Property management

[sherrys office]

Is it better to manage a property yourself or have a management company do it for you. I have a company that can screen the tenants for me, and an attorney that can help me if I need to evict anyone, and I think I can advertise to find the people to fill my houses. But for 10% of the monthly payment I can hire a company to do that for me and more. I just wonder if it's really worth it. I would appreciate any advice on this!!!

[tedjr]

I made the mistake of hiring a company to manage. It costs too much. If you can afford it and especially if you live a long way from the property then it is a good idea. You can do your own evictions too if you manage yourself. I do like the idea of tenant screening and that is not too expensice either. Good luck however you go.

Good luck and thank you,
Ted P. Stokely Jr
11505 Sw Oaks
Austin, Texas  78737
512-301-9171 home
512-587-6177 mobile

[agkatz]

Again... it gets back to "highest and best use of your time."  

I figure that the average property manager gets paid about $15 to $17 an hour.  

Is your time worth more than this?  

MINE IS!!!

Plus, I have no desire to learn and keep up with fair housing laws, contracts, etc...

In my book (no it's not for sale!):  Strive to put everything you can on autopilot.  If 5%-10% of rents is too expensive, then this tells me that your deals are too thin.

[Hal Roark]

Sherry,

Lots of folks are really, really nervous about managing tenants in the beginning.  It's really not nearly as bad as folks fear, when you learn the tricks of the trade and learn to run your landlording activities like a professional and not an amateur.

I recommend that you do it yourself at first, to learn the trade, and then, later think about hiring a manager.  Just remember this: NOBODY will ever care more about your investments than you, no matter how good, caring, competent, professional, etc they may seem.

Hope this helps,

Hal

[sherrys office]

Thankyou, I appreciate everyone's input!

[travistane]

I appreciate the work of contractors even the agents who do some screening process for me to create more improvement in my property. they also take time to deal with tenants with good options.

[Estrogen Hostage]

Sherry,

I've been doing management of mine and one other persons rentals for about two years now. There's a learning curve for sure, but I find I like it. I agree with the points brought up above about pay and such, but I like doing it. I find that the management itself is easy to do on a small scale in otherwise wasted time like when driving or at lunch. I do a fair amount of my own maintenance too, but I enjoy doing it. I make a work order list for myself about 4-6 hours long and spend a Saturday doing it. If I don't want to do it, I hire someone to come in and do it. I found that my kids and wife sleep from 12-3 Saturday anyway, and we have a gal show up at 9 to help my wife pick up and clean the house. So, me being gone from 9-3 isn't a big deal at all!!

Regarding tenants, I've had good luck. I've had a few hard discussions to have with them, but I have upscale rentals (in my area). My tenants are likewise more upscale.

I just passed on an opportunity to buy a house that rents at 3% purchase price because I didn't want to deal with the type of people that would rent that house. A management company would have charged $65 min. or 15% to manage it but vacancy would be higher, etc than a larger house in a better area. I'm not interested in dealing with those types of tenants.

[justin0419]

EH,
Sherry hasn't been seen here in over seven years.  Tristane dredged up an oldie this time.

[Hughes Investments]

Property managers in my area (Wilm, NC) charge around $250 "setup" and 12%.

[LarissaLima]

This communication may end after the contract is signed, but could continue if the owner wishes to maintain a link with its communication buffer with the tenant. This is usually the case if the owner lives far from the location of the selection process property.During and after the contract of the residence has been established, the management services of the property may be responsible for maintaining communication between the landlord and the tenant or potential tenant.