Self managing-out-of-state property?

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Posted by RevInv on March 28, 2008 at 10:38:55:

Hi there. I am a newbie in RE investing. I am an out-of-state investor, just got my first property, a duplex, in Austin Tx. At first, I planned to hire a property management company. After interviewing several of them and looking at many posts here on this forum, I think it might be a better idea to either just manage it myself with a handyman on ground, or hire a local individual as my eyes and ears.

What i really need is someone who can arrange repair calls and make sure the jobs are done properly, and drive-by the property occasionally to make sure things look fine. I am thinking of using one of those direct deposit services for rental, so i don't even need anyone to collect checks. If i need to fill a vacancy, I will hire a leasing agency then.

I saw many out-of-state landlords in this forum simply hire a local individual as representative to do the above and have a handyman doing the repairs. I want to do the same, but do not know how to go about doing it. Do you hire the "rep" as independent contractor or part-time employee? How and how much should i pay him/her? Is it by each task done (e.g. coordinating a repair call) or by hours? My problem with the employee approach is that i really don't have that many tasks that needed to be done if there is no repair calls. I don't have a problem with answering tenant calls myself and dispatching a handyman to do the job. However, i read somewhere that it is better to have another person to make sure the job is well done and should be done at the very beginning. Also, how do you screen your handyman? There are tons out there on Craigslist, but it is kind of scary to just pick one from the blue.

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