Hire Commercial Property Company or Hire an assistant

Multi-Family and Apartment Investing
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Hire Commercial Property Company or Hire an assistant

Beary Bowles
Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 43 posts · 5 votes

So I own a 12 unt apartment building in the St. Lous County Market for approx 1yr.  My team consist of myself, property manger (the previous owner), and a local handyman. So far the team have been decent since I have a 40hrs a week job.  My current problem now is that we have it completly occuppied but my property manager is stuck in the past with technigolgy and has a terrible marketting strategy by using out dated news paper ads to advertise for rent.  Now I manage the handyman, pay the handyman, collect 95% of the rent by phone charge (Square), occasially screen tenants, and pay expenses.  

Should I just lose some of the cash flow by hiring a real property management company or create a template and hire/teach a employee to deligate some of my assingmets?

Any advice would be helpful. 

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Greg Scully
Rental Property Investor · Johnson City TN · Member since 2016 · 386 posts · 271 votes
7y

@Beary Bowles -  I prefer 3rd party management.  Should your handyman get a better offer, you could be left in a difficult position.  The same goes for your property manager.  Professional managers typically have more and better resources for most scenarios.  You can make more money managing yourself, but it can be time consuming.

There are numerous software companies that may be able to solve the technology problem.  Here's an article:

https://financesonline.com/property-management/

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  • Greg Scully
    Rental Property Investor · Johnson City TN · Member since 2016 · 386 posts · 271 votes
    7y

    @Beary Bowles -  I prefer 3rd party management.  Should your handyman get a better offer, you could be left in a difficult position.  The same goes for your property manager.  Professional managers typically have more and better resources for most scenarios.  You can make more money managing yourself, but it can be time consuming.

    There are numerous software companies that may be able to solve the technology problem.  Here's an article:

    https://financesonline.com/property-management/

    1Reply
  • Kristel DaughertyBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Bremerton, WA · Member since 2018 · 127 posts · 71 votes
    7y

    Hi @Beary Bowles!

    I second @Greg Scully's recommendation.  What makes me the most nervous about your current team is that your property manager is the previous owner.  He/She may make decisions the way he/she is used to, but not necessarily the right decisions for you or the way you'd like them to be done.  A fresh property manager should get in alignment with your values, and will have better marketing.

    You also have it completely occupied, so I'm curious if you just need someone to be the go-to person for maintenance requests, etc.  Perhaps with a 12 unit apartment building, one of your tenants is a good person for that.  For discounted rent, they could handle basic repairs (clogged plumbing or lockouts) and call out for services based on a conversation with them.

    When you have turnover, that's when I'd consider hiring a property manager.  If you don't have an on-site tenant, then hiring a property manager might be the simplest way to go.  Just make sure you're still profitable, and interview at least three!

    [email protected]360-317-0113
    Revival Realty LLC53 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
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  • Beary Bowles
    OP
    Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 43 posts · 5 votes
    7y

    Thank you @Greg Scully and @Kristel Daugherty for the feed back.  Initially I had only 4 tenants when I first bought it and was self managing now managing 12 personalities and their unique situation can be daunting.  The handyman lives down the street and very reliable and convenient. 

    As a question, can I hire a property manager to do certain duties but not all?  For example from noticing my own weakness in this business is (1) collecting rent in a timely fashion and (2) interview/screen/and show tenants the units.  Everything else I can mostly handle. 

    For the most part I will eventually hire a property manager.  Thanks again

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  • Kristel DaughertyBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Bremerton, WA · Member since 2018 · 127 posts · 71 votes
    7y

    @Beary Bowles - you can TOTALLY hire for just those two services!

    [email protected]360-317-0113
    Revival Realty LLC53 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
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