Property management fees can get pretty complicated, and we don’t think they should be. At Meridian Residential Group, we keep things as streamlined as possible, while providing high quality leasing, management, and maintenance services.
Owners spend a lot of time comparing property management fees from company to company. This is a good idea, but make sure you’re also comparing the services you receive. If you find someone willing to manage your single-family home for only five percent of the monthly rent, for example, you’ll probably find there are a lot of extra fees and services that aren’t included.
Our advice is this: remember to read the fine print. Ask to see a copy of the management agreement before you agree to work with a company, and make sure they’re transparent about what you’ll be expected to pay and when.
Charleston Property Management and Leasing Fees
Here’s an example of how we keep our pricing structure simple:
To manage a single-family home, we will charge you a $400 fee to get you set up in our system. This takes some time and effort on our end to integrate you and your property’s information into our property management software. Then, we charge you a $200 leasing fee, which is low compared to other companies. Once a tenant is placed, the ongoing monthly management fee is 10 percent of the rent your property earns.
Simple.
We typically provide full-service leasing and management to our owners, but if you are only looking for leasing services, we can negotiate a rate that only covers marketing, screening, and tenant placement.
Looking for Additional Fees
We have heard about competitors charging a $7,000 technology package to owners that presumably covers the cost of online rental payments, detailed accounting statements, and remote property showings. We provide all those things without such a huge expense. If something seems outlandish to you, do a little digging. You probably don’t need to pay for what they’re telling you is critical to the management of your property.
There may be other additional fees you encounter, such as bookkeeping fees or postage fees. There might be extra costs for correspondence or filing notices.
Some of these fees will be legit. If you have to evict a tenant, for example, there’s likely to be a court fee. Just make sure you know what these costs are ahead of time. No one likes surprises in their monthly statements.
Property Management Reserves
Many management companies will require a reserve of at least $300 or $500 to pay for maintenance expenses that come up from time to time. Having this reserve in place protects you from having to finance large and unexpected repair bills. If there’s a repair needed at your property, we don’t have to wait and chase you down for the approval and the payment. Instead, we can use the reserve account and ensure the repair or replacement happens right away.
Be smart about what you’re paying for Charleston property management. If you’d like to hear more about this, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Meridian Residential Group.
Meridian Residential Group in North Charleston provides both single-family and multi-family property management in the Charleston, SC area, including in North Charleston, Summerville, Goose Creek, and Moncks Corner, among other cities.
