# Renting out a condo: Hiring property management?



## HowIsMyFinancial (May 18, 2011)

I am kind of new to this scenario - I am seriously considering renting out my condo as I bought a new house.

I might not be cut out to become full time landlord, so considering hiring a property manager who will do the leg work. As far as I see the standard is generally 1 month rent as fees to the property manager. Does this mean the fee (cost) to me is just 1-month rent regardless of how long the lease is for? ie. If the tenant leave after 1 year and the property manager found another tenant, I'll pay the fees again. But if the tenant stays for let say 5 years, I would never pay the property manager again?

Does the property manager only do the first bit of renting it out or do they also do regular check ups on the property and helping out with any tenant complaint throughout? If they do on-going work, I am curious how 1-month fee is enough if the tenant stays long term.

Lastly - any recommendation? I found http://landlordrescue.ca/ from a quick search, any recommendation / suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

There is also a monthly fee (somewhere between 5-20% or a minimum flat rate, whichever is higher). Berubeland is the owner of landlord rescue, she's active on here.

Most property managers don't tend to do a good job if you only have one property as its a lot of work compared to say an entire building. Plus, if you've got a large client with a vacancy at the same time as a small client, which do you fill first?

Generally, if you're starting out, you need to bite the bullet and manage the property yourself.


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## Mechanic (Oct 29, 2013)

I've had a few different property managers looking after property. It's not been great, they collect the rent, take their cut and seem to want to keep the renter's happy so let them get away with whatever. Then you pay for inspections and the damage is ignored. Then there is be a clause that says they are not responsible for their errors, incompetence, etc. I think I'm going to see how good that clause is as soon as I get my property back and talk to my lawyer. It's interesting to go on some of the forums and read how to get around things like moving pets in when their is a no pet clause and that there isn't much the landlords can do. The landlord tenant branches just want to make sure the tenants don't get evicted, lol. They don't care about the landlords losses of rent, damages etc. Been there, done that. I'm sure there are some good property managers out there but i haven't been lucky enough to find one.


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## jo- (Nov 8, 2015)

We just became landlords for the first time last year and decided to go with a property management company to help us with getting a renter in the place, but we manage it ourselves, so there are no fees beyond the initial, unless we decide to engage them again in the future. 

They collected 1/2 of the first month's rent, and an initial fee of $350. This included: 


professional photos of our place 
a very detailed tenant/landlord agreement which we added to and adjusted a number of times, without additional costs
police check on tenants
employment reference checks 
arrange/show all viewings

If the tenant breaks the 1yr lease, the company is in charge of charging him for that and then re-renting our space without additional costs. 

This made so much sense for us as we wanted to rent it out quickly, but have time to do the walkthrough and maintenance visit ever 3-6 months.


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## Value (Jul 31, 2015)

Where are you located?


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

My husband and I had rentals for years and last year the honeymoon was over with us and one of the rentals.We hired Rachel and honestly my husband was near having a stroke and so stressed with the situation ,Rachel saved our sanity .Now I would not even consider buying a rental without having a manager .


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## Newby1983 (Apr 9, 2015)

I suggest hiring someone to find you a good tenant. At least for the first time so you can see the extent of the screening process. There should be references, credit checks, landlord references, etc. I also suggest being present when the pm is showing the unit to potential tenants so you get a sense of the people coming through. I paid 1/2 of first months rent and it was worth every penny as my tenants have been in place 3 years and are great. id stick to managing it yourself learn the ropes and make connections with some good trades in the event you need them.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

Hi, 

Did someone call me? You pretty much have it right renting the property costs one month's rent plus HST and 5% ongoing for property management plus $50 extra bad tenant surcharge if applicable. Some people are just not cut out to deal with tenants. Generally an interested and active owner can take better care of a property than I can simply because they just have a few and I have many however lots of people just don't have time. The real benefit comes from a few directions, a manager should know the law a lot better than an owner. This also included your condo trying to put one over on you, and having you pay for stuff that is not your responsibility. We should also know the rental environment a lot better than you. I rent hundreds of properties per year and I've been renting for 20 years now. 

