Rental Property Investor · Metro Detroit · Member since 2021 · 11 posts · 10 votes
Hi, all,
I invest in single-family and small multifamily properties, and like many of you, I’ve worn all the hats: screening tenants, handling maintenance calls, tracking down late rent, and everything in between.
Lately, I’ve been exploring how technology could help streamline some of the day-to-day challenges that come with managing rental properties; especially as portfolios grow. I’m not here to pitch anything. I’m still in the early stages of understanding what actually works, what doesn’t, and where the biggest gaps are.
That’s why I’m reaching out to the investor community. I’d love to hear your perspective:
• Do you currently work with a property manager? What do they do well, and where have they fallen short?
• If you’ve chosen to manage your rentals yourself, what led to that decision? Was it about control, cost, trust, or something else?
I’m trying to get a clearer picture of how investors are navigating property management today. There are a lot of assumptions floating around about what landlords want or need and I have my own thoughts, but I’d rather hear it directly from people who are in the trenches.
Feel free to share your experience in the comments, DMs, or we can set up a quick call; whatever’s easiest. I really appreciate any time or insight you’re willing to offer.
Real Estate Agent · Boise, ID · Member since 2017 · 562 posts · 377 votes
1y
Hey, great conversation!
For perspective, we currently self-manage a dozen doors across two states. While we’ve used a property manager in the past, we now handle everything in-house for a couple of key reasons:
Faster and cheaper turnovers – Using our own vetted subcontractors allows us to turn units more quickly and cost-effectively.
Maximized rent potential – We’ve found that when we self-manage, rents stay closer to market rates. When we’ve used property managers in the past, they often discouraged raising rents to market levels. I’ve noticed the same pattern when helping clients purchase tenant-occupied, PM-managed properties.
We’ve kept our systems simple. For the past 10 years, we’ve used spreadsheets and ScheduleMyRent.com for rent collection. I’m currently exploring RentRedi as a more complete platform for rent collection, lease signing, and communication. Based on what we have learned so far this one may be the winner for us, I am currently trying this with one property as it is turning and will likely convert more as they turn/renew.
One of our current goals is to implement secure self-access for tenant viewings. This has become one of my biggest time sinks—especially when a unit is 30 minutes away, and a prospect cancels last-minute.
Early on, I valued meeting tenants in person—seeing how they maintained their car, getting a feel for them. Over time, I’ve realized that credit, income, and references are just as telling as an in-person impression. People are people, and keeping the process efficient helps everyone involved.
I’ve used a property manager before and now self-manage. I've also worked with clients who’ve had great experiences with PMs—and others who’ve had nightmares. One client even ended up being sued along with his PM by his tenant. 100% the PM fault.
For me personally, its a character flaw that lead to self managing—I like to have full control of my portfolio. When I had a PM managing my duplex, I never felt like I fully knew what was going on. The service felt half-assed, and I just didn’t trust them. In their defense, my duplex only brought in $1,100/month, so at 10%, they were making just $110. Hard to expect white-glove service for that amount.
Since then, I've kept my portfolio local to Bryan and College Station, TX, and my wife and I have been self-managing since 2020. I think we could've managed 15–25 long-term rentals while working full-time jobs, but when we hit 26 units (a mix of STR, MTR, and LTR), it became too much—so we quit our jobs and went full-time into real estate, managing our portfolio and running our agent team.
From what I’ve seen, self-managing reduces vacancy by about 2–3%, increases rent collected by 5–10%, and obviously saves 100% of the PM fees. That said, self-management isn’t free—we set aside 5% of gross rent to cover the overhead of our self-management "business."
For us, self-managing was a no-brainer. That being said, if you're working 60+ hours a week, are a high-income earner, and have 10+ units, then it might make sense to pay a PM to take the weight off your plate.
Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
1y
The two main benefits of hiring a PMC:
1) Time
2) Expertise
Used to self-manage before getting into the PMC business. Wasn't always on top my vacancies, past due tenants, showings and maintenance requests.
