Self-managing landlords: what’s the most time-consuming part of managing your rentals
Member since 2026 · 2 posts · 4 votes
Self-managing landlords: what’s the most time-consuming part of managing your rentals
Most Popular Reply
Member since 2011 · 152 posts · 113 votes
6moProbably maintenance and repairs. Or at least it seems like that because those things are the least controlled in terms of when they need to be addressed. The other items are routine.
22 Replies
- Member since 2011 · 152 posts · 113 votes6mo
Probably maintenance and repairs. Or at least it seems like that because those things are the least controlled in terms of when they need to be addressed. The other items are routine.
- Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2022 · 4 posts · 3 votes2mo
Quote from @Joel Miller:
Probably maintenance and repairs. Or at least it seems like that because those things are the least controlled in terms of when they need to be addressed. The other items are routine.
Agreed. Would add maintenance/repair communication with tenants, vendors + scheduling and follow ups. Most time consuming.
- Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 10k+ votes6mo
12 properties:
Bookkeeping 30 minutes/month
Repairs 0-60 minutes/mo
HOA complaints 0-90 minutes/mo
Everything else is pretty automated
Advertising/screening/Showings can suck up a few hours. But our average tenant stays about 7 years. (Between 5-12 years currently if you don’t count 2 in 2024.) if thsi happened more frequently it would be by far the worst part.
- Member since 2026 · 8 posts · 7 votes6moI’m with Bill here , We have 20 properties 4 counties in California , and we don’t really spend to much time in managing if you have 3 or 4 handyman Contacts available to call for repairs , you may want to set up quick books on your phone for bookkeeping, I don’t don’t have to deal with HOA but maybe city violations one’s in a blue mom . The advertising and showing part can take a while , you would need booths on the ground if you live far away from your rentals (which means you would not have to spend time showing you properties to tentative tenants ) you would need one or two people ready to show the property for you when you call for help . It’s really very easy
- Investor · Tampa, FL · Member since 2026 · 24 posts · 18 votes6mo
For me its the drive time. I've got 8 doors across Tampa and Ocala and the actual work at any one property is usually quick but getting there and back eats a couple hours I didn't plan for. Maintenance calls are unpredictable but they don't take that much time if you've got good contractors you trust to just go handle it. I've got two guys I can text a photo to and they'll have it sorted without me even driving out there.
The real time suck nobody talks about is the mental overhead. You're at your W-2 job and a tenant texts you about a broken garbage disposal and now you're thinking about that instead of your actual work for the next 20 minutes. It's not that the garbage disposal takes long to fix, it's that it interrupts everything else you're doing. That started wearing on me around door 5 or 6 and its honestly the main reason I'm looking at handing things to a PM.
- Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2026 · 11 posts · 16 votes6mo
Tenant turnover coordination is the one that catches me off guard every time. I've got 6 SFH in the Indy metro and the day-to-day stuff barely takes any time, but when someone moves out it's this burst of work all at once. Scheduling the cleaners, getting minor repairs done, listing, showing, screening. Probably 10-15 hours compressed into a couple weeks. My average tenancy is about 2.4 years so it only hits a couple times a year, but when it does I feel it.
- Real Estate Agent · Memphis · Member since 2026 · 558 posts · 326 votes6mo
For a lot of owners, it’s not one task — it’s the constant context switching between them.
Maintenance coordination usually takes the most time because it involves multiple parties (tenant, vendor, scheduling, approvals). But tenant communication and follow-ups often add just as much time, especially when issues drag out over several messages or calls.
The individual tasks themselves aren’t always complicated. What tends to consume time is the back-and-forth and lack of a clear process. When requests, payments, and communication all run through different channels, the workload multiplies quickly.
Most self-managing owners I’ve seen struggle less with the work itself and more with keeping everything organized and predictable.
- 6moRyan SpathBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Boise, ID · Member since 2017 · 565 posts · 377 votes
Quote from @Raatul Ahmed:
Quick question for landlords who self-manage.
I’m curious what other landlords are dealing with right now.
What part of managing rentals takes up the most time for you?
• collecting rent from tenants
• chasing late payments
• maintenance requests and repairs
• tenant communication
• bookkeeping / tracking payments
• something else?
I’ve been talking with a few landlords recently and it seems like everyone struggles with different parts of the process.
Curious what other landlords here are dealing with.
I self-manage a dozen doors in two states. We have great systems and refine this as needed. For me it comes down to two things.
