How Much Do Property Managers Cost In Nashville?
Hey, everybody, this is Duncan Murphy, with evernest here in Nashville, Tennessee. I just wanted to make a video today about the topic of what our property manager is charging here in Nashville. So, this can really be all over the board. It is totally dependent on that company or what property manager decides to set their fee structure as, but it's usually going to fall within an expected spectrum of what the industry is doing. Most property managers will start out as a percentage-based management fee. You know that is a kind of the buzzword for how much does it cost for you to manage my property? They're going to tell you their management fee. The industry, as a whole, usually percentage-based is the most popular, percentage of rent collected each month. Typically, we see that's going to be, here in Nashville 10% to 8%, is most common. This can really, again, change. You know, somebody might charge 10%, but they also have some additional services baked into that 10%. So, it's important that you not only ask what their management fee might be for your house but also what are the services that come with that.
There's percentage-based, which is typically industry standard. But there's also flat-rate pricing, which we offer.
We do offer percentage-based. We have our investor plan, which is 8% management. But we also have a flat rate, which is a monthly management fee of $109 to start out. And with that, you get everything that you would expect of a great property manager. So, $109 to start, and then we move up to more of a tiered flat-rate plan that is starting at $219 per month. And basically, it's tired. It increases based on the monthly rent amount of the house. So, $219 sounds like a lot, and, truthfully, it is, but there are a lot of services that we have included in that management fee, that you don't have to pay down the road.
There's a lot of preventative maintenance that we've baked into that.
We'll do quarterly inspections when we have a resident living in the home, we're checking on the HVAC filters, checking on the smoke detectors, you know, looking for water stains, things that residents might not be so mindful of, that we can, you know, really avoid any potential damage down the road when we're doing these inspections. Another part of that is our biannual HVAC inspections, in which we will send a licensed HVAC tech out to the house and they're going to check on things. They're going to check on the refrigerant, on all the belts and all the moving pieces, all the lubricant, everything that they can do to make sure that the unit is running as well as it can and avoid, you know, a catastrophe. In the middle of July, like we're getting close to in the mid-90s, and the HVAC having a leak and having no refrigerant, not cooling for the resident, so preventative maintenance included in those.
Another thing that we add in that Platinum package is rent guarantee.
This is, you know, preventative. It is removing risk where, you know, a resident moves in, we've done all the screening for that resident, we've approved them, but life happens, say they have a family emergency, a medical emergency, and they're gonna be late for July's rent. Well, we would actually, evernest would actually pay you your expected rent amount, and then work to collect or repay ourselves from the resident. Again, if that were to happen. You know, how we might handle that down the road, if we're still not collecting rent as we're expecting, that's kind of a bigger subject. But again, a rent guarantee is a great offer there. So, that's management fees.
Another kind of buzzword for expenses from a property manager are the leasing fee.
Typically, again, it depends on the property manager. But typically, when they work to find a new resident for your home, there is going to be a one-time leasing fee for them to do all the marketing, all the screening, handle that move in with the new resident. Usually, they're gonna expect to be paid for that. So, typically, you know, it's a few hundred dollars, $500 to a half month's rent, really depends on how the property manager sets it up and what's within that management contract. So, something to look for, something to ask about if you have a vacant property that you bring into a new property manager.
Renewal fee. So, we've done the work.
We've found a great resident. We want to keep that great resident. Some property managers will charge a renewal fee. So, we do a lot of work, about 120 days out before the lease is coming to an end, the end of the lease term, to where we are looking, again, at comparable listings in the area, what we think that new renewed term, what the rent should be, whether it should be increased or whether it should stay the same based on the market. And then we're working with the resident, again, make sure they're happy, make sure they wanna stay in the house and avoid any vacancies. So, oftentimes, property managers will have a renewal fee, something to look for.
Another Important Thing To Ask!
And then another thing to ask about is ask if there are any kind of fees that come along with maintenance, a third-party maintenance markup, you know that's not totally common, but often included is there might be a 10% markup for third-party maintenance management. All these things really kind of wrap up into one as you start your conversation with a property manager is, how much are you going to cost me to manage my house? So, things to be looking for and things to ask about to really make your decision.
The Level Of Service Is Important!
Again, it all comes down to what level of service is being provided for these set fees per your management agreement and how that fits with your needs. So, you know, kind of think of how hands-off do you wanna be? I have a lot of prospective owners and current owners that say, "Hey, look, I love having rent guarantee, I know I'm paying more in my management fee, but I can sleep at night knowing that if the resident were to have something come up, I can still expect my rent to be paid to me, the owner, because, you know, I included rent guarantee in my management contract." And, again, look for what level of service you're hoping for and have that communication or that conversation with the property manager. So, hope you enjoyed the video. Again, my name is Duncan Murphy, with Evernest (formerly gkhouses), here in Nashville. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have, so feel free to reach out, and thanks for listening