A property manager is someone who’s responsible for the day-to-day operations of a rental property. This includes tasks such as overseeing repairs and maintenance, handling monetary transactions, and accommodating tenants’ needs. A property manager could work for a property management company, or be self-employed.
If you’re a landlord, depending on the difficulty or involvement in properly maintaining a property, it might be a good idea to hire a property manager. Their job responsibilities may vary, so their rates depend on the services they’re providing.
How much a property manager charges will depend on the services they provide, your location, and more. Here’s an idea of what you can expect when evaluating the price of a property management company.
Range of Services
A property manager’s job duties can include a wide range of tasks, from performing repairs and routine maintenance to collecting rent from tenants. In some cases, a property manager may even be responsible for marketing the property and finding new tenants when previous ones move out. The more services your property manager provides, the more expensive the cost will likely be.
So how much do property managers charge to handle these responsibilities? Instead of a flat rate, it’s standard for a property manager to charge a percentage of the rental price for their services. An average estimate is a baseline of between 8-12% of the rental cost per month. This is generally independent of the cost for other provided service expenses.
If you’re worried about your budget, you may be able to work with a property manager to offload some of your responsibilities, like yard and home maintenance requests, while maintaining others yourself, like filling vacancies and handling tenant checkouts, to bring your total costs down.
Property Quantity
Another deciding factor in price is the number of properties owned. If a landlord owns multiple properties, the cost is going to increase based on the total number of properties and the work needed and delegated with each.
A larger property with multiple units, like an entire apartment complex, will require more time and effort to manage as opposed to a single residence property, thus increasing the cost. However, some property management companies may be able to give you a package price for multiple units in the same location.
Cost of Property Management Services by Location
The location of your property is also linked to its management price. Because costs are generally based on a percentage of the rental price, similar units in different states, cities, or neighborhoods can still vary significantly in their cost to manage. If rental property costs in San Diego are higher than neighboring locations, the management costs will follow suit.
Potential Ways to Reduce Monthly Property Management Expenses
If you’re looking to reduce the amount of money you spend on hiring a property manager, a good place to start is by evaluating the tasks you’d like to delegate and handle as a landlord. If you decide you’d like to handle tenant deposits and communications, that can be one less fee you have to worry about paying if your property manager has flexible service packages available.
As property managers will each likely have different pricing criteria, you’ll want to be sure to meet with them to figure out pricing and to customize the specific responsibilities you’d like them to take care of.
Get Started Today
Property management companies are available as a great resource for landlords who are looking to get assistance with their rental properties, or who want to reduce the amount of responsibilities they handle on their own.
When researching the pricing for San Diego property management companies or other neighboring Southern California locations, it’s important to know who you can depend on. Contact us so we can assess your specific property needs!
