At what point did you decide to self-manage vs hire a PM?

Question

For those who’ve owned rentals both ways at what point did you decide to self-manage vs hire a property manager?

Industry data says the average landlord spends 40–60 hours per year per property on management tasks, and turnover alone can cost 1–2 months of rent between vacancy, repairs, and leasing.

I’ve also seen investors hit a breaking point when:
• they scale past 4–10 units
• properties are more than 30 minutes away
• tenant communication starts interrupting their primary job/business
• maintenance coordination becomes reactive instead of systemized

What was the tipping point for you personally?

Jim Johnson · Answer

I’ve found the tipping point usually has less to do with unit count alone and more to do with operational complexity and mental bandwidth.

Some people can comfortably self-manage 10+ units because the properties are nearby, stabilized, and systemized. Others hit the wall with just a few units if maintenance, tenant communication, distance, or turnovers start becoming disruptive to their primary work or personal life.

For me, the real shift happens when management stops feeling intentional and starts feeling reactive. Once you’re constantly context-switching, handling interruptions, or spending more energy coordinating than actually managing the asset strategically, that’s usually when a PM starts making more sense.

I also think there’s a middle ground a lot of owners overlook. Some investors still self-manage leasing, approvals, or financial oversight while outsourcing the day-to-day coordination side. It doesn’t always have to be all or nothing.

Kim Gray · Answer

Jamaal great question and one I have thought about a lot over the years.

My personal tipping point was never about unit count or distance. It was about systems. When I had a system — organized records, clear tenant communication, documented processes — self managing felt manageable regardless of how many properties I had. When the system broke down the management became overwhelming fast.

What I have learned over three decades of self managing:

The landlords who struggle most with self management are not the ones with too many properties. They are the ones with no system. Chaos at two units feels worse than order at ten.

The decision to hire a property manager should be driven by one question — is the cost of my time and stress worth more than the 8 to 10 percent I am paying? For most landlords with fewer than five properties in a reasonable market the math rarely works in the property manager's favor.

The breaking points Jamaal listed are real — distance, scale, and tenant communication interrupting your primary income are all legitimate triggers. But each one of those can be solved with the right system before you hand over 10 percent of your revenue permanently.

Build the system first. If the system cannot fix it then hire the property manager.

The tipping point is not a number. It is a breaking point you should try to prevent before it arrives.

Cameron Tope · Answer

I started looking for help at just over 5 properties.

I was working full time and couldn't give the properties the attention they needed!

Kenneth Garrett · Answer

@Jamaal Pratt

The amount of time I spend on self managing is less than an hour a month per property to manage it.  The biggest amount of time is replacing tenants.

I typically BRRRR my properties so maintenance and other types of calls are greatly reduced.  Keeping good quality tenants is the key.  Turnover is where pm takes more time and repairs to the unit.  40 -60 hours per year seems high unless the building requires on going maintenance issues.

Alexander Graff · Answer

I think a lot of owners can self-manage for a while, especially if they get lucky with a good tenant and minimal maintenance issues. When everything is quiet, it can feel pretty manageable. The real question is what happens when something eventually goes wrong, because at some point it will. A major repair, lease violation, non-payment, legal issue, difficult tenant, insurance claim, city compliance issue, vendor problem, etc. A lot of owners don’t realize how much they don’t know until they’re in the middle of one of those situations trying to figure it out in real time. The other part people underestimate is just how much time and mental energy it takes. Even if it’s not constant, you’re always somewhat “on call.” It starts bleeding into work, evenings, weekends, vacations, family time, all of it.

And operational efficiency matters more than people think too. Having strong vendor relationships, processes, legal compliance, inspections, documentation, and systems in place saves a lot of money long term. One bad tenant placement or one legal/compliance mistake can wipe out years of management savings pretty quickly. A lot of owners have dodged bullets but something WILL come up in time. From the property management side, the investors who seem happiest long term are usually the ones who decide they want to be investors, not full-time operators.

Theresa Harris · Answer

I think it depends on the person, the time they have to do things, their ability to do things and other factors.  I self manage some properties and call people to fix things when repairs are needed. I know the leasing rules for that area.  I have a PM for one property (had another they handled but sold it) as it may get rented to students who I work with and don't want to have a conflict of interest.

Vacancies depend on the area and demand.  With a PM, aside from once when there was a lease takeover, I've always had a 1 month vacancy between tenants.  The market is different than where the other rentals are, but also it takes them 1-2 weeks to inspect and clean the properties because of the shear volume they have to do.

Jamaal Pratt · Answer

I think that’s fair for a well-executed BRRRR portfolio, Kenneth, but I’d still argue a lot of owners underestimate how much time management actually takes because the work gets spread out in smaller pieces.

Even with solid tenants and renovated properties, turnovers, coordinating vendors, bookkeeping, lease renewals, compliance, inspections, and unexpected issues still require attention. It may not feel like 40–60 concentrated hours all at once, but over the course of a year it can add up pretty quickly depending on portfolio size and tenant profile.

That said, having strong systems upfront definitely changes the experience compared to landlords operating more reactively.

Drew Sygit · Answer

You're simplifying this way too much!

How many hours do you spend when you have to replace a tenant?

What about maintenance & repairs.

Then plug those numbers into your monthly average and there's no way it AVERAGES an hour/month/property.

Jamaal Pratt · Answer

That’s exactly where I think a lot of owners hit the inflection point. At Emerson, we see the biggest challenge usually isn’t the property itself it’s when operations become reactive instead of systemized.

One thing I’ve appreciated about our approach is that we operate properties with an ownership mentality, not just as an admin service. A lot of owners don’t necessarily want to give up strategic control they just want the day-to-day coordination, maintenance oversight, tenant communication, and enforcement handled professionally so they can focus on growth instead of constant interruptions.

Really good insight on the “middle ground” approach too. I think that’s becoming more common with experienced investors.

At what point did you decide to self-manage vs hire a PM?

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