DIY Landlord and investor

Miami, Florida
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DIY Landlord and investor

Liran Dori
Investor · FL · Member since 2025 · 7 posts · 3 votes

Hi everyone — glad to be here.

I’m a Florida-based landlord who self-manages a small rental portfolio. As my portfolio has grown, I’ve noticed that while self-managing makes sense, it also starts to feel messy and time-consuming in ways that aren’t always obvious at first.

I’m not selling anything, just looking to connect with other landlords who self-manage and hear about the parts of the process you find most frustrating or inefficient.

At what point did self-managing start to feel harder for you, and what do you find most annoying about it today? 

What will be the turning point which at you will consider a property manager?

Looking forward to learning from your experiences.

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Drew SygitBusiness Member
Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 13k+ posts · 9k+ votes
9mo

Some common problems DIY landlords face as they grow:

1) Communication Constraints: your day job doesn't always allow you to focus on landord issues

2) Accounting: spreadsheets can be used, but unless you master Excel, can be a challenge. *RentRedi and other cheap services can help better organize.

3) Tenant Payments: paper checks are too old-school and a pain.
*Encourage tenants to use Zelle, Venmo, Paypal, etc. 
ACH is best, but requires PM software

4) Maintenance: the scourge of landlords & PMCs!
*Try to encourage tenants to submit all MNT requests in writing, preferrably via email, but SMS is their preference.
- If you allow SMS, suggest you check with your provider to see if you can access somehow online for tracking purposes. Otherwise, set up a Google Voice number, which allows this.

5) Evictions: hopefully you don't have to deal with these.
*You should save the online links to your state's nonpayment notices, so you can quickly access, complete and mail when needed.

6) Showings: a pain to talk to all prospects, answering their questions that tell you they didn't even bother to read your ad. Then, you have at least 25% no-shows.
*Check out online scheduling at least! Look into Self-Showings if possible.

7) Application Screenings: another time-suck!
*We don't recommend using a service that only gives you "Approved, Maybe or Deny" responses. They rarely check everything that should be considered.

[email protected]248-209-6824
Logical Property Management4.9469 Reviews
WebsiteView Page
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  • Drew SygitBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 13k+ posts · 9k+ votes
    9mo

    Some common problems DIY landlords face as they grow:

    1) Communication Constraints: your day job doesn't always allow you to focus on landord issues

    2) Accounting: spreadsheets can be used, but unless you master Excel, can be a challenge. *RentRedi and other cheap services can help better organize.

    3) Tenant Payments: paper checks are too old-school and a pain.
    *Encourage tenants to use Zelle, Venmo, Paypal, etc. 
    ACH is best, but requires PM software

    4) Maintenance: the scourge of landlords & PMCs!
    *Try to encourage tenants to submit all MNT requests in writing, preferrably via email, but SMS is their preference.
    - If you allow SMS, suggest you check with your provider to see if you can access somehow online for tracking purposes. Otherwise, set up a Google Voice number, which allows this.

    5) Evictions: hopefully you don't have to deal with these.
    *You should save the online links to your state's nonpayment notices, so you can quickly access, complete and mail when needed.

    6) Showings: a pain to talk to all prospects, answering their questions that tell you they didn't even bother to read your ad. Then, you have at least 25% no-shows.
    *Check out online scheduling at least! Look into Self-Showings if possible.

    7) Application Screenings: another time-suck!
    *We don't recommend using a service that only gives you "Approved, Maybe or Deny" responses. They rarely check everything that should be considered.

    [email protected]248-209-6824
    Logical Property Management4.9469 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Liran Dori
    OP
    Investor · FL · Member since 2025 · 7 posts · 3 votes
    9mo

    @Drew SygitThank you very much for all your insights. Personally, I'm using an agent for tenant screening and showings.

    0Reply
    • Michael SmytheBusiness Member
      Real Estate Agent · Metro Detroit · Member since 2023 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
      9mo
      Quote from @Liran Dori:

      @Drew SygitThank you very much for all your insights. Personally, I'm using an agent for tenant screening and showings.


       95% of agents really don't know how to screen tenants!

      You'll eventually get burned with this laisse-faire approach:(

      Logical Property Management4.9464 Reviews
      WebsiteView Page
      0Reply
  • Janice Carter
    Real Estate Broker · Atlanta · Member since 2024 · 1k+ posts · 608 votes
    9mo

    Liran, for many self-managing landlords, the strain typically becomes noticeable as the portfolio grows and time, tenant communication and compliance begin competing with other priorities. The most common pain points are after-hours maintenance issues and staying current with documentation and legal requirements. The turning point for engaging a property manager is often when the time cost outweighs the savings or when further scaling becomes difficult without proper systems in place.

    You mentioned that you currently use an agent for tenant screening and showings which is a smart approach. Tenant screening and placement is a service I also offer to investors who prefer to self-manage, as poor screening is one of the primary factors that leads to evictions.

    0Reply
  • Kenneth GarrettPro Member
    Investor · Florida Panhandle/Illinois · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    9mo

    @Liran Dori

    I’ve been self managing for 15 years. As long as you have a good maintenance program with your properties you shouldn’t receive many maintenance calls.

    Tenant selection is the most time consuming. Meeting with perspective tenants can be time consuming. The good part is you only have to do it hopefully every 3 years or so depending on your tenant retention.

    Working with a good person who can meet with future tenants instead of hiring a pm can work. That person is as important as selecting tenants. The decision is ultimately yours when selecting a tenant. I’ve have used this system when I was not available and it can work.

    I’ve self managed up to 20 units at a time and work a W-2. All reasonable. Systems in place is what makes this work.

    Happy to help you need anything.

    0Reply
  • Liran Dori
    OP
    Investor · FL · Member since 2025 · 7 posts · 3 votes
    9mo

    First time I’m hearing about it, thank you for that suggestion, I will look into that.

    0Reply
  • Ecaterina Katerina Morosan
    Real Estate Agent · Miami, FL · Member since 2022 · 238 posts · 102 votes
    9mo

    Hi Liran, where are your properties in Miami?

    We do help our investor clients with vacancies, screening etc. But also we help them with saving some money on property management. Happy to connect as it seems like we're in the same market

    0Reply
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