Help finding a property manager to help house hack a single family home(4BR & 2.5Ba)

Member since 2023 · 2 posts · 0 votes

Hi Bigger Pocket Fam,

I am new to the house hacking process and need help hacking a 4BR and 2.5Bath single-family home. I need help finding a property manager who can help me market and rent each room in the house. Most of the property management seems to only rent by the room. Please, any help will be appreciated.

Augustine Ubah

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Noah BaconPro Member

Property Manager · Lansdale, PA · Member since 2021 · 844 posts · 1k+ votes

Hey Augustine!

Before you start looking for a property manager, what are your biggest concerns renting the rooms and managing the property yourself?

It may be tough to find a property manager, and I would expect that you'll have a few additional fees when it comes to the rent by room strategy.

I'd encourage you to think about managing the property yourself when living there as the landlord, and would be happy to share some of the do's and don't's that I ran into self managing a few house hack properties.

Looking forward to your reply, and assisting any way that I can!

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Noah BaconPro Member
Property Manager · Lansdale, PA · Member since 2021 · 844 posts · 1k+ votes
2y
Hey Augustine!

Before you start looking for a property manager, what are your biggest concerns renting the rooms and managing the property yourself?
It may be tough to find a property manager, and I would expect that you'll have a few additional fees when it comes to the rent by room strategy.
I'd encourage you to think about managing the property yourself when living there as the landlord, and would be happy to share some of the do's and don't's that I ran into self managing a few house hack properties.
Looking forward to your reply, and assisting any way that I can!
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Scott TrenchPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 6k+ votes
2y
I agree with Noah. We are happy to introduce you to property managers (under “build your team” in the nav bar at the top of your screen). But a house hack is a perfect use case to DIY property management.
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Michael SmytheBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Metro Detroit · Member since 2023 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
2y
@Augustine Ubah VERY few PMCs offer rent-by-room services!
If you find one that does, expect to pay at least 15-20% management fees for handling all the extra headaches.
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Augustine Ubah
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Member since 2023 · 2 posts · 0 votes
2y
My biggest concern is finding good roommates/renters and dealing with bad actors and squatters. I have heard from multiple people about renters who refuse to pay rent and it may take a while to get them to leave. And sometimes the law is on their side. I don't know much about how to handle those situations. So I figured getting people who are more knowledgeable about the process should help avoid those issues.

I don't mind doing it on my own. But I feel like there is a lot involved that I don't know much about.
Any do's and don'ts would be highly appreciated.
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Noah BaconPro Member
Property Manager · Lansdale, PA · Member since 2021 · 844 posts · 1k+ votes
2y
Quote from @Augustine Ubah:

My biggest concern is finding good roommates/renters and dealing with bad actors and squatters.

Finding good renters is going to be every house hackers biggest concern.

Since you are a private landlord, you can set you application guidelines as strict (within reason) as you need to feel comfortable. For example, if you find a PM that uses a 600+ credit score minimum for the portfolio they manage and you want 700+ then you are allowing the PM to follow less strict guidelines and opening you home to greater risk.

For the marketing side of things, I'd recommend using Zillow, Apartments.com, Redfin, and Facebook for potential word of mouth in your sphere. Since you are living there, it should be much easier to set up showings rather than a traditional rental traveling to the property.
The biggest mistake I have made, and seen other makes, is loosening their guidelines after a few weeks/months of vacancy because they have simply had enough.

There is a lot that you don't know, but house hacking and managing the property yourself will give you that step, not leap, into property management where the mistakes you make will come with far smaller dollar signs and very valuable learning experiences.....and of course, you keep you hard earned rent in your pocket which will only help you moving forward.
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