Reasonable Property Management Fees (tenant, rentals, deposit, MLS)

[farcry80]

I am an out of state landlord and recently was referred to a property manager to resolve some tenant issues I was having.

I have to say I was very impressed by their work and would like to go ahead and sign a contract with them to manage the place.

So my question here is what constitutes reasonable property management fees?
Thanks.

[lawmom]

Our PM company charged 80% of one month's rent to find and place a tenant, and 10% every month for management services.

[bentlebee]

We have different fees depending on if we manage the place and find a tenant, or just find the tenant...

[Donn2390]

My PM charges me 50% of first months rent for renting the unit, and 10% per month to service the account.
I have seen cost as low as 8% per month to service the account. In addition to the 50% for renting the unit, they charge me for all costs incurred in renting the property, i.e. newspaper ads, etc...
They make their money on the monthly charge, because they do very little other than collect rent and deposit it in my account...!

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by Donn2390

My PM charges me 50% of first months rent for renting the unit, and 10% per month to service the account.
I have seen cost as low as 8% per month to service the account. In addition to the 50% for renting the unit, they charge me for all costs incurred in renting the property, i.e. newspaper ads, etc...
They make their money on the monthly charge, because they do very little other than collect rent and deposit it in my account...!

We do a lot, incl. taking pictures on moving in/out, Virtual Tour, inspections, getting all the calls for repairs and getting estimates, etc...full service.

[lawmom]

Yeah, it's high but they are the only game in town and we were across the country. That amount did include all advertising and credit and other checks.

[KonaKat]

We charge 20% of the first full month's rent on a new tenant and 10% thereafter. No charge if property is empty. Owner pays for advertising, applicants pay a small application fee.

[bentlebee]

We don't charge additional for advertising that is part of the commission we charge and part of the job we are doing for the owner.

[KonaKat]

Print advertising for a modest individual ad in classifies here was running our owners $150 to $200 a month. I restructured the ad into one display type ad with just a very brief description of the property. Now when we break down the costs per owner, it's about $50 to $65 a month. All other internet based advertising, I do not charge for. I pay a small fee per year for a website I created just for long term properties and we use CL which is free. We can also put rentals in our MLS now.