Quality or Pricing?

[Nina Penuela]

When evaluating property management services, pricing is often a primary consideration. However, I'm curious about your approach: What factors would you weigh when deciding between managing your own property versus hiring a professional management service?

[Bhargav Hirapara]

I think these important to consider: 

1. Time availability: Property management is time-consuming. Assess if you have enough time for tasks like tenant screening and maintenance.
2. Expertise: Professional managers know landlord-tenant laws and property maintenance best practices.
3. Cost vs. benefit: Weigh management fees against potential savings and efficiencies professionals might offer.
4. Property location: Distance from your home to the property matters.
5. Number of units: More properties increase management complexity.
6. Stress tolerance: Consider your comfort level with tenant interactions and problem-solving.
7. Long-term goals: Professional management can free you to focus on expanding your real estate portfolio.

[Adam Bartomeo]

Price, as defined by monthly commission, is much lower on the totem pole. First is experience handling property management, are they themselves investors, processes for handling maintenance, evictions, collects, and then maybe the fees and pricing (commission, lease fee, release fee, inspection fees, and all of the other garbage fees most PM's make up).

[Drew Sygit]

@Nina Penuela investors are notoriously cheap and naive!

Many think all PMCs do the same things, the same way, so chase the lowest price to the detriment of all else.

Search here on BP for the horror story posts of dealing with bad PMCs and how they can run even the best properties into the ground.

Then, ask yourself your question again:)

[Michael McVety]

Hi Nina.

If I were not experienced in land lording and property manager, I would look personally to the extent you want to learn or experience property management versus hiring someone else that you trust to do the job.

Yes, the cost for a property manager is important but not essential- the cost between property managers are not double or triple the cost of others (say like attorneys in some areas of law or cars).  It is more about whether you gain value for having the property management and their cost.

A number of years ago, a property we managed was sold to a person who was a stock broker and he was going to manage it himself.  I gave him my thoughts about the property and he looked at me and said, "You are probably laughing at me right now knowing what I am about to go through by self-managing".  He was a smart guy who wanted to self manage.  I was not sure if he left trading and wanted to be a landlord full-time.   I answered him that he will learn to be a real estate property manager if that is what he wants to do.  

Sometimes people want to learn and go through the process of self-managing and making mistakes, other times people realize that that thought may not be wise and choose to hand it to someone they trust.  I think that the cost of the management is not as important as the trust and the piece of mind someone might get from hiring a great property manager.

[Craig Gerulski]

When deciding between managing your own property or hiring a professional service, consider these key factors: your available time and expertise, knowledge of local regulations, property scale and location, access to reliable maintenance resources, tenant management capabilities, financial implications, emergency responsiveness, and personal preference for hands-on versus delegated management. These factors will help you determine which option best fits your needs and circumstances.