hire a property management company.... I had 23 units at one point and managed them myself because I was young and energetic.... and not too bright!!!! hire a company, especially today with so many laws in favor of the tenants....

can't take the front door off the hinges anymore.... 

I do not want to deal with property management.  I would hire it out.

There are a few benefits to each way:

PM = you never have to hear your tenants voice or whining.

YOU = unlisted phone # after a few months, people calling you because a light bulb is out at 3am. You WILL save money but you might get grey hair in the process.

MIRACLE = nice tenant who doesn't bug you.

You just got to real estate. 

Do it yourself. 

Make money and learn. It will bring you more customers. 

Wishing the best!

I'm all for professional property management. You need a buffer and you need a life.

Hire a property management company.  

Depends on what you're doing with the rest of your life. I do not have the intestinal fortitude to deal with tenants. I know many who do successfully. My best friend, a real estate broker, is also mama kitty to two dozen sets of her own tenants and handles her real estate business just fine. She loves it. But she has the temperament for it.

  Property manager.

  If you DIY:

  Make sure that you are properly Insured (you, and the owner, and the properties).

  Have a thorough knowledge of Landlord-Tenant laws, Lease laws, etc.

  Have a go-to real estate attorney.

  Have plumbers, electricians, HVAC people on speed dial.

In general, I would say hire a management company.  They know the laws and provide a layer of legal protection between you and the tenants. 

It depends on your experience, how many properties, what else you have going on, state laws, how involved you want to be, how much trust you want to give, etc.

Personally, I have a handful of rentals and I manage them all myself.  I can list them for lease, sign up the tenants, and I enjoy the involvement and not having a third party between me and the tenants.  I have all single family homes though.  If I had 16+ unit multi-families it would be a different story.

I would strongly recommend a reputable property management company to handle. 

That would depend on each individual circumstance.

We don't deal with rentals and so when we owned our own investment properties we hired a professional to manage them for us. But we know people who do both and who are agents who also property manage for others. Depends on your own threshold, knowledge and circumstances. We didn't want to deal with it. -Kasey

After managing a couple thousand doors you get a system working and if you have electricians, plumbers, painters, handypersons, attorneys, flooring specialists, an appliance connection & a cleaning crew at the ready there's no problem. If not hire a property management team and forget about that 18%.   

Number of units involved, type of tenancy quality, etc. Odds are you want a professional!

So many factors and questions to consider/ask before that can be answered. I self manage, but meet many who shouldn't!

It depends on your goals, knowledge, skills, and how qualified you are to manage a property. 

It is not for me - I would hire it out. 

It depends. 

Renee Powell - personal choice.

I agree with Barbara Todaro and Joe Pryor 

Yes.

I have a staff that does this for me.

When I was faced by this question years ago, I reached out to a friend who was a property manager. She would have been happy to manage the property for me. Instead, she guided me to manage it myself. She was a wonderful lady...gone now...but fondly remembered.

I always recommend my customers who have never managed property to hire it out first - if they opt to learn how to do it that's fine, but make money first, then learn, then do it yourself

Hire a reputable PM company, one who follows up and through. 

For a small fee a property manager can save you a big headache.  Definitely recommended

If you can find a good prop mgt hire them

Depends on your personality skill location relative to the property and many other issues

Hire out unless you want phone calls at 2 in the morning.

I would definitely hire a property manager.  No time, no desire, and do not want phone calls at 4 am.

I do my own but they are close to where I live

Door #1

I think it's better to not own rental property.  I have the t-shirt

One needs to have the experience get a feel what it takes.  A property manager was being asked to flush hot water tank, replace refrigerator filters, sharpen grinder blades. The following month he asked the windows to be cleaned so the manager sent a $1500 bill to the owner. I thought you were going to do it?   Home owners think it is a piece of cake to manage a home. That is really hard busy work just to keep homes filled.

I manage my rentals myself for the time being. I haven't had one be enough of a pain to give up 8% of the gross rents to someone else yet. 

depends on how many units and skill level and how well prepared to manage repairs on your own or a reliable list of contractors. having a management company that actually manages is worth the money, imho.

Hire a management company if you are not in the property management business.

It all depends if one has the ability, time and experience to manage properly. 

Depends. How much time do you have? Also is it one unit or multiple? 

I think it's better to fix and flip

It depends upon how much money and how much time you have on your hands!

I've done it both ways and with the lack of time, I go for the property manager.