Comparisons:
1) Owner can make decisions faster than a PMC on major issues. PMC may not have authority or funds to make immediate decisions.
2) Owner can also give more attention to an issue than a PMC. A PMC has to prioritize due to all the other properties they manage. - NOTE: due to work & family obligations, many owners actually are worse than a PMC at this!
3) PMC's have more business knowledge than an owner, so they are statistically better at avoiding lawsuits. - Every lawsuit our PMC has had was due to an owner not allowing us to properly maintain their property.
4) Owner can invest more time into their property(s) because they do NOT track their time vs profits.
5) Owners often know their property's history better than a PMC:( This is especially true for maintenance & repairs. No one in a PMC will remember all the specifics about a single property - it's just not possible when they are handling hundreds of properties. Software hasn't gotten to the point to make this easier for PMC staff and they really don't have time to review all past Work Orders.
Real Estate Broker · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2018 · 340 posts · 144 votes
1y
Great questions—definitely a conversation worth having. As someone who manages properties locally and also works with investors, I’d say the biggest wins from tech usually come from automation—things like rent collection, maintenance ticketing, and tenant communication. Where it tends to fall short is in handling nuanced, people-centered issues—late payments, lease violations, etc.—that still need a human touch. For DIY landlords, control and cost are the two biggest reasons I hear for managing themselves, though trust in third-party managers is another common concern.
Austin, TX · Member since 2019 · 5k+ posts · 5k+ votes
1y
Maybe stay managing yourself, and also hire a manager to handle part of your portfolio, a small part.
That way you can get an actual reading on the manager yourself, because every manager is going to be a little bit different in their personality and in how they handle things.
Then if you find a manager who meets your needs, and you're comfortable handling over more properties, you could still dole them out a little at a time and see how the person does.
Real Estate Agent · Boise, ID · Member since 2017 · 562 posts · 377 votes
1y
Hey, great conversation!
For perspective, we currently self-manage a dozen doors across two states. While we’ve used a property manager in the past, we now handle everything in-house for a couple of key reasons:
Faster and cheaper turnovers – Using our own vetted subcontractors allows us to turn units more quickly and cost-effectively.
Maximized rent potential – We’ve found that when we self-manage, rents stay closer to market rates. When we’ve used property managers in the past, they often discouraged raising rents to market levels. I’ve noticed the same pattern when helping clients purchase tenant-occupied, PM-managed properties.
We’ve kept our systems simple. For the past 10 years, we’ve used spreadsheets and ScheduleMyRent.com for rent collection. I’m currently exploring RentRedi as a more complete platform for rent collection, lease signing, and communication. Based on what we have learned so far this one may be the winner for us, I am currently trying this with one property as it is turning and will likely convert more as they turn/renew.
One of our current goals is to implement secure self-access for tenant viewings. This has become one of my biggest time sinks—especially when a unit is 30 minutes away, and a prospect cancels last-minute.
Early on, I valued meeting tenants in person—seeing how they maintained their car, getting a feel for them. Over time, I’ve realized that credit, income, and references are just as telling as an in-person impression. People are people, and keeping the process efficient helps everyone involved.
For perspective, we currently self-manage a dozen doors across two states. While we’ve used a property manager in the past, we now handle everything in-house for a couple of key reasons:
Faster and cheaper turnovers – Using our own vetted subcontractors allows us to turn units more quickly and cost-effectively.
Maximized rent potential – We’ve found that when we self-manage, rents stay closer to market rates. When we’ve used property managers in the past, they often discouraged raising rents to market levels. I’ve noticed the same pattern when helping clients purchase tenant-occupied, PM-managed properties.
We’ve kept our systems simple. For the past 10 years, we’ve used spreadsheets and ScheduleMyRent.com for rent collection. I’m currently exploring RentRedi as a more complete platform for rent collection, lease signing, and communication. Based on what we have learned so far this one may be the winner for us, I am currently trying this with one property as it is turning and will likely convert more as they turn/renew.
