When you should not hire a property management company

Do you have extra time to commit to managing your property?

So I know everyone always tells you what you should do and all the right things, I’m going to talk a little bit about the things you shouldn’t do, and when maybe you’re best off being a self-managing person. So, a lot of times, the people that wanna use a management company are people that wanna use leverage. Maybe they value their time. Maybe they don’t want to get tied up in the day-to-day operations. And that’s good for some people. However, there are other people that are happy running the properties. They take the time. They know the laws and they’re okay with dealing with fair housing issues and other things that pop up.

Are you a hangs on person?

And if you’re a hands-on person, I would say you’re probably better off managing the property yourself because, at the end of the day, if you feel you can do a better job, you’re never gonna be happy with a property manager. You’re always going to be second-guessing what they do, and you’re gonna be wondering if you could be doing it better, and probably wondering if maybe there’s no value to having them help you. So if you’re the type of person that you like to do things on your own and you like to be involved and you want to have the final say in things, then I would say property management is probably not the best route for you to go when it comes to owning your assets.

You’re better off doing it yourself. Take the time. Learn the laws. Learn the regulations. Create some policies and structure, and you can do that yourself. And again, there’s many many ways in real estate that you can own properties, and many ways that you can manage properties. Property management is one way; and self-managing is another way. So it’s just some ways that you can think about that you don’t always have to go the standard route.

Now if you do value leverage and you don’t want to spend your time doing that, like most people buy an investment property not to have a second job, but because they want the long-term benefits of having an asset, then I would say maybe having a management company is worth it and you can leverage them and you can buy multiple properties in maybe other locations, other states, things like that, and you don’t have to worry about that.

What works for you? What is important to you?

So again, there’s no right or wrong way. But there’s a way that’s going to work best for you, and that’s really the most important thing, when you’re looking at self-managing or using a management company, always understand that it’s gotta match your goals. And when you interview the company, the property management company, make sure that they align with what you want. If you wanna be a hands-on person, and they say no we don’t allow you to be involved in the deal, don’t go in business with them and expect to be hands-on because that is not the deal and that is not how they operate. So make sure that your operating system matches theirs and that could very well be that you’re better off self-managing.