6-8% of rents for mgmt company – lower % if you turn over more units to them – plan on 8% minimum for a single unit

and don’t think that mgmt companies are a walk in the park either – I turned a property over to a local mgmt company and took the property back less than 2 months later – incompetence and indifference are running rife in our society – it doesn’t matter that you are paying good money for a ‘professional’ service, the mgmt company is very unlikely to do things in a manner that you find acceptable

the parents of one of my friends have owned rental units in San Diego for over 30 years – they have gone back and forth numerous times between managing the units themselves and turning them over to a mgmt company – they are currently doing the mgmt themselves because the last mgmt company screwed them out of about $15K – basically, they balance the pain of managing the units themselves against the pain of letting a mgmt company manage the units – the balance of pain has shifted numerous times over the years

bottom line: owning real estate is a pain in the ass whether it is your own dwelling or a rental – don’t think that buying real estate is the easy road to wealth [caveat: owning real estate has historically been the best way for the little guy to become wealthy so there is a reason to put up with the hassle]