Many landlords relish the challenge of finding reliable tenants or fixing repairs, simply for the fun of it. Others shoulder their responsibilities on a resident manager, who can help run their empire of rental properties. If everything goes right, your real estate business will continue to expand.

Does this sound like you?

If so, you’ll soon need to call on the professional experience and expertise of another team: a property management company. If you’re wondering whether you need one, or what the exact signs might be that it’s time to hire a firm to help you, you’ve come to the right place.

Consider these key questions:

Do you live near your rental property?

Can you quickly and easily visit your property to deal with any last-minute emergencies? If you’re further away, maybe you can hop in the car or ride a metro to fulfill on-call duties?

There are many ways you can pay regular visits and ensure everything’s in order—and that’s imperative to your investment success. But the question is: how much longer can you really do it before you burn out? A month or two, or a year, perhaps?

Inevitably, these onsite check-ins become a chore. It’s physically and mentally exhausting to keep up with maintenance, upkeep or even rent collection. (Let’s hope that last one isn’t an issue for you!) The further away you live from your rental property, the more expensive and time-consuming it is for you to commute.

If you’re finding yourself nodding along as you read this, that’s a big sign it’s time to hire a property management company.

Is your property portfolio expanding?

Your real estate business is expanding – hey, that’s incredible news! But with every new rental property under your investor belt, it will become increasingly difficult to check in on each on a routine basis.

What’s the big deal? Well, if you don’t decide to hire a property manager soon, you might unknowingly be cutting corners on some pretty important stuff. This includes preventive maintenance, accounting, or tenant screening. And that’s not good for anyone. Seasoned landlords will tell you that these mistakes are bound to cost you in the long run.

Property management companies, on the other hand, are skilled at managing multiple investment properties every single day. It’s their forte.

By letting them do the grunt work, including tenant screening, marketing available rental properties, making repairs and more, you’ll unburden yourself to focus on expanding your real estate business even further. Or your Netflix queue. (We don’t judge!)

Do you have a network of vendors for fixing maintenance issues?

Here’s a perennially hot topic. Maintenance is arguably the most discussed facet of property management. Even if you do know how to troubleshoot HVAC units, repair washing machines, or unclog pipes, you can probably do that if you own a single property. Or maybe two.

But when you own an extensive property portfolio, it’s very challenging to cope with all the property maintenance needs yourself. For that, you need a network of expert vendors, including general handymen, plumbers, electricians, and lawncare professionals.

But building that network? It takes time. If you haven’t done this already, you’re starting from a disadvantage. As your real estate business expands, you probably won’t have that kind of time on your hands. In this scenario, hiring a property manager (who already has the right connections) makes perfect sense…wouldn’t you agree?

Do you have the time for hands-on management?

You may be passionate about property investment. Still, hands-on management may not be your thing. If you’re more interested in running the business side of things, you want to hire someone who can handle the day-to-day nitty-gritty of property management.

In fact, as your growing real estate business demands more time and attention, you simply won’t have enough of it left for hands-on management.

This is your next sign to hire a property management company that can do it for you.

By now, you’re no longer wondering if you need to hire a property manager. If your answer is a resounding yes, there’s no time to waste—get started searching for the right person or team who will help make your rental operations run smoother than ever, and will make your life a whole lot easier, too.