Painter]

My property management was one woman. She was a fireball and handled my properties plus hers and a 24 unit complex as her part time job. She was great and even the tenants loved her. She kept my checkbook and signed checks until she retired. She knew what contractors were reliable and who was the most reasonable. Property management doesn't have to be a company. Go for it!