When you’re looking to purchase a property, you will need to have a thorough budget set down in order to make sure that you can get a proper return on your investment. That’s why one of the most common questions that we get is, “How much do you charge?”

We can’t blame investors for wanting to know, but the answer is not as simple as you might think.

There are a variety of different ways that fees can be structured. Sometimes, it depends on the type of property. Sometimes, it depends on the number of units. And sometimes it depends on what services you require.

The Simplest Situation

For instance, if you already have a tenant for a single family dwelling but you are moving out of the area and need someone to take over management, we typically charge a percentage of the rent. It depends on the rent, but 8-10 percent is a typical ballpark figure.

However, one of the valuable services we offer is finding a tenant. In fact, at Real Property Management, we guarantee that if we don’t find you a tenant within twenty-nine days, we’ll waive the placement fee. And that’s in addition to the insight we can offer on the rental rates that we know attract the best tenants.

Many people balk at the idea of paying an extra fee to find a tenant, but you’re not so much paying for us to find a tenant — what you are paying for is better (and more comprehensive) advertising of the vacancy, as well as for the time of an experienced person to screen potential tenants in accordance with all applicable laws. Considering how easy it is to fall afoul of the Fair Housing Act, and how overwhelming the screening process is, I think you’ll agree that it’s worth the investment.

More Complicated Situations

If you have multiple properties, especially multiple-family dwellings, our fee percentage is slightly lower. Call it a bulk discount. We also manage the property maintenance, which is extremely important (but much more time consuming) in apartment buildings.

We hope that we’ve answered the more general questions in this post, but if you have questions specific to your situation, feel free to contact our offices and we will be happy to chat with you about it. We have six offices serving all of Northern Virginia, so there’s sure to be a location convenient to you.

How Much Does Property Management Cost?