Understanding Property Management Fees

In general, the range of property management prices you’ll find locally are between six and 10 percent of your monthly rent collections. Typically, your property management company will collect rent, deduct any maintenance costs and/or management fees then give you a monthly accounting report. Paying a monthly management fee is something you can expect, but an important question to ask companies when shopping around is whether they have other fees associated with their management services.

Beware of Hidden Fees
Some property management companies will charge you a lower percentage on the monthly management fee, and then have hidden fees that you don’t know about right up front. They may charge for every letter they send to your tenant, and every visit they make to your property. Inspections may even have additional costs. There may also be leasing fees associated with your management contract. Generally, your property manager will charge about 50 percent of the first month’s rent to attract, screen, and place a tenant. So, you have to ask what you’ll be paying during the course of your contract. There might be a property management company that has a simpler structure. The management fee may be 10 percent, but then there aren’t any add-ons. When you do the math, that can be cheaper than the company charging six percent because of those fees.

Value versus Fees
It’s also important to consider your cost when you don’t work with a professional management company. If you’re not a full time landlord and in the rental real estate business, you may not have time to properly screen your tenant. The cost associated with a bad tenant is off the charts. You may have to evict or there could be some late rent coming in all the time, which causes extra work. Untimely maintenance is also a problem if you don’t know who to dispatch for a certain situation. This can create a bigger repair problem than it needs to be. There’s a lot more to property management than rent collection. Your property manager will keep the property well- maintained and give you a good return on your investment.

If you are an investor, the money you save from having a strong manager will benefit you. If you have any questions about the cost of property management in Walnut Creek, please contact us at MSB Property Management.