- Hey everybody, this is Duncan Murphy
with gkhouses here in
Nashville, Tennessee.
I just wanted to make a video today
about the topic of what
our property managers
charging here in Nashville.
So this can really be all over the board
is totally dependent on what
that company or property manager decides
to set their fee structure as.
But it's usually gonna fall within
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 buzz word
for how much does it cost for
you to manage my property.
They're gonna tell you
their management fee.
So the industry as a whole
usually percentage based is most popular.
Percentage of rent collected each month.
Typically, we see that it's gonna 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 the management fee
might be for your house,
but also what are the
services that come with that.
So 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 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.
We say $109 to start.
And then we move up to more
of a tiered flat rate plan
that is starting at $219 per month.
And it is basically it's tiered,
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 our quarterly inspections
when we have a tenant living in the home
or checking on the HVAC filters,
checking on the smoke detectors.
You know, looking for water stains,
things that tenants 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
bi-annual HVAC inspections
which we will send a licensed HVAC tech,
out to the house and they're
gonna check on things.
They're gonna 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 tenant.
So preventative maintenance
included in this.
Another thing that we add in
that Platinum package is rent guarantee.
This is you know, preventative.
It is removing risk where
your tenant moves in.
We've done all the screening for
that tenant, we've approved them,
but life happens, say they
have a family emergency.
A medical emergency,
they're gonna be late for July's rent.
Well, we would actually,
gkhouses would actually
pay you your expected rent amount
and then work to collect
or repay ourselves from the tenant.
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, 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 tenant
for your home, there is gonna
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 $100, $500
to a half months rent.
Really dependent 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 have a vacant property
that you bring into a
new property manager.
Renewal fee, so we've done the work,
we found a great tenant,
we wanna keep that great tenant.
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 tenant 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.
And then another thing to ask about
is ask if there are any kind of fees
that come along with maintenance.
Third party maintenance markup, you know
that's not totally common,
but often included as there might be
a 10% markup for a third
party maintenance management.
All these things really
kind of wrap up into one
as you start your conversation
with property managers.
How much are you gonna
cost me to manage my house?
So things to be looking for
and things to ask about.
To really make your decision again.
It all comes down to what level of service
is being provided for the 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 tenant 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.
So 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 gkhouses here in Nashville.
I'm happy to answer any
questions you might have.
So feel free to reach
out, thanks for listening.
