Ask ten Adelaide agencies what they charge to manage a rental property and most will say some version of "it depends — give us a call." Here's the thing: it doesn't really depend. Every agency knows exactly what it charges. The question is whether they'll tell you before the sales pitch.
The short answer
Management fees in Adelaide are charged as a percentage of the rent the agency collects for you. Across the metropolitan market they typically land somewhere between the mid-sixes and the high-nines, inclusive of GST — and the difference between those two numbers on a $550-a-week property is several hundred dollars a year.
Ours are published, so we'll go first: 6.6% inc. GST for residential management, 6.0% if we manage more than one property for you. The full schedule — letting fee, inspections, statements, every line — is on our property management page.
What a management fee should include
The percentage should cover the week-in, week-out work of managing your tenancy:
- Rent collection and arrears follow-up — ask when follow-up starts; ours begins on day three
- Tenant communication, maintenance coordination and tradesperson management
- Lease renewals, rent reviews and compliance with the Residential Tenancies Act
- Disbursements to you, with a statement
The extras to ask about
The headline percentage is rarely the whole price. Before you sign a management agreement, ask for every one of these in writing:
- Letting fee — charged each time a new tenant is found. Usually expressed in weeks of rent (ours is 2.2 weeks inc. GST).
- Routine inspection fees — some agencies charge per inspection, some include them. Ours are $44 each.
- Statement or admin fees — small monthly charges that add up ($6.60 a month here).
- Lease renewal and rent review fees — ours is 0.55 weeks of rent.
- Tribunal representation — if a matter goes to SACAT, what does an hour of your agent's time cost? ($330 inc. GST plus SACAT fees here — and we don't charge for preparing the paperwork.)
- Invoice mark-ups — the quiet one. Some agencies add a margin to tradesperson invoices. We don't: you pay what the tradie charges, and you see the original invoice.
How to compare agents properly
Don't compare percentages — compare annual cost on your property. Take the management percentage, add a year's worth of the extras above based on a realistic year (one routine inspection cycle, one lease renewal, twelve statements), and put the two totals side by side. A low headline rate with heavy extras routinely costs more than an honest mid-range rate with everything included.
And one simple test of an agency's culture: will they publish their fees? If a fee can't survive being written down in public, it probably shouldn't be charged.
See what your property would cost to manage
Our full fee schedule is on the property management page, and a written rental appraisal — what your property should rent for, and what our management would cost on it — is free: request one here. It comes from the principal, usually within two business days.
General information only — not financial or legal advice. Fees correct at publication and confirmed in your management agreement.