Yeah it can be so hard to manage on your own when you have terrible tenants, its just so much extra stress!
I have always been the type to do things myself however they have never been anything major that could affect anything too serious. For example, you are considering if you should do it yourself or hire someone to; I would pay the fee and let the professionals do their job. Sure you would be saving money if you did it yourself but what if you don't like the tenants? What if you end up getting someone completely sketchy and undesirable in your home? I am a land owner and have made the mistake of finding tenants on my own. One of them stole from multiple high end stores and hid their belongings in my home that was for rent... One court case and 3 years later I wish that I had hired a professional to do the work the right way then me taking a gamble and being cheap trying to save some money. I really hope this helps you to decide, even if my case may have been an extreme, you never know. Best of luck!
Some people in this life are so disrespectful, i can't imagine a court case, mark you its your property your going to court over, yet i like the way you've said it LittleMissMia, if someone is taking your kindness for weakness, its best to hire a professional who means business and non-nonsense.
With the rise of internet marketplaces an social media, professional brokerage agencies have lost one of their most prominent edges: the size of their network. The way I see it, the only other service they provide besides their network is basic common sense, such as screening potential tenants and NOT renting your place out to the shady applicants. As for the horror stories out there, even 'pros' cannot protect you against bad tenants. The most they could do is the above, screening potential tenants and also strictly kicking tenants out when they fall behind on rent. All those things you can easily do by yourself. It all comes down to opportunity cost: Is the amount of time you'll spend doing all of the above worth the fees asked by the brokerage?
I'd say it sort of depends where you live and if you're having problems finding tenants for your property. The guy I currently rent from has had absolutely no issues finding tenants because we live near a college and he's been able to rent to college students for the past 10 years. In fact, the people he currently has most of the time do the work for him by just getting friends to replace people who live. That might be a unique situation though. If you have troublesome tenants or problems finding people and don't really have the time to deal with it yourself, then it might be worth investing in someone to manage the property.
Well, as a tenant, here's how I would look at it. Do you have the time to commit to dropping by your property if an emergency comes up? What if your garage door is broken, and your wall insulation is faulty, do you know how to handle these situations personally, can you a professional who does, or does your agent? What about your tenant, do you want to pick them out yourself or rely on your agent? Furthermore, if you deal with the tenant personally, you will need to give them your own information, as well as commit your own time/money/effort. If your agent isn't good, then your tenant isn't going to be pleased.
There is this tenant that i had...the house was in utter mess and i needed it repaired so we formed a sort of informal agreement that he'd do the work and split his share off my rent money...talk of lameness on my part, the guy was a pro thief and he still insists i owe him money, talk of a slimy guy...one word; yuck!
I like to go through a real estate because they handle all the legal stuff for you. If any problems should arise they are there to help as well. It;s scary as you never know who is moving into your home. They can look a certain way, but be completely different behind closed doors. I like having someone on my side all the time. The cost for the real estate to handle the home pays for itself with less stress in your life.
I think that you should think more about the long run. Yes it costs money to pay for upfront. However, you are going to save yourself a lot of headache. The people that you hire do this day in and day out. In my opinion, the research that needs to be done should be finding a quality agent who has the experience and qualifications to do this job. At the end of the day it is up to you. But, ask yourself this question- Do you want to be a business owner or a sole-proprietor? The key in business is to leverage other people's time and money. You do not want to have the continuous headache of dealing with these random calls and fiasco. Hire someone that will keep you in the loop and handle these problems for you. Because you are going to be paying with your time and money when you do it yourself. Because, I can guarantee you that when the unexpected comes up that agent that you hire will more likely have been exposed to the situation. You will be learning how to deal with it. Manage your business. You cannot do that if you are always caught up in the day-to-day stuff.
This has always been my way of thinking, too, and it's worked out great. Also remember that it *may* not even be much or any out of your pocket to have a property manager. We had a rent in mind for our house that's near a huge and politically/technology, etc. important area. We thought $1800 and would have been thrilled with that. Turns out the property manager we hired said "nope, no way, you can get $2200 easily for that location" and he went about proving it by finding a tenant almost immediately. Bottom line, we didn't have to pay him out of the $1800 rent we wanted... he takes his 10% out of the $2200 and we still end up with more monthly rent than we intended with manager fees already taken out.
