What could be more stressful than managing one single-family rental house? Managing several, or one apartment building, or even more stressful, more than one apartment building. It is true that there are people who have several apartment buildings and they are able to manage them just fine. However, these people are often under a lot of stress and they usually don't have a lot of free time for themselves or for their families.

So what causes all the stress when you are doing your own property management? There is a simple answer: everything.

While some people love to drive, there are many people who find driving itself to be stressful. And if you have to travel to several properties, then you have to contend with traffic as well as long drives. Then there's the paperwork. You have to keep files on all of your tenants. You have to advertise to get new tenants whenever there is a vacancy. You have to do background checks, employment verifications, credit checks, talk to former landlords, and even look up a tenant's rent history. You have to deal with maintenance and hiring people to come to a property and then making sure that they do their job. You may end up having to do the work yourself. If repairs are too long in coming then tenants will get angry. And even worse, you may have to evict someone, meaning you then have the added stress of going to court and having to pay lawyer, filing, and court fees.

So is it possible to truly have stress free property management? Believe it or not, it is. Hiring a property management company will save you from having to worry about just about everything. In fact, you'll be free to live your own life and just enjoy owning rental property. Of course you'll have to make the most major and the final decisions, but you won't have to handle everyday things.

It's important to know what you are looking for when you hire a company to manage your property. Are you looking for someone who will take payments from tenants, report vacancies and needed repairs to you, and who just handles the most basic tasks? Or do you want a company that will handle everything for you, from the maintenance and repairs to background checks to finding new tenants?

Some companies will only do the basics for you. They take the money, do a certain amount of maintenance, and you keep most of the tasks still as yours. Other companies off full services. They handle all the maintenance and repairs, getting new tenants, all the checks on tenants, and handle the money. Some of them only take cash while others offer you even more services by allowing your tenants to pay by credit card or even direct debit. This means that your payments are more secure, and if the management company takes care of everything for you then all you have to do is offer your final approval on tenants and be available if there is a problem. In fact, many companies will even handle doing inspections for you. Some will actually take care of evictions as well, paying the fees associated with an eviction so that you keep more money in your own pocket.

Do your research before you choose a property management company. Just because a company offers services at a very low price doesn't mean they are the best, just as the most expensive company may not be the best. Some companies will let you use your own maintenance services or use third party ones, while others insist on using in-house services that will cost you more. Some have excellent customer service that will keep you up to date all the time while others have customer service that will make you track them down. It's up to you what you want, but do your research so you can make sure that you can take care of your properties without any stress.