I have some properties while working a full-time job. If I didn't have a manager, I wouldn't have the time for them, full stop. Sure, hiring someone will eat into your margins. But it's worth it unless you're willing to make real estate your full-time gig. I tried to do it without help once, for about half a year or so. It was painful.

That's about what I figured. Mine didn't take up all that much time in the absolute sense, the trouble is that most of the time spent was for meeting repair people and the like, which mostly had to be during business hours. Doing that more than once in a while tends to get tough with a full-time job, especially considering the other personal tasks you'll need to do during business hours sometimes.