Pros and Cons of Managing Your Own Rental Property

Owning a rental property can be a great way to supplement your income. However, if you are inexperienced or have other time consuming obligations, then you can easily find yourself in over your head. Therefore, hiring a property management company could seem like a good idea to alleviate these concerns. Let’s consider the pros and cons of this:

Pro: If you haven’t owned a rental property before, a property management company can make everything from the day-to-day maintenance and rent collection easier. These could be difficult and time consuming for a first time landlord who may find that they don’t have time to address tenant concerns and may also find that tenants take advantage of their inexperience when it comes to rent collection.

Con: Hiring a property management company obviously costs money and this will have to be factored in to your budget.

Pro: If you live far away from your rental property, hiring a property management company can be a huge time (and potentially money) saver as they will be able to handle the various inevitable problems that occur. This is typically preferable to multiple trips to your rental property to deal with problems you may even have to hire an outside contractor to fix.

Con: If you live near your rental property and have the time and know-how to deal with the variety of issues that can arise, a property management company could be an unnecessary expense.

Pro: If the property requires frequent maintenance then a property management company may be preferable even if you do live close by. A property management company will be able to devote more time to your property and may even be able to hire contractors at discounted rates due to being repeat customers. Furthermore, if you have more than one property, hiring a company to maintain them can be especially useful.

Con: Some properties will not require a great deal of regular maintenance and therefore, you might end up paying for services that you do not need. However, it is possible to hire a part time property manager or specialist who will be able to handle common problems, which might be an ideal solution for many.

Pro: Having an experienced property manager to address concerns of your tenants and collect rent can prevent you from having potentially negative interactions with tenants that could cause damage that could take years to undo.

Con: Having someone else represent your interests and property could lead to worrying if you do not trust them completely. As such, it is very important to ensure that you completely trust any property manager you hire.

Ultimately, the decision to hire a property manager will depend upon the circumstances of the rental property owner. For some, it may well be an unnecessary expense. For others, however, it could mean much more free time and much less stress which could be well worth a slightly narrower profit margin.