Self Management or Property Manager

[Kasey Rowe]

My wife and I are about to put our home up for rent. This will be our first foray into landlording. I am torn between self managing or going with a property manager. The only thing that concerns me about self managing is the legal side of things. I am not worried about handling the maintenance calls or any of that. Is it best for newbies to start with a property manager and give up some of the profit as a learning cost?

[Nicole Heasley Beitenman]

I would self-manage. Budget for PM so you aren't in the red when the time comes to hand it over, but you need the experience when you're starting out.