I managed my own properties because I could not find a good property manager around my area – that is why I spent a few years in the industry working for a local real estate office, thinking I could make a change in the industry, but my portfolio was too large and I did hundreds of unpaid hours overtime, to attempt to achieve what I had done with my own properties over the last 24 years, so in total frustration I decided to establish my own property management business – to look after peoples investments the way they should be.  My aim is to keep my portfolio of properties, at a boutique level and keep my business totally personal and boy do I have some great investors that I deal with and appreciate my efforts.  So my recommendation to you would be to find a boutique property management agency, that only specializes in property management.  The monetary gains by having the right person managing your property will far out way the minimal cost of having that property managed correctly.  All the best – its never too late or too early to build your rental portfolio.