Lease Renew Fee

Completely agree. I believe the reason it continues is that normally the investor negotiates a percent or two off the rate and thinks they've had a win. What they fail to realise is that once you add up all the little fees the total percentage of rent is still quite often in the double digits so the PM is able to "hide behind the fee structure" for want of a better term. In reality, the percentage for management is only one part of the fee structure. It just takes a bit of work to calculate by assuming a worst case scenario of one re-let (new tenant) per year, then add up all the fees on the PMs you're comparing and work it out as a total percentage of rent.

It's always bugged me as an investor too which is exactly why we've implemented a percentage of rent and a letting fee (two very different services) with no other fees.

The only hard part is for things like overseeing renos or attending the tribunal because those events are generally few and far between it would actually be unfair to the investor to include them in a management fee percentage as to cover costs in the event they did happen, the ongoing percentage would have to be higher. This is why most PMs essentially charge those like separate services, not as part of ongoing property management.

 

@Andrew Hancock agree on renewal fees. There's work involved, but I don't charge either.

$330 is a stupidly high fee IMO, especially since in most cases I imagine it completely obliterates any potential increase in rent you got.