It depends on how experienced you are, and how much time/money you can invest while you learn. On the surface, managing a rental property seems like a pretty simple proposition. When you really get into all the ‘little’ things that can happen with a home and a tenant, and the laws that govern how you work with both, it is more than most people can handle well. That’s why very few people manage their own rental homes long term. Most people handling a rental home for the first time will end up going with a property management company, or let frustration push them out of real estate investing entirely. How much does it cost you every day to have your property sit vacant? If you don’t know, you should figure it out. Rent/30 is the cost of each vacant day while your busy life commitments push the rental to the back burner. Most people can’t afford NOT to hire a professional property manager.

Unless you have a solid background in property management, your most expensive choice will probably be to ‘save some money’ and manage the home yourself. Unless you are very good at pricing your rental, running an ad, taking calls, and negotiating a lease, it is easy to add a month or two to each vacancy. You may lease the house for less than it is worth, or settle for a tenant you can’t properly screen. Unless you are experienced with managing the tenant, it is easy to have a simple 30 day eviction turn into 60 days or more of lost income. With a regular full time job taking your time, even seasoned experts can rarely manage their own rental home efficiently enough to save money over a professional property management company. Those extra vacant months quickly cost you more than Management fees ever will.