1. Turning properties, coordinating the move out walkthrough, repairs, cleaning after move out, next listing the unit for rent and screening / showing property to new tenants.
2. Maintenance requests and repairs - we have a few older properties and sometimes the issues that come up are time consuming. For example, Last week a tenant reached out due to water on the floor Infront of the fridge. After having someone go out to the unit we found out the water line of the fridge broke. This caused us to have to replace some of the flooring in the kitchen (LVP) and replace the fridge.
Fortunately, we have amazing relationships and honest people so this was 1 phone call and scheduling a fridge to be delivered. None the less it took time to make the calls and coordinate this.
- Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes6mo
One person can manage between 50 and 100 doors depending on turnover. That's a full time job and most is maintenance, diagnosing issues (drive time) and turnover.
- Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes6mo
Here's the view from the other side...as a retired PM that managed from a minimum of 125 rental units to a max of about 850 during different periods, what was most apparent to me when taking on new Clients and their existing properties (regardless if managed by them or another PM) was the work they created for themselves due to not being systematic; not making smart, timely, repairs and upgrades; not being responsive to Tenants by phone, or email; not being consistent with enforcement; and not being willing (or able in some cases) to maintain a reasonable standard of care for their property. The number ONE cause of problems however, was simply poor screening of Tenants and incomplete or poorly drafted Rental Agreements and other Notices and documentation.
Every time you fail to respond with an actual answer to a voice mail or email in a timely manner, you WILL get additional calls and emails that take up more time. If you do not make timely and proper repairs, you WILL get additional calls and emails, from an angrier Tenant. If you are not able or willing to provide clean, safe, functional housing, you will have low grade Tenants.
Granted, we always had an accounting department to handle the funds, but every job, every invoice was approved by me (and previously by Owner where needed) and coded for the proper account before being passed to accounting. I received delinquency reports across all properties on the first "late" day, for my followup. I reviewed Owner Financial reports each month before they were sent out, looking for any accounting input errors. I always handled all vendors and oversight of emergency calls, service calls, inspections, showings, project management for reno's, and random drive-bys checking for security lighting not functioning or other issues. With solid systems and competent Vendors, headaches are few and far between.
- 6moRyan SpathBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Boise, ID · Member since 2017 · 565 posts · 377 votes
Quote from @Richard F.:
Here's the view from the other side...as a retired PM that managed from a minimum of 125 rental units to a max of about 850 during different periods, what was most apparent to me when taking on new Clients and their existing properties (regardless if managed by them or another PM) was the work they created for themselves due to not being systematic; not making smart, timely, repairs and upgrades; not being responsive to Tenants by phone, or email; not being consistent with enforcement; and not being willing (or able in some cases) to maintain a reasonable standard of care for their property. The number ONE cause of problems however, was simply poor screening of Tenants and incomplete or poorly drafted Rental Agreements and other Notices and documentation.
Every time you fail to respond with an actual answer to a voice mail or email in a timely manner, you WILL get additional calls and emails that take up more time. If you do not make timely and proper repairs, you WILL get additional calls and emails, from an angrier Tenant. If you are not able or willing to provide clean, safe, functional housing, you will have low grade Tenants.
Granted, we always had an accounting department to handle the funds, but every job, every invoice was approved by me (and previously by Owner where needed) and coded for the proper account before being passed to accounting. I received delinquency reports across all properties on the first "late" day, for my followup. I reviewed Owner Financial reports each month before they were sent out, looking for any accounting input errors. I always handled all vendors and oversight of emergency calls, service calls, inspections, showings, project management for reno's, and random drive-bys checking for security lighting not functioning or other issues. With solid systems and competent Vendors, headaches are few and far between.
Great insight! thanks for sharing
- Property Manager · Calabasas, CA · Member since 2026 · 141 posts · 67 votes6mo
For residential it's usually maintenance or turnover. But if you manage any commercial leases mixed in — NNN, gross, modified gross — the list shifts pretty fast.
For small CRE operators the thing nobody mentions: CAM reconciliation and tracking reimbursements. Year-end rolls around and you're piecing together what you estimated vs. what you actually spent per tenant, per property. If you've got 5+ tenants across a few properties on different lease structures, that process is brutal in a spreadsheet.
Most PM tools were built for residential so they treat CAM as an afterthought. We built PigJet (pigjet.com) specifically for small/mid commercial landlords dealing with this — native NNN/CAM tracking, rent escalation reminders, QuickBooks sync. Not trying to pitch here, just relevant to the thread since nobody mentioned commercial-specific pain.
