How do you manage Rental Properties?

Question

Are you a self managing landlord or do you use a Property Manager? Or maybe you self manage some of your properties and use a Property Manager for the remaining?

Does the manager you hire do 100% of the work, or are you still responsible for certain areas as a landlord? What do you look for in a Property Manager?

I am very interested to see the results and hear you stories, please share some of the Do's and Don'ts that you have experienced managing your properties!

Spencer Abeyta · Answer

When you use a property manager you have a couple options. The most common are full service companies vs lease only.

Lease only companies will handle the advertising of the property, tenant screening, and getting the tenants on a signed lease. They usually charge a large portion of one month's rent if not the full amount. After this, they hand the property back to the owner and the owner handles all the day to day. The benefit to this is that the owner gets more control and does not have to pay a monthly management fee. But the owner has to account for taxes for the property and handle all maintenance issues and tenant communication.

Full service management handles the full leasing process and then they handle the day to day of the property. The benefit is that the owner does not have to deal with the dreaded Christmas Eve toilet back ups and the owner can lean on the expertise of the PM for the full extent of the relationship. Full service PMs usually provide a 1099 and cashflow statement to make end of the year taxes easier. The downside is that you have to pay a PM a monthly management fee which could cut into your cashflow on the property.

Rachid Abadli · Answer

I self-manage 4 units in Sacramento. Here's what my workflow actually looks like week to week:

• Rent collection: Automated. Tenants pay through an app, I get notified when it hits. Maybe 5 minutes of my time per month reviewing.
• Maintenance: Tenants submit requests with photos. I triage, assign to my vendor list, and track completion. This is the real time sink — probably 2–3 hours/week on average, more if something breaks.
• Compliance: California is a paperwork state. AB 1482 notices, security deposit itemization, move-in/move-out condition reports. I have checklists and templates for all of it. This is the part most people underestimate.
• Bookkeeping: I categorize every expense by property and unit. Tax time is easy when you're organized during the year.

The honest answer is it takes me about 5 hours/week across all 4 units. Some weeks it's 1 hour, some weeks it's 12 (looking at you, toilet that leaked into the unit below).

For those of you self-managing — what's the one task that takes you the most time?

John NA · Answer

Wow! i am so grateful for this eye-opening insights. Thank you for sharing your expert knowledge, so helpful. I think i should build a team first but keep the PM for now until i have all processes in place and good background knowledge. It is worth it to pay the 10% now!

Thank very much.

Spencer Abeyta · Answer

You need groundwork in place before self managing. Most importantly, you need to have a lawyer drafted lease and be up to date on all the tenant/landlord laws.

You need to have vendors that you can call on to repair the property (if you aren't going to to this yourself). Keep in mind that with self managing, you are now a 24/7 after hours maintenance service. You need to know what vendors you will send out and if they can go out in a timely manner.

Lastly you need some basic processes. For application screening you need to use the same process for everyone to comply with Fair Housing. For tenant move outs you need a process. If a tenant asks to break their lease early you need a process. If a tenant doesn't pay rent you need a process.

If that 10% management fee is not breaking the bank, I would recommend talking to other PM companies to see what your options are. Not all PM companies are created equal.

John NA · Answer

Thank you very much for the response Spencer. I have two properties ( 11 units and a single family home with 6 Tenants) and i am a rookie. My PM charges 10 /% fee but communication is slow and sometime frustrating and i am considering self management option. what should i be doing before taking over the properties? Thank you!

John NA · Answer

what are the pros and cons of using a property manager vs self managed?

How do you manage Rental Properties?

How do you manage Rental Properties?

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