Do any of the landlords use property management companies? What is the cost and advantage?

Also, do you rent out your own homes on Airbnb or VRBO, and how do you manage it? Do you outsource the cleaning?

My understanding is that most management companies do not increase or guarantee revenue, they really just charge you a commission for the convenience of not having to find renters and piece of mind that someone is around. You still pay the same for cleaning and maintenance so what are they actually saving you?

I manage a few rentals of my own, and am exploring options.

No idea about VRBO, but Property Management Co. around here usually charge 10% of the rents...WORTH EVERY DOLLAR! How many units do you have?

No offense, but if you do not understand how great a property manager is, you have not been Landlording very long or your props must be within walking distance with perfect tenants. I turned all my props over after 10+ years of dealing with tenants. If I was retired maybe I would go back to being the Landlord w/o Prop Mang.

I am very happy with my Property Managers but they deal mainly in the Melbourne/Palm Bay area.  I can PM you their company name. 

yet another sketchy sector9 question?

this can only mean ...still no father figure

perhaps ...scombrid is available?

Thankyou SM, i only ask because i seem to be on the opposite side of the spectrum from most landlords. I manage family properties and have found out that it is very manageable and I generate extra income through doing the shorter term rentals.  For rentals a week or longer the workload is minimal and we do everything ourselves including the cleaning. It saves us $500+ / month per unit plus 10-20% we would pay the company. This is a decent chunk. However, i have not found any other property owners who do the same. It seems as if most are anti-short term and anti self management. The I guess paying roughly $100/month on a passive investment to not chase a longterm tenant is worth it. In the short term, its costly.

On a second topic, as a landlord who would trust a management company to manage your short term. or long term rentals, why would you not allow a tenant to sublease and do the same thing? Its still passive income for you only difference is you can work out an upfront fee or similar arrangement in where you no longer have to furnish it or upkeep it. The tenant takes full financial reponsibility(maybe even offers you a few extra thousand upfront so if something does break the money is already paid and they set it up as a vacation rental at no cost to you) vs having a management company which requires you to make it marketsble and then bills you full price on maintenance when something breaks.

Haha. Its too late for that. Is this a forum still full of conservatives?

lots of questions there Sector9 but I like your username so here it goes...You are who I was a decade ago.  hard-worker, not afraid to fix things and roll your sleeves up and clean between tenants...ex. water heater breaks you will drain the tank, buy the new one, and just pay for a plumber to swap out.  WALKING distance is what makes it bearable to do the "work'. 

If you were not right there it becomes more of a pain, load tools , drive & fix.  What happens when you are in Costa or PR and something breaks? You pay for the full job.  Eventually in  life your free time will be more important than working...that is where I am at, rather not deal with anything, not be the POC and just hand over 10% to a pro.  Good on you though for putting in the sweat equity. 

Subletting I know little about, I guess if they pay 100% upfront and no damages ..great BUT what happens if soem real damage happens ? Short termer refuses to pay and the deposit does not cover it?

You are also running the risk of "It's broken/don't tell" if you turn maint. over to the tenant.  NO ONE WILL UPKEEP YOUR PROPERTY AS WELL AS YOU DO,  simply because they do not own it.  Finally if you let someone sublet and for some reason you have to evict, there will be much confusion/trouble/issues dealing w/ the court and serving papers, etc. If the original tenant on the LEASE is not around.

Keep doing what you are doing if it works for you.  Again, because you can walk to it , keep eyes on it, and do not mind the WORK, it is much easier...I guess that limits any options to move if you have to/wanted to.

I just want a check deposited in my account each month and access the rent money from some ATM in BVI.  Not a phone call about a leaky faucet.

About the other stuff,

You're right, its can be lot of work especially when managing short term rentals. That's a different style of landlording as you nearly triple your earnings in some cases so more work is expected. However, when I had hired someone for cleaning, I literally cut down on my work by about 90%. (I had a person for cleaning and a person for maintenance so that I could go away anytime. A few phone calls/ chats in the morning and a few in the afternoon and I was done. (I credit the 80/20 principle for that). Long-term renting, we don't do anymore as it only covers the mortgage, which means I would have to get a 2nd job!

We are at a point where we want to manage more properties through subleasing vs. outright purchasing.

This is a misconception. Not everyone puts the responsibility of maintenance on the home owner. We rent a home long-term separate from the one that I rent as a vacation rental. Both places are equally well maintained and we treat the house we live in as if it's our own. (The only thing I haven't done in it yet is remodel it) .

We still get the landlord/ sub-lease resistance/ waryness but everyones outlook is different. Enough no's andm different methods and eventually you start getting yes's. Hopefully.

Hey Sector9, just keep on doing what is working, thinking outside the norm and ask questions, you seem motivated to always better your situ. Property is a good investment in the long...