Aren’t you generally paying more by renting from a management company.
I don’t think so, although some weak hand landlords might try to pass off the management fee to their tenants. The rent will be whatever the market will bear. I know it’s certainly not true in my case — I rent from a management company and it’s definitely less than some of the prices I see on craigslist. I stop by their office sometimes and chat with them and they always tell me that they have to educate the wannabee landlords as to the actual market rent value of their property. It is almost always less than they think it is. The last time I stopped in they said they were getting flooded with requests to rent out properties. Heh heh heh.
Renting from a good management company has many advantages. They will usually fix things that are broken and bill the owner, etc…