How many properties/units can you self manage before it becomes impossible?

[Patrick Crehan]

short background. I am about to start looking to buy a second rental property here hopefully in the next coming months. But also, I will be moving out of my house around the same time and turning that into a rental. In total, once I move out I will own 3 single-family rentals. I believe I can manage these myself but just curious, what was the breaking limit on properties for all those self-managers out there? 

[Trevor Schmitt]

Hi Patrick,

I have 4 properties, and I am in the process of delegating out as much as possible. I think there is value in self-managing in the beginning, however... I am a firm believer that the sooner you can find the "who" to do most of the stuff, the quicker you will grow. With that being said, I would argue that you should find a PM even if you hypothetically can still self-manage them. 

The money you "save" by doing everything yourself can be washed away with one mistake. My theory now (after learning the hard way and taking advice from those more experienced than I am), is that you should focus that time on higher value items... whether that be producing income, or recharging. 

The last two years I have been so incredibly busy doing everything under the sun (managing, repairs, rehabs, etc) and I have not grown the way I would have liked to. That time spent left me no time to recharge my batteries, and more importantly spend time as the "visionary" to review and optimize my portfolio. It can be so easy to focus on the things that need to be done immediately and push aside the things that at the surface level can wait.

I wish I would have started delegating a long time ago.