To self manage or hire a PM...that is the question

[Kayla Elliott]

I manage my parents rental portfolio which consists of 1 mobile home park (20 units), and about 15 other houses. A lot of them are in poor shape and I am slowly trying to fix them up one by one. However, I don't have time to do the PM side anymore. I reached out to a friend who has a PM company, but they require all contractors be insured. The problem, is that we have a full time maintenance guy that has worked for us for 25+ years and I can't let him go.  I tried to get a policy where we insured him, but since we OWN the properties and the MAINTENANCE company. So because of the conflict, I can't insure the maintenance company. Which causes me to not be able to hire a PM, because they all want him insured. Even though he doesn't do anything that requires a license. 

So would it be smarted to hire more of an "assistant" to manage everything and be a little more in control of the process and procedures? I just don't have time for maintenance calls, filling vacancies, wiring leases, etc. 

What would you do? 

[Matt McCurdy]

@Kayla Elliott it is a great question and it's something that each investor has to decide on their own and their circumstance.  What I see most often is property managers get paid a % of the rental revenue.  I believe this model is archaic and motivates/unmotivates the wrong behaviors.  I'm not saying all PM's do this, but some do...What motivates you as a PM to go the extra mile for a property they are managing when they get a percent every month?  If they can do 1 hour or work 40 hours for the same pay why put in the 40 hours?

I've found the best way to ensure the work is truly getting done is to have a property manager in house that I can manage on a week-to-week basis.  By the sounds of your portfolio, you could really use a part-time manager.  This could be a virtual assistant or someone locally.  That's the best part, YOU get to decide.  If you hire a PM, THEY get to decide.

Good Luck!