One of our current goals is to implement secure self-access for tenant viewings. This has become one of my biggest time sinks—especially when a unit is 30 minutes away, and a prospect cancels last-minute.
Early on, I valued meeting tenants in person—seeing how they maintained their car, getting a feel for them. Over time, I’ve realized that credit, income, and references are just as telling as an in-person impression. People are people, and keeping the process efficient helps everyone involved.
Just to piggy-back off of the tenant viewings, what we do for our mid term rentals is have a publicly available YouTube video that thoroughly walks through the entire unit! Many folks are fine with this.
Now I know that for some prospects, this may not be enough. But, trying the full walk through video helps the tenant get a good visual of the layout. For me, this is essential because sometimes I just can’t get a prospect in the unit if I have a current STR guest in there
Really appreciate you taking the time to share all this; super insightful. I think a lot of investors can relate to that feeling of not fully knowing what’s going on when a PM is in charge, especially on smaller properties where margins are tight. Sounds like you and your wife have built something solid, and it’s great to hear how you scaled up while keeping operations in-house.
A few follow-ups, if you don’t mind:
1. You mentioned feeling out of the loop when your PM was managing your duplex; do you think that would’ve changed if you’d had visibility into their communications or activity (like being able to monitor messages with tenants or vendors in real time)? Or was it more of a deeper trust issue?
2. Now that you’re fully self-managing, what would you say eats up the most time in your day-to-day? Is it tenant communications, maintenance coordination, bookkeeping, or something else?
3. I thought your point about reduced vacancy and increased rent collection was really interesting—how did you arrive at those figures (2–3% lower vacancy and 5–10% higher rent collection)? Is that based on your own data or comparisons with clients who use PMs?
Thanks again, this kind of feedback is super valuable as I continue to learn more from other operators.
Thanks a ton for this breakdown—your experience on both sides of the table (as a self-managing owner and now running a PMC) really helps highlight the nuances that tech alone often misses. I’m currently doing research on how property owners and managers experience the day-to-day of rental operations, especially as it relates to where time gets lost, what gets overlooked, and where tech could realistically add value without becoming another thing to manage.
A few things you said really stood out, particularly around decision-making delays, knowledge gaps from managing many doors, and the limits of current software tools. If you’re open to it, I’d love to get your take on a few follow-ups:
1. You mentioned that software hasn’t really helped PMC staff recall maintenance history effectively. What do you think is missing in current tools—better UI, smarter reminders, centralized property history, something else?
2. In your experience, what’s the biggest operational inefficiency that PMCs still haven’t solved with software?
3. If you could wave a magic wand and have one digital tool or process that would dramatically improve your PMC’s service quality or profitability, what would it be?
Really appreciate the insight you’ve already shared.
Really appreciate you jumping in; your perspective as both a local property manager and someone who works with investors is super helpful. I completely agree that automation has made huge strides in areas like payments and ticketing, but still falls short when it comes to those human-centered situations that require empathy, judgment, and real-time context.
You touched on something I’ve been hearing from others as well—DIY landlords often cite cost and control, but trust seems to be the real wildcard. In your experience, have you found anything that actually helps build or maintain that trust between investors and PMs? Is it transparency, responsiveness, reporting, or something else?
Also curious, when you think about the tech tools that do work well for your team or your clients, are there any features or workflows that have been surprisingly effective? Always trying to get a clearer sense of what actually moves the needle in practice, not just on paper.
Thanks again, this kind of input is exactly what I was hoping for when I started the conversation.
Really appreciate you jumping in; your perspective as both a local property manager and someone who works with investors is super helpful. I completely agree that automation has made huge strides in areas like payments and ticketing, but still falls short when it comes to those human-centered situations that require empathy, judgment, and real-time context.
