Hacker News Reader

Comment by taurath | Hacker News Reader

Usually it puts you under breaking even, esp if you just bought the place. Usually 8-12% according to google. Good for a property with a below market mortgage you don’t want to worry about but don’t want to sell.

View on HN

Nearer 10-15% in the UK. If you manage to find a good one they're definitely worth it, but the problem is, at least in my experience, the majority aren't.

Classical agent-principal problem.

Anecdotally we make ~ $500/mo after property management costs, but it isn't 100% hands-off. They are a middleman which means they bother us instead of the tenant.

I don't want to belittle the $500, but if we had good tenants and dealt with them directly we'd be getting double that.

Now is an extra grand a month worth the hassle with GOOD tenants? Maybe. But all it takes is one bad one to be in the hole and full of stress.

Wow how are you making $1k over mortgage, is the market and location that hot?

We aren't because of the property management fees, but we could. We bought at absolute rock bottom in 2010.

Sounds like a great investment, I'm paying several hundred a month unfortunately cause my market got cold. Might sell the property for a small profit if it keeps burning a hole in my pocket.

In Australia it’s 6-8%

There are two kinds of contracts with property managers - one kind that only find tenants, and another that manages everything (e.g. if the boiler breaks they get a plumber).

Which kind are you talking about? I'd be surprised if the discrepancy between countries was as large as 6% to 15% for the same contract.

The 6-8% is for the ongoing maintenance and routine inspections. Usually leasing the property is 1 week's rent, however sometimes that is included in the management fee as well.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com