Looking to find a good property manager without breaking the bank

[Aaron Rushton]

Hello all,

I just bought my first rental property out of state in Memphis, TN. Since this is my first property, I feel I should hire a property manager to avoid the stress of managing it from afar. However, all I’m finding are large property management companies that charge high fees for tenant placement and costly fees for handling most issues.

Does anyone have recommendations for smaller property managers in the area? Alternatively, does anyone have advice on how I can effectively manage the property from another state?

[Christine Mulkins]

Try to self manage, if you can. There are few reasons you would need to be physically present to manage your rental. Tenants can pay you electronically and as far as repairs and such, you can find someone to handle those things locally.  Are you close enough to do an occasional drive by and to place tenants, when needed? If not, you could find a property manager to just handle the tenant placement and not all of the other maintenance-related items that you can easily handle on your own. There will likely be many months where your property does not need any repairs yet you'll be paying 10% of rents to a PM regardless.