You touched on something I’ve been hearing from others as well—DIY landlords often cite cost and control, but trust seems to be the real wildcard. In your experience, have you found anything that actually helps build or maintain that trust between investors and PMs? Is it transparency, responsiveness, reporting, or something else?
Also curious, when you think about the tech tools that do work well for your team or your clients, are there any features or workflows that have been surprisingly effective? Always trying to get a clearer sense of what actually moves the needle in practice, not just on paper.
Thanks again, this kind of input is exactly what I was hoping for when I started the conversation.
I’ve found that trust really comes down to clear, consistent communication. Transparency matters, but what really makes the difference is being proactive. Investors don’t want surprises. Whether it’s a repair, a tenant issue, or a rent delay, they want to know what’s going on and what we’re doing about it.
When it comes to tech, I look at it task by task: What are the repetitive, time-consuming jobs we’re doing manually—and is there a tool that can do it better or faster without losing the personal touch? That’s how we decide what to use. For example, maintenance coordination with photo uploads and automatic updates saves time and keeps both tenants and owners in the loop. Rent reminders and automated late fees make collections smoother without needing constant follow-up.
It’s not about having all the tech—it’s about choosing tools that actually solve a problem in your daily workflow. And sometimes it’s the small features—like sending texts instead of emails—that make a big difference in how people respond.
At the end of the day, tools support the relationship, but they don’t replace it.
Really appreciate you sharing all of this; the level of detail is super helpful. It sounds like you’ve built a streamlined and effective system over the years. I like how you’re keeping things simple, while still testing new platforms like RentRedi to expand what’s working.
Your point about property managers discouraging rent increases is interesting. Do you think that’s more about avoiding tenant turnover or a lack of time and incentives to stay on top of market trends?
Also, I hear you on showings, that can be very time consuming. when you say "secure self-access for tenant viewings" are you referring to smart locks or code boxes? Curious if anything has stood out to you as a good fit.
Thanks again for chiming in; these kinds of conversations are exactly what I was hoping for.
Honestly, I’m not entirely sure why some property managers discourage rent increases. It could be that they want to avoid turnover or that their operation has scaled faster than their staffing, leaving them without the resources to handle turnovers effectively. I’ve never asked one directly, but the next time I speak with a PM during an acquisition, I’ll be sure to bring it up.
Regarding secure self-access for tenant viewings, I’m referring to code boxes that verify a prospect’s identity before granting entry. We looked into Rently, but they require a minimum of 25 units under management, which doesn’t work for us right now. I was referred to Tenant Turner and actually have a call scheduled with them later today.
At this point, we haven’t found a perfect fit. We only started discussing this over the weekend after one of our out-of-state units became vacant. The person we usually rely on to show the property isn't always available when prospects want to view it, and that’s created a bottleneck we're trying to solve.
If you know of any other solutions that accommodate smaller portfolios, I’d love to hear about them.
Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
1y
There are a lot of good comments in here. We have purchased 18,000 units and have used 3rd party mgt. I do wish we had self-managed though for the control, transparency, consistency, etc.
Real Estate Consultant · Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2022 · 463 posts · 253 votes
1y
Hi Damani in Metro Detroit-
You have single-family and small multifamily properties and have self-managed but wonder if technology or a property manager can help you manage your property.
Great question!
I started out self-managing but learned pretty quickly that was not a part of the business I enjoyed and my time could be spent doing other things.
A good property manager will not only manage and maintain your property well; they should also increase the value of the property with their management and maximizing ROI.
A quality property manager is probably one of the most important members of your real estate investment team.
Always recommend my clients use a property manager and factor that into their deal analysis and involve the property manager before buying the property and when analyzing the deal and how to increase property value and rents.
1) All the PMC software I've seen allows multiple issues to be grouped in a single WO. - This is efficient as many handymen can handle the majority of small issues.
What PMC software currently doesn't do is dig in deeper and allow someone to see a full breakdown of all the lifetime "issues" of a property. EXAMPLE: when was the last time a sewer was snaked and the overall history. Is it a tenant problem or a sign of a bigger problem?
