Answers

What does property management cost in San Diego? (2026)

The two fee models, honestly compared

Percentage-plus model: a monthly percentage, and then a separate leasing fee (sometimes a big slice of the first month’s rent), and sometimes renewal fees, inspection fees, maintenance markups, or technology fees on top. There is nothing wrong with charging those fees, but the headline percentage stops telling you the real cost. So ask for the whole fee schedule in writing before you compare anyone, and hold us to the same.

Flat fee, fully published (ours): 7% of collected rent means we earn nothing on vacancy, so your vacancy is our problem too. $700 tenant placement is flat whether your rent is $1,800 or $3,800. $100 renewal. $0 hidden fees. The fee schedule on our pricing page is the whole fee schedule.

What that looks like on a real rent

On a $2,414 rent (the City of San Diego median, Census ACS 2024): management runs $169 a month; a tenant placement is $700 once; a renewal is $100 a year. There is no percentage-of-rent leasing fee. For comparison, if a manager charged half a month’s rent just to place a tenant, that one fee would be about $1,207 on this rent, more than our flat $700.

Questions owners actually ask

Is 7% of collected rent different from 7% of rent?

Yes, and the word matters: collected. If the unit sits vacant or the rent goes unpaid, we are not billing you management on money you never received.

Do you mark up maintenance?

No. Vendor invoices land in your owner portal as the vendor issued them, with an audit trail on every dollar.

What is the contract commitment?

Month to month. If we stop earning it, you leave. No lock-in.