Is a property manager necessary?

[Brandon Morgan]

Hi all, I recently bought a house near Scranton PA it is my first investment property. I live in the Jersey/NY area which is about 2 hours from Scranton. I am still looking for renters and I am wondering if it is necessary for me to get a property manager since I live far away. sometimes there are random things that need to be taken care of that I can't do right away since I do not live close. My realtor says it is not necessary since she can take care of some thing but I do not want to solely rely on her. to anyone investing in this area is it necessary to get a property manager? what is your experience with this and do you have any recommendations?

[Corby Goade]

I'm going to go ahead and disagree with everyone else here. 

Just scroll through these boards and you'll quickly see how badly things can go for amatuer property managers who are trying to save a couple bucks. It's really easy to create stressful and costly problems for yourself in this game, and as an investor, your time is much better spent learning and working on your next deal rather than trying to find a handyman on craigslist who will pump water out of your basement in another state at 3am. 

Think of PM like insurance- you wouldn't own a property without insuring it. 99% of the time, things are fine and you don't need the insurance and it feels like you are throwing money away, but when your house floods or burns down, you'll be happy you paid those premiums. 

The irony of this is that if you find a great PM, their processes will probably make the entire experience passive for them and for you- that's exactly what you want.