I have found this to be very smooth.You would still pay their fees in this case, but its WAY cheaper. 

It's cheaper to sit vacant than it is to let a bad renter in and deal with the problems they create.

There's a very good chance he's cheaper because he's not as good.

A recent study showed it was initially cheaper to rent than to buy in 97 of the largest 100 markets.  

So I wouldn't hesitate to hire one of the cheaper bids or do it myself.

Far fewer disruption to my life, and possibly a little cheaper via economies of scale and lower costs due to not having to move furniture out of the way with every step... so many ways to skin a cat, and they a will work.. just need to decide what works best for me an my situation I guess. 

I won’t be alive when Hawaii properties are cheaper than Iowa or MN.

So, go ahead and find a cheaper vendor - guarantee you can find one.But, most won't be licensed and insured to protect you from lawsuits.Oh, and what do you think your chances are of getting a cheap vendor to come back and fix something under warranty?

I've done a few owner additions and can say it is not only cheaper but a rewarding experience. 

Want to move to a really great Debt/Equity position.Paying off debt goes against both REI strategy of leveraging debt and also inflation, paying off with cheaper dollars and having hard assets to ride the increase in value due to inflation.