Real estate & rental
Property Management Cost Calculator
Works what managing a property costs, whether paid to a manager or absorbed by the owner.
Result
The headline percentage is rarely the whole cost, and the effective figure is usually meaningfully higher once leasing fees, renewal fees and a maintenance markup are counted. Whether the fee is charged on rent collected or on scheduled rent matters more than it sounds: charging on scheduled rent means paying full management on a vacant unit, which moves the vacancy risk onto you. The turnover rate drives the leasing fee, and it is the input most worth getting right, because a leasing fee approaching a month's rent on frequent turnover can exceed the ongoing management fee entirely.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Management fees, leasing and renewal charges, maintenance coordination, and the owner's own time where they self-manage, totalled annually and as a share of rent. Pricing the owner's time is what makes the comparison between self-managing and hiring a manager an actual comparison rather than a cost against zero.
What moves the number
- Management fee and the additional charges in the agreement.
- Turnover frequency, which drives leasing fees.
- The owner's own time where self-managing.
- Distance from the property.
Where this one goes wrong
Self-management is not free, and the hours go into screening, showings, rent collection, coordinating repairs, dealing with notices and handling turnover, much of it at times that are inconvenient. Put a rate on them before concluding that managing yourself is cheaper. Distance is the other factor, since managing remotely means either paying someone locally for each task or travelling, and both cost more than the management fee that was avoided.
Before you quote
- Price your own time before comparing against a manager's fee.
- Include leasing and renewal fees at your actual turnover rate.
- Account for distance, which raises the cost of self-managing.
Questions
About this calculator
Is self-managing cheaper than hiring a manager?
Only once your own time is priced. Screening, showings, rent collection, repair coordination and turnover consume real hours at inconvenient times, and comparing a management fee against zero rather than against those hours is not a comparison.
What does distance change?
Almost everything. Managing remotely means paying someone locally for each task or travelling to do it, and both usually exceed the management fee avoided. Distance is the strongest practical argument for professional management.
Which management costs are easy to overlook?
Leasing and renewal fees at your actual turnover rate, and maintenance coordination markups. The monthly percentage is the visible part; these are what make the annual total meaningfully higher than the headline figure.
The formula
total = management fee + leasing fees x turnovers + renewal fees + maintenance markup + setup
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How to use this calculator
- Units managed. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.
- Monthly rent per unit ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $1,850.
- Management fee. Enter your own figure; the page starts at A share of rent collected.
- Management fee (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 9%.
- Fee charged on. Enter your own figure; the page starts at Rent actually collected.
- Vacancy and non-payment (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 6%.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to total management cost for the year, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Units managed | 1 |
| Monthly rent per unit | $1,850 |
| Management fee | A share of rent collected |
| Management fee | 9% |
| Fee charged on | Rent actually collected |
| Vacancy and non-payment | 6% |
| New tenant leasing fee | 75% |
| Tenant turnovers per unit per year | 0.5 |
| Lease renewal fee | $200 |
| Markup on maintenance work | 10% |
| Annual maintenance spend per unit | $2,200 |
| One off setup fee per unit | $300 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Total management cost for the year main result | $3,192 |
| Effective cost as a share of rent collected | 15.3% |
| Ongoing management fees | $1,878 |
| Leasing and renewal fees | $793.75 |
| Maintenance markup | $220 |
| Rent collected | $20,868 |
| Cost per month | $265.99 |
| Cost per unit per year | $3,192 |
Management costs $3,192 a year, which is 15.3% of the rent you collect, not the 9% headline. Ongoing fees are $1,878, leasing and renewals add $793.75, and the maintenance markup adds $220.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only monthly rent per unit, this is what happens to total management cost for the year. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Monthly rent per unit ($) | Total management cost for the year |
|---|---|
| $925 | $1,906 |
| $1,388 | $2,550 |
| $1,850 example above | $3,192 |
| $2,775 | $4,478 |
| $3,700 | $5,764 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Units managed
- A number, between 1 and 1000, starting at 1.
- Monthly rent per unit ($)
- A money amount, between 0 and 100000, starting at $1,850.
- Management fee
- Choose from A share of rent collected, A flat fee per unit per month, A share of rent with a monthly minimum.
- Management fee (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 30, starting at 9%.
- Fee charged on
- Choose from Rent actually collected, Scheduled rent, whether collected or not.
- Vacancy and non-payment (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 50, starting at 6%.
- New tenant leasing fee (%)
- As a share of one month's rent.
- Tenant turnovers per unit per year
- A number, between 0 and 4, starting at 0.5.
- Lease renewal fee ($)
- A money amount, between 0 and 5000, starting at $200.
- Markup on maintenance work (%)
- Many managers add a coordination fee on top of contractor invoices.
- Annual maintenance spend per unit ($)
- A money amount, between 0 and 100000, starting at $2,200.
- One off setup fee per unit ($)
- A money amount, between 0 and 5000, starting at $300.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Total management cost for the year | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Effective cost as a share of rent collected | A percentage. |
| Ongoing management fees | A money figure. |
| Leasing and renewal fees | A money figure. |
| Maintenance markup | A money figure. |
| Rent collected | A money figure. |
| Cost per month | A money figure. |
| Cost per unit per year | A money figure. |
What is not in this number
Property figures here exclude the costs that decide whether a deal works: vacancy, maintenance, management, capital expenditure and the transaction costs at both ends. A return that looks strong before those frequently does not survive them.
Keep going
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