Do it. Property managers do shit except take your money. They don't pay you when the tenant fails to pay, they don't fix broken shit, they only market it. With Craigslist, there's no reason for it unless you have multiple properties.
Could not agree more. Everyone kept telling me I needed a property manager or they kept asking me who my property manager was. I told them I managed it myself and they were shocked. How? From so far away? What if something goes wrong?
As you noted the property manager does nothing you cannot do yourself. Again, the key is to screen your tenants carefully. Obviously, you want someone who will pay on time, but you also want someone who will be low maintenance and not bother you with every little thing. Although my tenant was an old retiree, he was not helpless and he didn’t bother me with house drama unless it was really warranted. I made it very clear to him from the beginning that a low maintenance tenant was exactly what I was looking for. We got along great and he even did things for me that he didn’t have to.
True story: this house is in a gated community and every year a committee of the HOA surveys each house and sends out a notice of “corrective action” if they notice anything wrong with your property. The CA may indicate that you need to pressure wash your roof (because it is dirty and unsightly), trim your hedges or trees, pull your trash bins into the garage, etc. Cosmetics are very important to the HOA. One day I got a notice that the mailbox at the end of my driveway had “developed a bit of rust in the lower left corner.” The rust had the potential to become “unsightly” and I needed to address that or face sanctions! I asked my tenant to inspect it for me; I was ready to call my handyman. My tenant said there was barely any rust there and that the HOA committee had way too much time on their hands. He said he would take care of it for me and he did; I never had to call my handyman. That’s the kind of tenant you want.
A final tip: if you are renting the property yourself and get the chance to meet and interview a prospective tenant, when the interview concludes, walk them back to their car. Surreptitiously view the interior of their car. Is it spic and span clean, or is it filled with junk, trash, and unkept? The way someone keeps the interior of their car is exactly how they will keep the interior of their home. If their car is a mess, you would do well to rent to someone else.
