7 Reasons Rental Self-Management Could Be Right For You

1) Flexible Schedule

A flexible schedule is important, especially during the leasing phase. You’ll need to be available during the day to show the property to prospective residents. On an ongoing basis, you’ll also need to be available to answer calls from your resident, schedule maintenance, and collect late rent.

2) Extra Bandwidth

This is similar to point #1, but worth calling out on its own. You may have a flexible schedule, but still have plenty of responsibilities and no time to devote to self-management.

Or, you may be in a situation where your schedule is pretty open and you have extra capacity. You have time to research vendors and make sure they’re properly insured. You don’t mind spending time educating yourself on regulations and working with your attorney to answer questions. You’re available to show your property to prospective residents. Overall, you’re not very busy and devoting time to managing your own property isn’t a big deal.

3) A rolodex of good contractors

Having a list of good contractors is key as a self-manager. Know who you’ll call for handyman work, emergency repair, plumbing, HVAC, cleaning, locksmith, and other common maintenance needs. It’s also important that you ensure these contracts are licensed and insured. Thinking about sending your neighbor’s kid who worked for a plumber one summer to fix a leak? That could open you up to risk. Maybe they don’t fix it correctly and cause additional damage. If they’re not licensed you may not have recourse and be stuck with the bill. What if they get hurt on the property? If they’re not insured they may look to your property insurance to help them cover medical expenses. Finally, is resident safety. Remember, you’re sending this person into your resident’s home, and your resident trusts that you’ve vetted contractors appropriately.

yourself on the laws and regulations you’ll need to abide by. Your investment property is likely an important part of your overall portfolio. Doing things by the book and avoiding lawsuits is foundational to achieving returns on the investment and being a good landlord. A misstep that results in a lawsuit may erase any additional returns you’ve achieved by self-managing.

6) Tenant Screening Process

As a self-manager, you’ll need to have a process to accept application and screen tenants. Finding the right tenant who has a high likelihood of paying rent on-time and maintaining your property will be critical in determining what kind of management experience you’re setting yourself up for.  At the time of writing, google reported search terms like “no credit check for homes for rent by owner” getting about 10,000 searches each month. As a self-manager your screening process and criteria, is up to you (plus be sure you’re following the laws and regulations).

7) Difficult Conversations

You’re willing to have difficult conversations. Hopefully, you’ve screened your tenant well, they’re taking great care of your property and rent is arriving on time each month. However, if there is an issue it is up to you to address it. Imagine your tenant isn’t mowing the lawn regularly and neighbors are calling you complaining.  If you’re uncomfortable discussing issues with your tenant, then self-managing may be a stressful endeavor.

Should I Self-Manage?

If you’re feeling empowered after reading through each of these considerations and want to give self-management a shot, we wish you the best of luck! Self-management can be a great path in the right circumstance.

On the other hand, if you don’t feel like self-management is the right path for you then we’d love to connect. Give us a call for a no-obligation conversation. We’re happy to answer any questions you have about navigating investment property ownership with a property management partner.

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