For purely residential: agree with others that it's maintenance coordination + the mental overhead Marcus D. mentioned. The interruption cost is real.
- 3moDrew SygitBusiness MemberProperty Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
Quote from @Raatul Ahmed:
Quick question for landlords who self-manage.
I’m curious what other landlords are dealing with right now.
What part of managing rentals takes up the most time for you?
• collecting rent from tenants
• chasing late payments
• maintenance requests and repairs
• tenant communication
• bookkeeping / tracking payments
• something else?
I’ve been talking with a few landlords recently and it seems like everyone struggles with different parts of the process.
Curious what other landlords here are dealing with.
oh boy, ANOTHER vibe coder picking our brains for free!
Logical Property Management4.9458 Reviews - Property Manager · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2018 · 19 posts · 3 votes3mo
A lot of landlords I’ve seen don’t actually struggle with the tasks themselves — it’s more about keeping visibility across rent, maintenance, and communication in one place.
Do you currently track everything in one system, or multiple tools? - Specialist · Goa, India · Member since 2026 · 175 posts · 36 votes3mo
@Marcus Auerbach said it perfectly — it's not the task itself, it's the interruption cost. A tenant text about a garbage disposal doesn't take long to handle but it pulls you out of whatever you were doing for the next 20 minutes. Multiply that by 8 doors and it becomes a real drag on your day.
The fix isn't working harder or responding faster — it's removing yourself from the first layer of communication entirely. When a tenant submits a request it gets automatically logged, they get an instant acknowledgment, and you only get notified with full context when something actually needs your decision. No more reactive interruptions — just a clean queue you check on your schedule.
@Jim Johnson put it well — it's not the individual tasks, it's the context switching between them across different channels. A single automated system that connects tenant intake, logging, vendor notification, and follow-up eliminates most of that switching cost before it ever reaches you.
For anyone past 5-6 doors still managing through texts and personal email — the mental overhead alone is worth solving before the portfolio grows further.
— Andrea
- Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes3moIf you are losing 20 minutes to deal with a written garbage disposal service request, you have much bigger problems! Hire a competent PM...
Quote from @Andrea Fernandes:
@Marcus Auerbach said it perfectly — it's not the task itself, it's the interruption cost. A tenant text about a garbage disposal doesn't take long to handle but it pulls you out of whatever you were doing for the next 20 minutes. Multiply that by 8 doors and it becomes a real drag on your day.
The fix isn't working harder or responding faster — it's removing yourself from the first layer of communication entirely. When a tenant submits a request it gets automatically logged, they get an instant acknowledgment, and you only get notified with full context when something actually needs your decision. No more reactive interruptions — just a clean queue you check on your schedule.
@Jim Johnson put it well — it's not the individual tasks, it's the context switching between them across different channels. A single automated system that connects tenant intake, logging, vendor notification, and follow-up eliminates most of that switching cost before it ever reaches you.
For anyone past 5-6 doors still managing through texts and personal email — the mental overhead alone is worth solving before the portfolio grows further.
— Andrea
- Specialist · Goa, India · Member since 2026 · 175 posts · 36 votes3mo
Fair point on PM being the right call for some — but Marcus and others in this thread specifically described wanting to stay self-managing, just without the constant interruptions. That's a different problem than needing full management. The goal isn't replacing a PM, it's reducing the cognitive load for landlords who've chosen to stay in control of their portfolio. Those are two different use cases.
- online · Member since 2026 · 99 posts · 44 votes2mo
For me it's less the maintenance requests themselves, those are usually quick once they come in, and more the stuff that doesn't announce itself as a task. Nobody sends you a request when the water heater is 9 years into a 12 year lifespan, it just quietly sits there until it fails and becomes an actual request. That planning side, staying ahead of what's aging across multiple properties instead of reacting when something breaks, ends up eating more mental bandwidth than the reactive stuff on your list, even though it's invisible day to day.
I actually ended up building ReserveTrack for that specific gap, tracking system age and lifespan so the "getting ahead of it" part doesn't rely on memory. Curious if others feel the same about this being the sneaky time sink, or if reactive maintenance genuinely takes more of your time once you're past a property or two.
- Investor · Akron, OH · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 4k+ votes2mo
78 units over 3 counties. for property managment, it's definitely turnover in the summer. Really though because we buy value add properties to renovate, I spend the vast majority of my time doing project management for renovations and when we are buying and selling properties, I spend a fair amount of time on that process too.
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