Property Manager vs. Realtor: Which to Choose?

First-time landlord, SFH in San Jose:

• Property Manager (8%, $392/month): Full service: tenant screening, rent collection, maintenance, tenant issues.
• Realtor ($200/month for the first year or until tenant renews): Only handles tenant leads, no screening or ongoing management.

Not sure how often tenant issues arise or how frequently new tenants are needed. Your advice is welcome.

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Use Zillow (for #2) and Thumbtack (for #1) instead

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Is this a house that you’re buying through the same realtor?

My realtor offered to help me with screening and placing my first tenant as a part of our agreement. I bought remotely, he handled open house and initial communication, and gave me a recommendation of his top 3 candidates based on what he saw. Then I reviewed and made the final decision.

If you didn’t buy through this realtor, then it’s not uncommon for a management company to charge you 50% to 100% of the first months rent for tenant screening and placement.

You may be able to find a private property manager to do it for a flat rate if you just need tenant placement.

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$392 seems high for what you’re going to get. Things don’t come up a lot and if they do you still have to pay for the work to be done.

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Not if higher end means things are newer.

I’m not saying it’s not standard. I’m just saying I don’t value what they do for that amount of money. I manage my own short term rentals because I can’t imagine paying anyone a percentage for things I can easily do myself

Why can’t you do both?

Then there you go.

We had our realtor help us find a tenant the first time, it cost half a month’s rent and she helped a lot with getting the property into shape for renting out, screened a ton of apps and found an excellent tenant. I probably don’t need it next time around but consider it money well spent to learn about the whole process; it’s nice to have her a phone call away for advice, contacts for handy people, etc. Self managing hasn’t been too bad, the house is in relatively good shape, tenants are very communicative, and I’m building up my list of trusted people to handle various issues.

Property mgr., you would not believe how many times maintenance issues or rent collection issues will come up. If you don’t want to be hands-on, then you need to make sure somebody is.

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