If you’re a building owner, you might be curious about your options regarding building management. Doing the job yourself or letting a professional firm fulfill the duties each come with their own benefits and challenges. Below is a brief discussion of the two options you have.

Self-Management

Managing your building yourself can be a rewarding experience. You don’t have to pay a management company, and you can remain hands-on with your investment. For smaller buildings, self-management is a viable option.

However, you should also be prepared to be called upon to handle urgent issues 24/7, deal with difficult tenants, and negotiate with third parties like snow removal services and contractors.

Professional Management

A management company will take care of all management tasks surrounding the property for an agreed-upon price. Such companies have the infrastructure in place to handle all types of building logistics, from executing emergency repairs to implementing more sophisticated rent collection systems.

The truth is that in most cases employing a property management company makes sense for building owners. These companies have the benefit of efficiencies of scale when they work with third parties, being able to secure better prices. For this reason, they can actually be a cost-competitive alternative to self-management. There’s also something to be said about being able to let them handle your investment (and do what they’re good at), leaving your time open to focus on other things.