Managing a rental yourself takes time for tenants, rent records, repairs and contractors. Hiring a manager adds a fee and transfers the work listed in the agreement.
Use this worksheet to compare both options over the same year. Include your time, cash costs and the tasks you still handle.
Choose one property and one comparison period
Start with a single Ottawa rental or a clearly defined portfolio and use the next 12 months as the comparison period. Record the current tenancy status, expected lease dates, known maintenance, property type and any travel required to attend the home. Using the same facts for both columns prevents a stable self-managed year from being compared with a manager's quote for a year when tenants change.
If a tenant may leave, calculate two versions: a year with the same tenant and a year with a tenant change. List ads, showings, move-in work and condition records separately from regular management.
- Property or portfolio being assessed
- Current occupancy and lease status
- Known maintenance or work between tenants
- Owner's distance from the property
- Stable-year scenario and turnover-year scenario
Worksheet part one: record direct self-management costs
List money paid because you manage the rental yourself. Do not include the mortgage principal or ordinary property expenses that would exist under either model. The goal is to isolate administration, leasing and coordination costs that can differ between the two options.
Use actual invoices from the previous year where possible. If a cost is uncertain, record a range and label the assumption. Do not set a repair budget to zero in the managed column: the owner still pays authorized property expenses even when a manager coordinates the work.
- Advertising, listing media and screening-service charges
- Travel, parking and property-visit expenses
- Bookkeeping, document storage and communication tools
- Lock, key, access and showing expenses
- After-hours trade callouts or emergency attendance
- Legal, paralegal, accounting or specialist work, shown separately
Worksheet part two: put a value on owner time
Track time by task for at least one representative month, then add known annual events. Choose an hourly value that reflects what an interrupted hour is worth to you; it is a personal decision input, not an invoice or tax deduction. Multiply hours by that value and keep the result separate from cash expenses.
Use the formula: annual owner-time value = recurring monthly hours x 12 x chosen hourly value, plus turnover hours x chosen hourly value. For a portfolio, record hours by property so one high-maintenance unit does not disappear inside an average.
Recurring time rows
Estimate each row independently and include follow-up, not only the first message or call.
- Tenant questions and updates and request tracking
- Rent records, receipts, statements and owner bookkeeping
- Repair requests, quotes, approvals and completion checks
- Vendor scheduling, access and invoice review
- Routine property visits and condition records
- Calendar monitoring, notices and document administration
Turnover time rows
Estimate turnover separately because it may not occur every year but can consume many hours in a short period.
- Getting the rental ready and arranging tenant changes
- Listing preparation, inquiry response and showings
- Application handling, consented screening and owner decisions
- Lease preparation, signatures and move-in handoff
- Condition records, keys and account changes
Worksheet part three: list work you cannot cover
Who responds when you are unavailable? Who meets contractors, stores records and approves urgent repairs? If an answer is missing, make a plan whether you manage the rental yourself or hire someone.
Do not assign a speculative dollar value to every risk. Record the event, the current response path and the improvement you need. This keeps the decision grounded without pretending that management guarantees a financial outcome.
- Routine request owner and backup contact
- After-hours intake and escalation path
- Local attendance when the owner is away
- Approved vendor list and spending authority
- Documented tenant and vendor communications
- Handoff to a qualified professional when specialist advice is required
Worksheet part four: compare yearly costs
Calculate management fees and HST over the same 12 months. Add any leasing, renewal, inspection, admin, after-hours or cancellation fees that could apply. Note when each extra fee is charged.
Ask for a custom quote for several properties. Check which addresses and services it covers, who approves work and how charges change during vacancies or between tenants.
- Recurring management: amount, calculation basis and HST
- Leasing or tenant placement: amount and payment milestone
- Inspection, renewal and move-out charges
- Vendor markup or maintenance-coordination fee, if any
- After-hours, notice, project or file-transfer charges
- Owner reserve, approval limit and emergency authority
Worksheet part five: compare responsibilities line by line
Place self-management and each proposal beside the same task list. Mark each row as owner, manager, shared or separately priced. A service should not receive credit for work that the agreement leaves with the owner, and self-management should not be scored as free when the task regularly displaces other priorities.
Follow a repair from start to finish. Someone needs to check urgency, get approval, arrange access, confirm the work and record the invoice. Ask who handles each step.
- Rental preparation, marketing and showing coordination
- Consistent screening records and owner approval
- Lease and move-in administration
- Rent collection and records and tenant questions and updates
- Repair requests, vendor oversight and completion records
- Inspections, reporting, renewals and move-out coordination
Choose the help you need
Managing yourself may work if you have time, local help, organized records and reliable contractors. Full management may suit you if daily work, distance or after-hours calls are the problem. Leasing only helps find a tenant while you keep daily management.
Review the result once a year and after a major turnover or portfolio change. The right model can change as properties are added, owner availability changes or a previously informal process becomes difficult to operate consistently.
Bring your worksheet to the meeting
Bring your property details, task list and gaps to the meeting. Ask what the manager handles, what stays with you and what needs another professional. Get the services and fees in writing.
We can quote for full management, several properties or leasing only. Your quote should state the services, approval limits, reports, when fees are due and decisions you keep.
