Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2016 · 593 posts · 664 votes
Hey BP!
I have a rental property in CA and am currently a Real Estate agent in OH. I've got one key question for you all. Is having a property manager worth it?
Pros
- I'm out of the state
- They do a good job in keeping records
- They find renters
-Any small repairs I don't even hear about
Cons
-$$$
The property management company I have has a 10% fee. My property currently rents for 1250, thus they take $125.00 every month. This is pure cash flow that I am missing out on. Is it worth it? The real question is risk. I could get perfect tenants in there and managing the property would be beautiful. But if I have tenants that are awful, the stress wouldn't even have any comparison. What are your thoughts? Thank you!
Austin Steed Yes, it's worth it. What happens at unit turnover? Are you going to get applications online and fly out to hand over the keys? Never meet the tenants you're vetting and renting to face-to-face? Pay a few hundred dollars for plane tickets, car rental, etc.? If you're waiting to do that what's then cost of another 2 weeks of vacancy? Even a sub-optimal (not a "disaster") turnover could negate your PM savings. That said, sure it's possible, but I look at it a little like pest control. Paying for preventative maintenance seems like a waste, until you don't do it, and end up with termite damage. 🤷🏻♂️ I just got my quarterly lest control bill...ugh...
There is no such thing as a perfect tenant. Managing out of state yourself will cost you more than a PM will charge. When things turn bad you will regret not having had a PM all along.
Unless you love wasting your time and money in not-fun travel, extra stress, extra calls/emails/texts about silly things, and the list goes on.... then YES, A PM IS WORTH IT! :-)
Wow, a lot of PMs on here saying they are necessary! They have very valid points, but keep in mind there are mitigations that can be used to reduce your risk if you want to manage from afar, but it is certainly not fool proof.
For example, you can get a new lock for the door that allows you to provide time-sensitive access codes. At that point, there are no more problems with access. You can find agents/property managers that offer ala cart lease-up services but do not continue to manage afterwards. Scheduling the turnover maintenance will be the most difficult, but if you know people in the area, or have your own contacts built up it is perfectly do-able.
The real questions are, what are you good at? and how much time do you want to spend? It is easy when nothing is wrong but it gets much harder when there is work to be done.