Why property management is not very competitive in Columbus?
I've recently closed and rehabed a property in Columbus (and actively looking to get more, so if you have any leads, pls PM me ;) - but my question is about property management in the metro. There seems to be a number of solid PM companies around, RL, Panzera, etc. but most if not all have a rather high fee structure when compared to what I'm used to in CA.
As a comparison, my PMs in Sac charge me 50% of 1st mo for placement (up to max 500), then 75/mo for management and 75 for lease reviewals. My PMs in Fresno charge me flat 8% of leased gross - no placement, no renewal, no vacancy charge (comes to ~80/mo average for PM).
In Columbus, almost everyone wants to charge some startup fee, a full month for placement, a lease renewal fee and 8% to 10% of monthly fee. The end result is that monthly rents in Columbus average much less than in CA, yet absolute dollar amount for PMs is significantly higher.
Example (all units in similar B type areas):
Sac (1st year with placement) - rent 2,100/mo, PM (with placement fee amortized) - $110/mo (or 5.2%)
Fresno (1st year with placement) - rent 1,200/mo, PM - $96/mo (or 8%)
Columbus (first year with placement) - rent 1,200/mo, PM (with placement fee and startup fee amortized) - $171/mo (or 14.2%)
Thoughts?