Real Estate Agent · Denver CO · Member since 2019 · 209 posts · 332 votes
1y
Still self manage and I'm happy with the results. I've been using AI more and it's an incredible tool that makes self-managing much more efficient.
One thing I have considered before is working with a PM but still doing the tenant placement and the renewals. Not to save costs but because of the importance of selecting and retaining great tenants.
Rental Property Investor · Grand Prairie, TX · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
1y
@Damani Tilton
I work full time and self manage 29 SFR in two states. I find it easy but my portfolio isn't nearly as big as others who self manage 50-100. I use apartments.com for leases and collecting rent with most of mine. I text handymen to go fix properties when they break. I don't do any work myself. I save about 40k/year to self manage and take a few texts a month when things break or rent is late. Doesn't take much of my time and worth the savings. And with that 40k/year I save by not having a PM, I can buy another rental with the $. lol
Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
1y
I have been an investor for about 20 years, self managed for the first half of that and have worked with PMs the second half. The differences with using a PMC have been much higher cost of maintenance/repairs, higher cost of vacancy due to longer turnover times, and inconsistent property performance with personnel turnover. We have to buy right and add value to make up for management inefficiencies.
Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
1y
I manage many of mine and have property managers for others. It really depends on the asset. I'm a very good PM which is why it's more beneficial to do it myself. Many, and most I encounter are either incompetent, inexperienced or I'm just better than them. I have managed several in Class D communities which gave me expert skill sets. Now, it makes no sense to give it to others unless I just don't feel like it. I know how to screen and put great tenants in. I know how to keep them there a long time because I manage well. In that case, the asset pretty much runs itself. Limited involvement. Also, I have a multi I let a good management company run. However, I take over turnover renovations because I cut my costs sometimes in half.
I have a PM for one of my rentals and do the others myself. The PM I have is for a property where I may have a conflict of interest (eg rent it to people who I work for me or who I teach). Overall they do a good job, but I do pay for it. not only their fee (which they are doing a job and need to be paid), but sometimes their inability to do simple troubleshooting (eg cost me $100 because the tenant called and said the lights were flickering on the new fridge...first thing is check the plug in is secure which it was not for some reason). They are also willing to rent it below market value to get it rented and take longer for turnovers (ie you are guaranteed to have a one month vacancy every time a tenant moves out). They have a lot of people moving out on the first and only so many people to clean and do inspections. They do a good job, but realistically they can only do so much at a given time.
The properties that I manage myself, I can get things done by hiring qualified people and even if I have to pay a bit more because I can't do it myself (because I'm not there), it is less expensive in the long run for me.
Everyone is different and it is knowing what you are good at, what you aren't good at, what you have time to do and if you have good people (PM or handyman) who can do what you need.
For the brand new 1st time Landlord, or one who hasn't been a Landlord in some time, they absolutely need and should start with the best PM they can find.
For one simple truth, the unknown unknowns.
After that, everything is at this very minute in a status of rapid change and evolution that is nothing short of paradigm changing.
The software available, that alone has changed so much in the past years and months that it's game changing.
And ai hasn't even made it's appearance as of yet.
I guarantee someone is out there right now training a LLM on all the various tenancy laws and regulations. And probably another LLM on everything maintenance.
Imagine being able to purchase a software for say $50mnth, that has an ai trained on everything there has ever been to know on maintenance and how to handle tenant maintenance requests. It works 24-7, responds in seconds, knows exactly what to ask for rapid diagnosis on literally anything. Never misses asking for photos or those critical follow-up questions.
When it conveys a maintenance request to a Landlord it always has 100% accuracy of information conveyed. And it already narrowed down the potential spectrum of issues, searched for local vendors that meet the criteria, screened by assorted markers of quality, read there reviews, all in 120 seconds or less.......
