@Robert Zajac pretty sure BRB charges less than an 8% management fee, so just as @Nathan Gesner states, they are making up for being below the "industry standards" by charging more elsewhere.
BE CAREFUL about PMCs that claim they don't charge a markup on maintenance - TIME IS ALWAYS MONEY!
We have a local competitor that brags they don't charge a maintenance markup, yet we know:
1) They charge owners $60/hour for their handyman
2) How much do you think they're paying their handyman?
- Unlikely $60/hour
3) Even with all payroll taxes, insurance, etc., they are making a profit margin on that hourly charge.
Another way PMCs usually make a markup on maintenance, is that they send you all invoices on their letterhead, or from a maintenance company they actually own. You don't see any actual receipts for materials or invoices from contractors they hired. So, they can markup what they paid out and keep the difference.
Most PMC industry software has these two options built in.
So, it's just a matter of understanding how your PMC is marking up maintenance and not expecting it to be for free.
Regarding the specific charges you mentioned - there has to be some level of trust with your PMC.
A lot of maintenance issues are repeated again and again on all the properties a PMC manages.
So, a PMC has pretty good idea of what many issues cost. YOU as the owner may not know, but the PMC does. So, why would they waste their time getting multiple bids when they already know the answer?
You also have to factor in time limitations.
How would you like to be a tenant waiting on a repair because the owner wants 3 bids for everything and not only will that delay the repairs, but you'll have 3 people coming through your home everytime you make a maintenance request?
How long will you go without hot water before withholding rent, calling the city or just moving out?
Contractor burnout is another concern.
Owners like to think it's so easy to just pick up the phone or send a mass email to get contractors beating down their door to give them a bid and hopefully get the job.
Doesn't work that way! The BEST contractors are in high demand, so are picky about doing bids and taking on jobs. A PMC can get a bad reputation really fast and be forced to use only the WORST contractors that are unreliable hacks.
So, realistically, how much time do you expect a PMC to spend getting multiple bids?
Even if they could save 5-10% on that $800 bid, which is $40-$80, if it took more than 1-2 hours they'd be losing money doing it because their time is worth at least $40/hour.
In our opinion, it really depends on the level of urgency and the size of the bid.
The more urgency, like no hot water, the less time the PMC has to get multiple bids.
The bigger the bid, the more likely it is an owner should expect multiple bids.
An owner has to be realistic, understand and accept these limitations.
