If you\u2019re serious about building a profitable portfolio of rental properties, you will inevitably be faced with a critical decision about your future.<\/p>\n
Are you going to manage these properties yourself, or will you hire a property manager to handle them for you?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Make no mistake about it, this is a huge decision <\/strong>about how you\u2019re going to spend your most valuable asset (a.k.a. your time).<\/p>\n As with any big decision, there isn\u2019t necessarily \u201cone right answer\u201d that applies to everyone.\u00a0<\/strong>We all have different reasons for pursuing rental properties, so it\u2019s important for you to understanding <\/span>why you\u2019re in this business in the first place.<\/p>\n What is it you want out of your rental properties anyway? Whatever your verdict is, the path you choose for your property management will have a major effect on what your future looks like \u2013 so to the extent that you can, it\u2019s important to get this right from the start.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019d like you to stop and think about which of these statements best describes you:<\/p>\n \u201cI want to create a job<\/strong>\u00a0for myself as the manager of my rental properties.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI want to retire early<\/strong> with a solid portfolio of passive income from my rental properties.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Before you choose your fate, I should warn you:\u00a0you cannot do both.<\/p>\n Why? Because these paths work in direct opposition to each other —\u00a0they lead to two entirely different places.\u00a0If you want to be a property manager,\u00a0you\u2019ll never be free from a job.<\/em>\u00a0If you want to retire early and be truly free from the daily grind,\u00a0you can\u2019t be your own property manager.<\/em><\/p>\n Just speaking for myself, I started buying rental properties because I wanted the freedom that comes with passive income. I knew this would only be possible if I put someone else in the driver\u2019s seat (someone with WAY more competence and experience at the job than I have). If I didn’t have access to a good, competent property manager, it would’ve been irresponsible for me to own rental properties\u00a0because I knew I could pull it off on my own. That\u2019s the honest truth.<\/p>\n In my mind, paying 10% of my gross rental income to a skilled\u00a0property manager was a bargain\u00a0<\/strong>(and since I factored this into the cost of each rental property, their services were automatically paid for right out of the gate).<\/p>\n Unfortunately, finding a great property manager isn\u2019t always an easy, carefree process.<\/p>\n Similar to attorneys, accountants, title companies and general contractors, some property managers are worth their weight in gold, and others are worth their weight in garbage. As I explained\u00a0in this blog post<\/a>, there are a number of vetting criteria you can use to make sure you\u2019re working with a competent professional BEFORE you sign on the dotted line of their Management Agreement.<\/p>\n I was fortunate enough to find an awesome property manager when I bought my first rental property, and I\u2019ve continued to do business with them ever since.<\/p>\n What makes them so good? There are a few qualifying criteria that come to mind:<\/p>\n Perhaps you’re reading this, and you just aren’t sure whether it makes sense for you to outsource your property management to a professional. What factors should you be looking at in order to make this decision?<\/p>\n As a starting point, you can\u00a0take a look at\u00a0outsourcing experts like\u00a0Chris Ducker<\/a> and do what he does:<\/p>\n 1. Make a list of jobs that you hate to do.<\/p>\n 2. Make a list of jobs you can\u2019t do.<\/p>\n 3. Make a list of jobs that you shouldn’t be doing.<\/p>\n If property management falls into one or more of these lists for you, there’s a good chance that you should be looking to outsource this job to someone else.<\/p>\n For me, there were several<\/strong> reasons why I chose to work with a Property Management Company, so as a way of helping you process your own thoughts, I wanted to lay out my reasoning below.<\/p>\n Of course, my rationale might not apply to your situation exactly (i.e. if you have different goals and objectives with your rental properties, you might not have the same perspective and motivations that I do), but at the very least, perhaps you\u2019ll find some similarities and\/or disagreements that you can contrast with your own situation.<\/p>\n I’ve always loved the idea of passive income from rental properties, but that doesn’t\u00a0mean I want to deal with a constant stream of headaches and annoyances from the people who are\u00a0renting from me. The beauty of allowing a property manager to handle this aspect of my\u00a0business is that most of the time, I don\u2019t even need to know who my tenants are!<\/em><\/p>\n Why am I okay with this? Because I know that my property manager uses a time-tested tenant screening process that is proven to keep most of society’s riffraff OUT of my properties, while keeping\u00a0the\u00a0responsible, trustworthy renters IN them. My property manager handles all of the time-consuming aspects\u00a0of finding the best tenants<\/a>, and they automatically deposit the\u00a0net rent proceeds into my bank account each month.<\/p>\n On average, I spend an average of 2 minutes per month<\/strong> looking at the activity from each of my rental properties. Everything else (showings, screenings, site visits, evictions and much more) is handled by my property manager, while I\u2019m out minding my own business, living my life and not worrying about it.<\/p>\n Take a look at any real estate mogul who has built up a vast investment empire of income-producing properties. How do you think they did it?<\/p>\n Related:<\/strong> How to Choose the Right Rental Property Manager<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nStatement 1:<\/em><\/h3>\n
Statement 2:<\/em><\/h3>\n
Not All Property Managers Are Created Equal<\/h2>\n
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When Does it Make Sense to Hire\u00a0a Property Manager?<\/h2>\n
1. I Hate Dealing With Problems and Complaints from Tenants<\/h3>\n
2. I Wanted to Focus on Growing My Business<\/h3>\n