Property managers were considered essential for anyone who owned a rental for decades. They handled everything from marketing to lease agreements to maintenance and tenant communication.
They took their cut, of course, usually between 8% and 12% of your gross rent—sometimes more. And for many landlords, that trade-off seemed worth it.
But here’s the truth in today’s rental market: You probably do not need a property manager anymore. At least, not if you want to maximize your cash flow and maintain complete control. Thanks to platforms like TurboTenant, managing your rental property has become more efficient, more affordable, and far less intimidating than it once was.
This is for every landlord who has ever wondered: “Can I really manage this myself?” The answer is yes, and it may be easier than you think.
What Is Property Management, Really?
Before we get into the tech, let’s define what a property manager traditionally does. Their responsibilities typically include:
- Listing and marketing the property
- Screening tenants
- Drafting and executing leases
- Collecting rent
- Managing tenant communication
- Coordinating maintenance
- Handling lease renewals and legal compliance
That list used to sound overwhelming. But now, almost every one of those tasks can be handled online, many of them with just a few clicks. In most cases, you can automate 80% of the work, leaving you with only the highest-value decisions.
Screening Tenants
Tenant screening used to require applications, phone calls, and faxed credit reports. Now, it takes just minutes. With TurboTenant, applicants fill out their information online and pay for their background and credit reports. Once submitted, you receive a secure package with everything you need to evaluate the applicant.
No printer, no calls to credit bureaus, and no awkward meetings are needed. You get a full view of their rental history, financial health, and background in one organized dashboard.
You make the decision, with no property manager needed.
Marketing Your Rental
You no longer need to post your rental to every platform manually. You can easily syndicate your listing to over 50 rental sites, including Zillow, Apartments.com, Realtor.com, and others. That means you write one description, upload your photos once, and your property gets exposure across every central platform. You can get your listing in front of thousands of potential renters in less than 15 minutes without spending a dime on third-party marketers or rental agencies.
Lease Agreements
Creating a lease agreement meant hiring an attorney, downloading a generic PDF, or copying someone else’s document online. Today, TurboTenant offers customizable, lawyer-reviewed lease templates tailored to your state’s laws.
You just plug in the property details, lease terms, rent amount, and tenant information. Within minutes, you have a professional lease you can send for electronic signature. There are even AI Tools to cross reference your lease with existing landlord-tenant laws in your state and get a free lease audit. There are no appointments, paperwork, or second-guessing whether it will hold up in court.
Rent Collection
Gone are the days of collecting rent checks, swinging by the property to pick up cash, or wondering if a payment is lost in the mail. And while peer-to-peer apps like Venmo or Zelle may seem convenient, they often lack the professionalism, tracking, and protections landlords need. With online rent collection, tenants can pay securely through bank transfer or credit card. You can set up automatic payment reminders and even include late fee policies that apply automatically if rent is overdue.
As a landlord, you get notified when rent is received and deposited into your account. There is no chasing, no spreadsheets, and no confusion about who’s paid and who has not. These software systems even send reminders and auto-apply late fees, so you’re not the bad guy.
Communication and Maintenance Requests
Yes, you will still need to communicate with your tenants and coordinate repairs. But modern software makes this much simpler.
TurboTenant allows tenants to message you through a centralized portal, so you do not have to mix business with your text messages or emails. Conversations stay organized and accessible, especially during disputes or renewals.
When maintenance issues arise, tenants can submit requests through the same portal. You can assign those requests to your preferred vendors, track the status, and keep tenants updated without playing phone tag. If you do not have vendors or want to be more hands-off, TurboTenant even offers a maintenance coordination service to handle the scheduling for you.
When You Should Consider Managing It Yourself
Not every landlord will want to self-manage forever. Hiring a property manager may make sense if you manage dozens of units across multiple markets or simply want an entirely passive experience.
But if you have a smaller portfolio and want to keep more of your rental income while staying in control, DIY management is more than doable. In fact, it is easier than ever before.
With the right tools, the job no longer requires constant time, stress, or expertise. Most of what used to require phone calls, forms, and gatekeepers live in one dashboard, accessible from your laptop or phone.
The Financial and Practical Case for Managing It Yourself
Hiring a property manager can quickly eat into your profits. As mentioned, most charge between 8% and 12% of the monthly rent, with additional fees for tenant placement, lease renewals, maintenance coordination, and more. For a single unit, that can add up to thousands of dollars per year, which could be spent working harder for you elsewhere.
By managing your rental yourself with a platform like TurboTenant, you can save on those costs and stay in complete control of your investment. The money you save can be reinvested into property upgrades, used to fund your next deal, or simply boost your monthly cash flow. Despite managing it yourself, you are still offering your tenants a professional, seamless experience.
Self-management may initially sound intimidating, but it is entirely achievable with the right tools. What once required a property manager or whole support team can now be done from your laptop or phone in a few hours a month. TurboTenant gives you everything you need to succeed as a DIY landlord: screening, marketing, leases, rent collection, communication, and maintenance requests, all in one place.
You do not need to fire your property manager if you never hired one in the first place. You just need the right system—and now, you have one. Start managing your rental the smarter way with TurboTenant today.
