Tenant placement fee/property management

[Mathew Wray]

Hello all,

I've tried searching the forums with no luck for answer to my question.

I have a potential owner who is moving out of state and is looking to rent out her house. They don't want a traditional property manager as they have a lot of local connections and contractors and are confident of their ability to get a problem fixed quickly even from out of state. What they are looking for, and what I'm proposing to help with, is to get help finding and placing tenants. They'd like to let me advertise, find, screen, sign binding leases, and conduct move in/out for them while they're away. It seems like a pretty reasonable deal to me and both parties should be happy. The property is great and in a good neighborhood so finding quality tenants shouldn't be super difficult.

What should I charge? I was thinking somewhere in the $250 range sounds reasonable. Is that way low or does anyone have a set up with their PM company where they do the same thing?

Thanks for any help!

[Jon Holdman]

In my area, half a month's rent is typical.

In most states, however, you have to have a real estate license to provide this service.