Balancing a W2 job with a growing portfolio
Category: Miscellaneous
4 replies
Original post
I'm up to six rentals now while still working full time and it's starting to feel unsustainable managing everything myself. At what point did you decide to bring on a property manager instead of self-managing?
Reply by Liam Whitfield
I hit this same wall around property number five. What finally helped wasn't hiring a full PM right away, it was outsourcing just the maintenance coordination first so my phone stopped being the emergency line. Might be worth trying before you commit to a full management fee.
Reply by Christina Calderon
The problem with property management is it's expensive. We self-manage but have automated absolutely everything that can be. When it starts to feel unmanageable even with our automations that's when we'll consider a PM.Reply by Sharlene Mulchandani
@[50c5b50c-8c09-4a4a-9acd-c402817e3778](Trevor Callahan) Six while working full time is genuinely a lot, so this makes total sense. Most people hit this exact wall around five or six doors.
Two quick things I'd think about: the money math (managers usually run about 8 to 10 percent of rent), and what's actually draining you, because sometimes you only need to hand off one piece like maintenance, not everything. Worth tightening up your systems first too, since that alone buys some people a lot more runway before hiring.