Property Management: Hire Someone and Stay on Top of Them

TLDR
If you’re holding a rental, don’t manage it yourself. Hire a property management company and run them the same way you run contractors: monthly audits, accountability, and no blind trust.

Table of Contents

Why DIY Property Management Is a Trap

Most of this course is about house flipping. But as we’ve covered in the Steps, there will be moments where you hold a house instead of selling it. You either flip it or you keep it, and that decision usually comes down to whether you need the cash right now.

When you hold, you need someone to manage it.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you DIY property management is impossible. But I am going to tell you it’s a bad use of your time at this stage. You need to be focused on your next deal. You need to be building skills, finding deals, running construction. Managing tenants, handling maintenance calls at 11pm, chasing down late rent payments: that’s not where your energy should go.

Get a property management company. They exist precisely for this reason.

Your job is to build wealth. Their job is to handle the day-to-day.

What to Look for in a PM Company

Use the same principles you use when evaluating contractors. You’re looking for:

  • Responsiveness. Do they return calls? Do they communicate proactively? If they’re slow with you as a potential client, they’ll be slow with your tenant maintenance calls.
  • Fee structure. Most charge 8-12% of monthly rent. Know what’s included, what costs extra, and what your repair authorization limit is before you sign anything.
  • Tenant placement process. How do they screen tenants? What’s their average vacancy time? These numbers matter a lot.
  • Monthly reporting. They should send you a clear monthly statement showing all income and expenses. No surprises.

Interview them. Ask for references from other investors who use them, not just homeowners.

How to Manage Your Manager

Hiring a PM company doesn’t mean you disappear. It means you shift from daily operator to monthly auditor.

Every month when the statement comes in, look at it. Actually look at it.

  • Are the rents being collected on time?
  • Are expenses reasonable for what was done?
  • Is there any maintenance that keeps repeating, which might signal a bigger problem?
  • Is there anything that looks unfamiliar?

Ask questions. That’s it. You’re not micromanaging, you’re staying informed. The moment you go dark and stop looking at the numbers, that’s when things drift.

Think about what’s happening to your investment while you do this. Your tenant is paying your mortgage. Your equity is growing. Your property is appreciating. All while you’re working on the next deal. That’s the whole point.

Pro Tip
Set a calendar reminder for the first of every month to review the PM statement. Ten minutes a month protects an asset worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

FAQ

Can I manage my first rental myself to save on fees?

You can, but consider the tradeoff carefully. PM fees on a $1,200/month rental are maybe $120/month. If managing it yourself costs you 5 hours of your time and prevents you from finding your next deal, you paid for those fees many times over in lost opportunity.

How do I find a good property management company?

Ask other local investors. Check Google reviews, but weight investor feedback over homeowner feedback. The experience is different. The National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM) is a good starting point for credentialed companies.

What if the PM company isn’t performing?

Replace them. Same rules as contractors. Give clear feedback, set expectations, give a reasonable window to correct course. If they don’t, move on. There are plenty of PM companies in every market.