Every rental owner who considers hiring a property manager partner first and foremost wants to know how much the services cost? We understand that and want to be as transparent as possible in a topic that can cause much confusion. When you seek out pricing for property management services on property manager websites you will likely find one of the following:
- Nothing listed. Call for a quote.
- Confusing comparison charts of different plans and services.
- Incomplete hints and ranges.
WILMOTH Group has been serving Indiana investors for 30 years and we feel your pain when it comes to pricing. Honestly, we use to fall under category #1. We thought property management pricing was too confusing and a conversation was needed. Through the years, we have learned that keeping pricing simple and transparent is what our investor partners want. So we have continued to refine our Property Management Agreement to make pricing clear and simple.
A few words of caution though. Property management services often do need an “it depends” answer. There are certain issues about a property or a tenant that could require some adjustment to what we are about to list for you. But what we now know, from 30 years of providing services, is that our transparent pricing covers a significant portion of all inquiries.
We hope our pricing and services, as listed below, will be welcome information and cause you to ask for further discussion. If so, just request our download below and we will email you to answer your questions. We will not call you unless you ask us to. We promise.
WILMOTH Property Management Fees and Services
Monthly Management Fees: 10% of gross rental income or $40 per unit (whichever is greater).
6 or more units qualify for our Portfolio discount where pricing changes to: 9% of gross rental income or $35 per unit (whichever is greater).
What it means: Management fees are your biggest ongoing expense when hiring a property manager. There are many ways property managers set management fees. Ours is a little bit of a hybrid to account for the many different types of properties our investor partners own. Gross rental income is often also called “collected rent”. The reason we use a base of $40 per month is that we do not just turn off management services to your investment when the property is vacant. We are still engaged in protecting your investment including ongoing maintenance and administration. And, we do not markup any of the maintenance or repairs on the property! The $40 minimum reflects what we have learned it costs to manage the turn when a property goes vacant and still NOT markup repairs! It is also the base amount of cost we incur when collecting rent, distributing funds, managing maintenance requests, tenant care, and other management services. Unfortunately, some rent levels do not provide enough to cover our costs. Those rents require a minimum fee and not one based on collected revenue.
We know this issue is confusing for many investors. Particularly when you are reviewing some websites that may only tell you half the story when it comes to their management fees.
Tenant Finder Fee (TFF): 75% of One month average rent (Minimum-$500/Maximum=$1500) for a one year lease. Leases of 18 months or longer duration or complexity are charged a TFF of 1.5-2x the normal TFF.
What it means: Sometimes this fee is called a leasing fee We have our own name to designate what you are paying for- finding a great, well-qualified, tenant for your rental property. We use every major website, and many not so familiar ones, to make sure your rental is marketed on the internet. Did you know that sites we use such as Zillow, Trulia, Hot Pads, Zumper and even our MLS (BLC) require us to pay for listing our rentals to the public? We write descriptions, and provide pictures, to educate potential renters. Then there is our 24/7 prospect inquiry and scheduling system so that we can ensure interested parties are pre-qualified and scheduled to see your rental. We collect feedback, process applications of all interested parties, complete verifications and background checks. Finally, we produce a legal, defendable, comprehensive lease and obtain signatures and manage the move-in process.
The costs of finding tenants are not as well known. This significant fee is based on the costs we incur providing a professional, leasing experience for our clients and their future residents.
Lease Renewal Fee: $250 for renewals of 6 months or longer. $125 for renewals of less than 6 months.
What it means: Lease renewals are the perfect time to address questions about whether rent should be increased, the condition of the property, and have the tenants performed their obligations in the lease? There is a lot to complete a renewal in coordination to make sure all these issues are addressed. A comprehensive review of the market and lease performance, violations and a lease renewal inspection are all a part of the process. If everything is satisfactory, a lease renewal needs to be completed and signed. This is typically an annual process.
WILMOTH Services Covered in These Fees
- Collect all rent due or owing.
- Remit to OWNER income less any properly deducted fees and charges.
- Set rental rates.
- Advertise the Property for rent in the public domain and through private broker listing services.
- Answer and respond to inquiries.
- Coordinate property showings to prospective qualified Tenants.
- Provide an application process that includes thorough background checks and screening of interested prospective Tenants.
- Investigate Tenant references, employment, credit, rental history, and criminal background.
- Review, and underwrite for risk all rental applications.
- Provide a thorough, legal, lease agreement and obtain all required signatures.
- Enforce the lease agreement.
- Collect the security deposit and hold funds in a separate, regulated, trust account.
- Complete Move-In, Move-Out, and Lease Renewal Property Inspections.
- Enforce collection efforts, and post notices to evict when necessary.
- Co-ordinate and enforce any eviction or collection proceedings with legal counsel.
- Recover possession of the Unit.
- Obtain delinquency judgements when possible and employ a collection agency to attempt to recover funds.
- Renew and execute leases.
- Provide for the prompt and efficient resolution of tenant complaints, maintenance, and trouble calls.
- Order and supervise all ordinary repairs, supplies, and minor alterations necessary for the proper operation of the property.
- All financial transactions and statements will be available for OWNER review and download at the secure OWNER web portal known as WILMOTHManager.com.
- Submit, as required by the IRS at the conclusion of each calendar year, a Form 1099 indicating the total income received by Owner from all Units and/or Property.
- Prepare a Security Deposit Settlement statement for
- Disburse Security Deposit funds to all parties as accounted for in the Security Deposit Settlement statement.
Additional Fees:
Payment Service: $10 per bill processed by WILMOTH
Additional Property Inspections beyond Move-In, Move-Out, and Lease Renewal: $100 per inspection.
Summary
We hope you find this information helpful, and we look forward to learning more about your objectives and needs.
