Should I Manage My Own Rental Property?

Managing rental properties yourself can be incredibly challenging if you don’t have any support.

You can do it, but you need the right tools and support to simplify the process and streamline things enough to where they’re easily manageable.

Without those tools in place, you’ll quickly find that managing a rental property yourself can be pretty stressful.

With them, everything becomes easier.

Whether you should manage your own rental property, however, is about more than just that.

Below, we’ll dive into some of the pros and cons of managing your own rental property.

We’ll also talk about how to manage your own rental property to give you a better idea of what it entails.

The goal is to give you a crystal clear idea of whether or not you think managing your own properties is the direction you’d like to go. 

We’ll finish by touching on a useful tool that makes managing your own property even easier.

Pros and Cons of managing your own rental property

Below are both pros and cons of managing your own business as a property owner.

There’s no doubt that there are quite a few pros, but there are also some cons to be aware of that may influence your decision.

Here they are:

Pro: You save on property management fees

When it comes to property management, you really have two main options:

• Do it yourself, or
• Hire professional property management companies to do it for you

The problem with hiring a property manager is that they typically charge around 10% of your total rental income, a huge amount for the average property manager.

This isn’t even feasible if your profit margins are lower than 10%, and even if they are, you're undoubtedly cutting into a huge portion of that profit.

By managing your properties yourself, you keep 100% of your profit, which for many is reason enough to decide to manage their properties themselves. 

What makes this easier is if you use property management software to help you do things like collect rent automatically each month, fully manage your property maintenance, automatically list vacant units to keep your properties filled, and more. 

This wasn’t available in the past, making self-management more attractive than ever. 

Pro: No one will manage your property like you will

The truth about property management is that, while you may be hiring a professional, that professional doesn’t have the same attachment to the property like you do.

Where you’d do whatever it takes to ensure that property is successful, a property management company may or may not do a good job.

The difficult part is that it’s very hard to know which way that will go when you first hire them. 

Pro: Develop new skills and knowledge

Another notable point is that by doing your own property management, you’ll be learning all kinds of new skills and taking in new knowledge.

This knowledge isn’t just related to managing your property but also the rental industry as a whole, which will make you a better investor.

And who knows, you might even decide to go into property management if you enjoy it and put that knowledge to even more use. 

Pro: You retain full control over your property

A little known fact about property management is that while you get help managing those properties, you also give up some control.

By hiring another company to do the job of managing that property, you’d typically be allowing them to set up their own systems and processes.

This isn’t always the case, but it can be, so it’s something to think about. 

Con: Managing a rental property takes a lot of work

While you may not shy away from the work, and there are tools for making it immensely easier to manage your properties, it’s still important to know that managing a rental property isn’t a passive thing. 

Con: You’ll have to handle difficult jobs, like rent collection and evictions, yourself

Some aspects of managing rental property are easier than others. 

One of the harder things to manage is rent collection, especially when you have late tenants, and the rare eviction.

It’s worth noting, however, that you can set up automatic rent collection with property management software like DoorLoop, making it incredibly easy.

Plus, you can use DoorLoop’s tenant screening tools to ensure you’re accepting only the best new tenants that are less likely to give you trouble down the road, helping avoid things like late rent and evictions.

How to manage your own rental property

Now that we’ve covered the pros and cons of self-managing your rental property, let’s talk about how to manage your own rental property.

The goal of this section is to help you put yourself in the shoes of a landlord managing their own property, particularly if you’ve never done it before.

This should help you decide if it’s a fit for you. 

Keep in mind that there is more to it than this, but these are the major overarching tasks involved: 

1. Obtain tenants

This includes: 

• Finding tenants on listing sites like Zillow and Apartments.com
• Screening those tenants to ensure you’re bringing in only high-quality tenants
• And complete and sign the lease

2. Manage those tenants

Managing your tenants involves:

• Establishing a safe and healthy living environment
• Collecting rent
• Handling maintenance requests
• And communicating with tenants

3. Staying on top of property maintenance

Property maintenance is one of those things that many property owners don’t factor into the property management equation when purchasing their property.

However, it’s one of the most important aspects of property management.

This includes:

• Handling tenant maintenance requests
• Managing regular, ongoing repairs
• Doing regular property inspections

4. Do your accounting

Property accounting is a big job, though software can greatly simplify this job.

Still it requires regular upkeep and is incredibly important in making sure that your property is profitable.

This includes:

• Running reports to ensure profitability
• Handling security deposits
• Filing taxes
• Storing property-finance related documents

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Is It Right For You?

Deciding whether to manage your rental property yourself or hiring a property management company mainly comes down to two things:

• Money
• Time, and
• Control

If you have the money but want more time and are willing to give up some control, property management is worth considering.

If you don’t have the extra profit, property management isn’t an option, and if you have the time and rather retain control over your property, self-managing is the way to go.

No matter what you decide, it’s important to know what your options are so that you can make an informed decision.

Like how DoorLoop’s property management software can make self-managing your property way easier. 

Not only bringing in and moving in new tenants but:

• Collecting rent
• Tracking your property finances
• Managing your property maintenance
• Communicating with tenants
• Keeping everything organized in one convenient place
• And much more

If managing your own rental property sounds right for you, a tool like DoorLoop can help make your entire effort easier and more seamless.

Schedule a free demo with DoorLoop today and see what it can do for you!

Want to learn how to choose the best property management software to automate your business? Check out this free whitepaper!

Want to learn more about managing a rental property? Check out our plethora of resources here!