Self-manage or use a Property Manager?

[Mica Moore]

I currently own 1 SFH rental in Texas ( I live in Nevada). It's got a PM @ 10% a month.

I am moving back to TX and will be buying an owner occupied (1 unit) 4-plex in the same city as my current rental. Since I will now be a local landlord of 4 doors I wanted to take over management myself - self manage to save money and have more control.

I will use Zillow and FB marketplace to advertise vacancies. I believe Zillow will even take applications and screen/background check applicants for me.

How do I go about the day to day self-management of the properties? Is there a preferred (and affordable) software I would use to keep tenant files, rent ledgers, maintenance requests etc? How do I accept rent electronically, so I don't have to collect physical checks? What about security deposit accounting? What about filing evictions if necessary?

I'm a little overwhelmed and wondering if I should keep the PM or self- manage. Thoughts? Thank you.

[John Underwood]

I self manage all my LTR'S and one of my STR's. I use Excell to keep up with income and expenses and any repairs or improvements.

Tenants text me with repair issues and I forward the text to my handyman or HVAC guy. It takes very little time to run the empire.