Should You Self-Manage Your Rentals or Hire a Property Manager? (Rookie Reply)

Real Estate Rookie

BiggerPockets

Business, Education, Entrepreneurship, Investing, How To

4.7 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2026

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Offer accepted! Congratulations—you’re well on your way to buying a rental property. But first, your earnest money deposit (EMD) is due. How much do you need to put down? What about due diligence fees? And what happens if the home inspection comes back with major issues? In today’s episode, we’ll show you what to pay and how to protect yourself! Welcome to another Rookie Reply! Your earnest money deposit is often the first big financial commitment you’ll make to your investment property. Ashley and Tony show you how to navigate the process, which contingencies to include, and what to do if an inspection goes sideways. Next, we tackle a question that forces investors to sacrifice cash flow or time: Should you self-manage your rental property or hire a property manager? Being a landlord might seem intimidating, but we’ve got a few tips that will make your experience much easier. Maybe you’re not ready for earnest money deposits or property managers yet because you haven’t found a real estate market with affordable home prices! Where should you start your search? What data should you be using? Stick around and we’ll break it all down! Looking to invest? Need answers? Ask your question here! In This Episode We Cover Earnest money deposits and due diligence fees explained (and how much to pay) What to do when your home inspection comes back with major problems Self-managing versus hiring property management for your rental property Where to invest when you can’t afford the home prices in your market Must-have data when choosing a new real estate market to invest in And So Much More! Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-709. Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠advertise@biggerpockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You found the deal, ran the numbers, and you're ready to go.
0:03.1	But before you write that check, how much should you put down as earnest money and what actually happens to it if you need to walk away?
0:10.7	Today on the Riki reply, we're digging into three questions straight from the bigger pockets forms, earnest money, due diligence protections, self-managing versus property manager, and how to confidently analyze a market that
0:21.7	you've never said.
0:27.8	This is the real estate rookie podcast. I'm Ashley Care. And I'm Tony J. Robinson. And with that,
0:33.3	let's get into today's first question. So this one comes from the Bigger Pockets forums,
0:37.3	and it says, I'm under contract on my first
0:39.9	investment property and my agent suggests that I put down $5,000 in earnest money.
0:45.4	I've also heard about a due diligence fee that's separate and non-refundable.
0:50.3	I'm confused about the difference between the two.
0:52.9	How much should I put down and what happens to my money if the inspection comes back bad and I want to walk?
0:58.3	Can someone break this down for a first time home buyer?
1:02.0	Now, I've only leveraged earnest money.
1:05.2	I actually haven't ever paid a due diligence fee, but I think I remember one of the recent agents we interviewed talking about this. But, Ash, have you ever used a due diligence fee, but I think I remember one of the recent agents we interviewed talking about this,
1:10.9	but Ash, have you ever used a due diligence fee separate from earnest money?
1:17.0	No, and the guess that we just had on, that was the first time I had really learned about that
1:22.5	because we just have the earnest money that we put down and you have a window, a period of time to do your due diligence.
1:30.8	And that's usually when you get your home inspector to come out and then you can get quotes
1:35.5	on different repairs that need to be made or you can negotiate.
1:39.7	But after that, time limit is done.
1:42.1	And then your earnest money is no longer refundable
1:45.5	unless there is another contingency in your contract.
	...

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