Further I am active from a legal perspective as on of the few managers that will take on a bad tenant and manage the property in conjunction with a paralegal. 

I guess one of the major frustrations between property managers & landlords actually is emotional. I've been doing this for over 20 years and I've seen almost every situation under the sun. Any anger I had was exhausted in my first five years of doing this, otherwise you burn out. So owners expect me to feel an emotional reaction and I'm not reacting that way. I can tell you the law and what to do, but I don't have the energy to rage anymore and if I did I probably used that up this morning. I'm busy navigating the business environment that exists rather than getting upset over what you can and cannot do with your property as an owner. I actually do push the legal envelope as far as I can. 

Just in the last few months, I've dealt with serious tenant on tenant violence, hoarding, and a domestic violence situation where the renter was thrown out of the house, and a sick cat I tried to rehab and ended up having to bring to Toronto Humane Society, another guy who was insane and sent me 30 emails overnight because I tried to repair a reported deficiency. 

Obviously after all that, I have some battle fatigue and my New Year's Resolution was to stop myself from taking on these problems.


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## tygrus (Mar 13, 2012)

Berubeland said:


> Just in the last few months, I've dealt with serious tenant on tenant violence, hoarding, and a domestic violence situation where the renter was thrown out of the house, and a sick cat I tried to rehab and ended up having to bring to Toronto Humane Society, another guy who was insane and sent me 30 emails overnight because I tried to repair a reported deficiency.
> 
> Obviously after all that, I have some battle fatigue and my New Year's Resolution was to stop myself from taking on these problems.


And this is the reason I buy REITs and sleep like a baby


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

True, but REITs take real money, unless you've got a margin account, and you need to trust the management (a lot of fraud happens in real estate because there's a lot of money at steak). If you truly knew what was happening, you may not sleep as soundly as you'd like. Ignorance is bliss though...

Owning gives you more control, knowledge and returns. There is work involved in it though. It's the price you pay for the benefits.

However, it seems January was a month of full moons...I had a ton of tenant issues, an unusually high amount...maybe it's a sign of the economy change, maybe it was just the fact that things had been too quiet for too long.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

Not worth the bother or expense for one condo. Get some books and learn to do it yourself or just sell the place. The secret is to be very choosy about who you rent to. If it is a nice place, clean, in a decent neighborhood you won't have any trouble attracting good tenants. To get the most to chose from set your rent a little on the low side. It doesn't take much, every tenant is a hanging judge of rent and will move across town to save $50 a month. Advertise well in advance, your best tenants will be looking 1 or 2 months ahead. DO NOT rent to someone who needs a place right away. This is a big red flag. You want someone looking at least a month ahead of time.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Try reading

http://www.nolo.com/products/first-time-landlord-usftl.html

It's American, but a pretty good book.


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## lost in space (Aug 31, 2015)

Rusty O'Toole said:


> Not worth the bother or expense for one condo. Get some books and learn to do it yourself or just sell the place. The secret is to be very choosy about who you rent to. If it is a nice place, clean, in a decent neighborhood you won't have any trouble attracting good tenants. To get the most to chose from set your rent a little on the low side. It doesn't take much, every tenant is a hanging judge of rent and will move across town to save $50 a month. Advertise well in advance, your best tenants will be looking 1 or 2 months ahead. DO NOT rent to someone who needs a place right away. This is a big red flag. You want someone looking at least a month ahead of time.


I would second this, my sister in law owns a triplex and the quality of tenant makes a huge difference. One on going arguement she's had with her el cheapo husband was about making the place look nice. For example do they put in quality blinds or cheap rods as her husband wanted. They went with quality and were able to bump the rent up a bit but more importantly attract a better tenant.


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