Seeking a solid St. Louis property management company

[Victoria Dieckgraefe]

Good evening everyone!

My husband and I are about to close on our very first rental property in St. Louis, MO. We live in a different state but are from that area. We found a property management company but before signing the contract, noticed that they put 

"owner to pay $395 to secure lease renewal of current tenant"

"owner to pay 8% per month but subject to $100 a month minimum payment" of gross revenues DUE (not paid) prior to monthly disbursements"

"if premises are vacant at any time during this agreement, then owner shall pay manager $100 per month for management of premises including supervision of maintenance"

It doesn't seem like these terms fit for managing our simple duplex rental. Does anyone out there know of a good property management company in St. Louis that has better terms? 

Our property is a mix-use - one of the older historic properties near central St. Louis. We hoped to have the management company manage 2 residential units in the property. Each unit has potential to bring in $600 per month.

Also we are closing on the 8th of April and want to quickly find a good management team to work with.

We're eager to get some advice!!

Thanks!

[Donald S.]

Who have you interviewed? Looking at those terms they sound fairly reasonable, 8% is actually lower than the standard in St. Louis for smaller clients, most charge 10% until you hit a threshold of properties. Not sure if the renewal fee is standard or if the vacancy fee is standard, since I assume they also charge a lease up fee after they fill it, probably 1 full month. I would offer to do it for you, but MO has that pesky law that a PM has to be a broker to work for anyone other than themselves (or work for a specific client). 

I suggest talking to 4 or 5 other companies, there's a ton of PM's in Stl. @Peter MacKercher runs a good one, so I'm told, and then I know Deca Realty is another one I see all the time. You can always call the big boys like Renter's Warehouse but I've heard big PM companies give you bad service, IDK I PM my own.