A novice investor may see a rental property as a simple equation of: rental income – (mortgage + expenses) = profit.

While this formula is the basic mantra for an investor, you also need to include your landlord duties and energy into that equation. Investors can choose to hire a property management company to handle these duties or self-manage their rental properties. Alternatively, a lot of investors have found success in self-managing their rental properties as a way to cut down on their management expenses.

In order to decide what option is best for your portfolio, let’s take a look at all the landlord duties you will be taking on if you self-manage or that you could pay a property manager to handle. These duties may include a monetary expense and always include the time required of you or your manager.

Maintenance

Owning a rental property involves managing routine and emergency maintenance. Renters are notorious for harder wear and tear on a house than owners, so rental homes require more energy from the owner or manager to upkeep.

You need to schedule seasonal maintenance to keep appliances functioning, gutters from overflowing and to check in with your tenants. And you need to respond to emergency maintenance from your tenants. Good maintenance management will significantly improve your bottom line.

From: https://www.forbes.com