Or an ai that helps pre-read through an applicant, scoured the internet for any profiles they may have, cross referenced employer info to make sure there a legit business who actually exists, and more, sooo much more.....
When ai makes it's appearance on the PM stage it's going to change EVERYTHING, I have 0 doubts of this. And no human will be able to compete with it.
The only thing left for use meat-sacks will be the boots on the ground aspect. Holding showings, move-in and move-out inspections, the things we don't have robots to do..... yet....
And when that happens, when ai makes it's appearance and then establishes, I see services that setup licensed agents to do those showings connect and...... Well let's just say I'd be sure to sell my PM business before that day.
Ai to assist in buy-sell is still a bit further out then that but still, I assure there is people out there working on those LLM's. And they will take market share once deployed. They will first decimate the discount brokerage industry.
The day n age of everyone knows an agent is over. The asteroid already fell to earth, the extinction event already started, the only question is if one is aware or in blissful ignorance of it.
Good high skill high performing agent's will always have there place, because it's that outside the box brilliance people seek. But the average everyday "I was bored so I got a license" or the "I failed at being an agent so I opened a PM biz" there f'd.
Again, appreciate the insight; curious to hear what you learn from your call with Tenant Turner. They’ve come up a few times in my research, but I haven’t spoken to anyone who’s actively tested them yet.
If they end up being a good fit, I’d love to hear what stood out to you, or if you decide to keep looking, what fell short. I know a lot of small- to mid-sized operators facing the same self-showing challenge, so any feedback would be super valuable.
Investor · Thousand Oaks, CA · Member since 2017 · 302 posts · 123 votes
1y
We've Self managed multi tenant building for many years and have a full tendency with annual 5% rental raises currently. Once we paid off the mortgage, we started using a property management firm, that uses appfolio. I like it much better, as it frees me up to work on my AI startup company.
Both self-managing and hiring a property management company have their advantages and challenges. If you manage your rentals yourself, you’ll save on management fees and have full control over decisions, tenant selection, and how issues are handled. This can be rewarding, especially if you enjoy being hands-on and want to maximize your cash flow. However, it also means you’re responsible for everything-handling late-night maintenance calls, keeping up with landlord-tenant laws, and managing all the paperwork, which can be time-consuming and stressful, especially as your portfolio grows.
On the other hand, property management services can save you a lot of time and stress by handling day-to-day operations, tenant communication, and legal compliance. They often have established systems for screening tenants, collecting rent, and managing repairs, which can be especially helpful if you have multiple properties or live far from your rentals. The trade-off is the cost of their service and having less direct control over the details.
Many investors start out self-managing to learn the ropes and then decide what works best for them as their needs and portfolios change. Whichever route you choose, having clear systems for screening, rent collection, and maintenance will make things much smoother. If you’re considering technology, there are great tools out there for both approaches that can help automate and organize many tasks.
Investor · Akron, OH · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 4k+ votes
1y
I self manage our 78 doors. We use Buildium for property managment software. Using full featured property management software provides online marketing, applications, tenant screening, eleasing, rent collection, accounting, maintenance queue monitoring, turnover inspections. It is expensive software, but it is a fraction of the cost of hiring a property management company. I actually enjoy managing our properties due at least in part to the fact that the software allows me to focus on managing people and processes rather than getting buried by details.
Rental Property Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2019 · 63 posts · 17 votes
1y
I use Shuk for my rental properties and it's been great. It's a platform focused on landlords who self-manage and is low cost (only $5/month per unit). Some cool benefits include expense tracking (per property), the Lease Indiciation Tool (helps predict the likelihood of a tenant renewing the lease giving you the chance to renew early and/or increase monthly rent if you know someone wants to renew), Tenant Communication (via their app), Maintenance Requests, Tenant Payments, and more. It's been awesome and the founder of the company based has helped me when I've had questions on things regarding the platform. Go check it out! It's been great. You can just google "Shuk Rentals" and it's one of the first things to pop up.
