Apollo AdvisingSelf-manage or hire a property manager?
Should you self-manage your rental or hire a property manager? What managers charge, what you get for it, and how to price your own time honestly.
Short answer. For a long-term rental, managers commonly charge around 8% to 10% of collected rent plus a leasing fee for each new tenant. Divide that annual cost by the hours you would actually spend, and you have the hourly rate you are paying yourself to self-manage. If you live far away, own several properties, or hate the work, a good manager is usually worth it.
What managers usually charge
| Fee | Common range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly management | About 8% to 10% of collected rent for long-term rentals | Short-term rental managers often charge 20% to 35% of revenue |
| Leasing fee | Often 50% to 100% of one month's rent | Charged when a new tenant signs |
| Lease renewal | A flat fee or a small percent | Not every manager charges it |
| Maintenance markup | Sometimes 10% on vendor invoices | Ask whether they use in-house crews |
| Setup and vacancy fees | Varies | Read the contract for these |
Fees vary by market and company. The contract terms matter as much as the percentages: how you can cancel, who chooses vendors, what repair amount they can approve without you, and how quickly they pay you.
Price your own time
On a $2,200 a month rental, a 9% fee is about $2,376 a year. A leasing fee of 75% of a month's rent every 2 years adds about $825 a year, for about $3,201 in total.
If self-managing takes you about 4 hours a month plus 20 hours each time a tenant turns over, that is roughly 58 hours a year. You would be paying yourself about $55 an hour to do it. Whether that is a good trade depends on what else your time is worth and how much you mind 9 p.m. phone calls.
Self-managing tends to work when
- You live within a reasonable drive of the property
- You have reliable vendors and a system for rent, repairs, and records
- You know the landlord-tenant rules in your state and city, including deposits, notices, and fair housing
- You have one to a few properties and the time to handle them
A manager tends to win when
- You are out of state or travel often
- You run a short-term rental and do not want a part-time job
- You are stepping back in retirement
- You would otherwise defer maintenance or skip proper tenant screening
Questions to ask a manager
- How many doors does each property manager handle?
- How do you screen tenants, and what are your eviction and turnover rates?
- What can you approve without me, and how do you choose vendors?
- How and when do I get paid, and what reports do I get?
- In Texas, is the company licensed with the Texas Real Estate Commission? Managing and leasing property for others generally requires a real estate license.
Where we fit
We help owners decide whether to self-manage, hire a manager, or change the property's strategy so it takes less time. See choosing a rental strategy and rentals in retirement.
Want this run on your property?
$199 per hour, billed in 15-minute increments, or $499 for a three-hour block. The first 30 minutes are free.
Free worksheet: hold, sell, or 1031?
The 12 questions Denver works through with every owner deciding whether to keep, sell, or exchange a rental, in a two-page PDF. Plain language, no sales pitch.
Go deeper
How much to budget for maintenance and capital expensesPercent-of-rent rules, component lifespans, and a reserve schedule you can build in an afternoon.Airbnb, medium-term, or long-term: comparing what you keepA side-by-side of costs, time, and rules, with a worked example on the same house.Renting out your old house instead of selling itThe three-year window for the home sale exclusion, what renting costs you in taxes, and how to decide.This page is general education, not legal, tax, investment, insurance, or lending advice. See our disclosures.