In March of 2021, I moved out of my condo in Kirkland, WA, relocating to NYC for a new job within Google Maps. The move-out process took five days, myself and my mom, two movers, two donation haulers, and one puppy. It involved a pre-sunrise final clear-out of items, in addition to a French Bulldog breaking free from his crate in a FOMO-fueled desperate effort to not miss out on the wall repainting.
I realized, as I was helping the donation haulers carry furniture down to the driveway to be loaded onto the truck, that, although I loved all the decor, furniture, etc. in my home, a good portion of it didn't hold sentimental value. When moving into my new place in the city, I made a conscious effort not to have items around "just in case" or additional pieces that didn't either serve a purpose or make me immensely happy.
Knowing that I wasn't ready to sell my place, I decided to rent it out. Instead of going it alone, I brought on a property manager. I found my property manager via a recommendation from my realtor who had helped me find my home a couple years earlier. This article on realtor.com goes into detail about what a property manager does, but I hired one so that an expert could handle listing my condo for rent, vetting tenants, and handling any potential issues that came up in Washington while I was all the way across the country in the Big Apple. In exchange for these services, a property manager will typically take about 10% of the rent paid by the tenant(s), in addition to the first month's rent. Every property manager will have slightly different percentages here, so it can be worthwhile to "shop around" and compare contracts. For me personally, having a property manager has saved me from having to take on an additional job of managing my rental property.