Why NOT to Hire a Property Manager

Question: I just decided to rent out my property. Should I hire a property manager, or handle it myself?

Answer: In most cases, you should hire the right professional, at least until you have the skills and experience necessary to consider yourself a professional landlord.

I have been a professional landlord since 2008. This question is the one I am asked more than any other and getting the answer wrong can cost a new landlord time, money, and a boatload of stress. There are three obvious disadvantages to signing a management agreement and turning over your investment property to a professional: the cost of the service, the loss of control over your property, and the loss of flexibility that comes with signing a management agreement.

Cost - The primary obstacle to hiring a professional to serve as the landlord of your rental home is the expense. Every company has its own fee schedule and costs vary based on the size, location and market rent of the property. As an example, for our all-inclusive management services (as of July 2025), we charge a one-time fee when we place a new tenant, a monthly fee to manage the property, and an annual lease renewal fee. The average rent across the homes we currently manage is about $1850/mo. Our tenants stay for an average of about three years.

A new owner who uses Omyra to rent her home to a new tenant for three years at $1850/mo would pay:

Tenant Procurement Fee (one time) $1480

Monthly Management Fee (x 36 months) $148

Renewal Fee (twice in three years) $225

The total cost to the owner would be $7258, or just under $202/month.

The owner would expect to collect $1850 per month for three years, less the fees listed above. The gross receipts would be $66,600 and the net to the owner would be $59,342.

In this example, the owner pockets just under 90% of the gross receipts. Of course, the owner will incur other costs maintaining the property, but these are not management related. These costs can vary and your choice of manager may affect them. NOT hiring a professional puts the other 10% in the owners’ bank account.

Control  - An agent performs duties on behalf of someone else. That sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it?

When you hire a property manager, you are hiring an agent. Your agent will act on your behalf, with or without your specific direction. When you begin the relationship, you will sign an agreement with your agent that spells out exactly the limits of the agent’s authority.

Every property management agreement is unique, and it is important that you read and understand the agreement before you sign it. With an agent, you trade your privilege to make all the decisions for the freedom of not having to make all the decisions. If having things “your way” is the most important part of the equation, hiring someone to make these decisions may be scary.

Your agent acts on your behalf under your authority and you are responsible for their actions in most cases. You live with their decisions. You accept the financial benefits and repercussions of those decisions, even if they are not the decisions you would have made.

At Omyra, we are your Agent. You execute an agreement assigning us your authority as the owner of the property and we go to work. We use our decades of experience, expertise and good judgment to manage your home as if we owned it. We rarely ask our clients to weigh in on the day to day.

I had a doctor ask me once if I thought I should be taking a higher dosage of a medication and I replied, “who cares what I think? You’re the doctor.” When it comes to managing rental properties, we are the doctor.

If you choose to hire a property manager, you will disagree with their decisions from time to time. You may feel left out. There may be times that you think your agent is “taking the side of the tenant!” It is important that you are able to surrender control and trust that you have hired an expert who is acting in your best interest. When you turn your property over to an Agent, you must be willing to surrender control.

NOT hiring a professional means the owner gets to control the entire process, for better or worse.

Flexibility - I don’t know of any management companies that work without a contract. In Georgia, if you pay someone to manage your rental property, state law requires that they be a licensed real estate brokerage or a full time employee of the owner. Any real estate engagement requires a written agreement specifying an expiration date. Signing a management agreement commits you to employ your manager (and abide by whatever terms and conditions that apply) for a certain period of time.

If your situation changes, your management agreement may make it difficult for you to react as nimbly as if you were making all the decisions on your own.

If your property is occupied by a tenant, your options are even more limited. It is important to note that whether or not you hire a manager, signing a lease is a big commitment that will greatly impact your flexibility with this property.

NOT hiring Omyra or another professional manager means the owner can make any decision they want, right or wrong, without interference from a third party.

Cost, control and flexibility are the three main reasons to take a do-it-yourself approach to your investment property. You get to select the tenant, determine the lease terms, make maintenance decisions, choose your contractors and handle tenant issues without anyone else’s input. For the rare well suited individual, this is an ideal situation.

Have fun today!

Chris Compton - Broker