Thinking about hiring a property management company in San Diego, but not sure what all the fees actually mean?
Search online and you’ll see a range of pricing structures—percentages, flat fees, leasing fees, addons—and it can be tough to know if you’re getting a fair deal or paying for things you don’t really need.
In this guide, we’ll walk through the most common property management fees in San Diego and North County (Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido), what they usually cover, and how to compare companies so you understand exactly what you’re paying for.
1. The Two Big Categories: Leasing vs. Ongoing Management
Most property management pricing in San Diego breaks down into:
- Leasing / tenant placement fees – paid when a new tenant is placed.
- Ongoing management fees – paid monthly while the tenant is in place.
Different companies package things differently, but almost all fees connect back to those two buckets.
2. Leasing / Tenant Placement Fees
This is the fee you pay when a management company finds and places a new tenant.
Typical lease-up services include:
- Pricing advice and rent analysis
- Listing the property on rental sites and the company’s website
- Professional photos (sometimes additional)
- Handling inquiries and showings
- Processing applications and screening tenants
- Preparing the lease and addenda
- Coordinating move-in and documenting condition
How it’s usually charged:
- Percentage of one month’s rent (for example, 50–100% of one month’s rent), or
- A flat fee per new lease
What matters most:
- What’s included in the leasing fee
- Whether there’s any leasing guarantee (for example, they’ll replace a tenant for free or reduced cost if they break the lease early under certain conditions)
3. Monthly Management Fees
Once a tenant is in place, the monthly management fee covers the day-to-day work of running your rental.
This often includes:
- Rent collection and posting owner disbursements
- Coordinating maintenance and repairs
- Serving notices when necessary
- Managing tenant communication
- Handling lease renewals (sometimes as an extra fee)
- Providing monthly and year-end statements
How it’s usually charged:
- Most commonly as a percentage of collected rent (for example, somewhere in the high single digits to low teens), or
- A flat monthly fee per unit
Questions to ask:
- Is the fee based on collected rent (only when the tenant pays) or scheduled rent (whether or not they pay)?
- Are there different tiers of service at different price points?
- Are inspections and lease renewals included or separate?
4. Common Additional / “A La Carte” Fees
Beyond leasing and monthly management, you may see:
- Lease renewal fee – for preparing a renewal and any updated documents
- Inspection fees – for mid-lease or annual property inspections with photos and reports.
- Setup/onboarding fee – sometimes a small one-time fee to set up your account, collect data, and onboard existing tenants if you’re switching from self-management.
- Maintenance coordination or markups – some companies add a coordination fee or percentage on top of vendor invoices.
- Notice or legal coordination fees – if they help coordinate with attorneys for more complex issues.
Not all companies charge all of these, and some include them inside a higher all-in monthly fee.
5. What’s Usually Not Included in the Base Management Fee
Even with full-service management, some items stay outside the standard fee structure, such as:
- Actual repair and maintenance costs (you still pay the vendors, even if the manager coordinates it)
- HOA fines or utility bills
- Attorney fees, court filing fees, and some costs associated with complex legal actions
- Major project management (full remodels, large capital improvements), which may carry separate project management fees
The management fee pays for the coordination and oversight, not the underlying costs themselves.
6. How to Compare Property Management Fees in San Diego (Without Getting Lost)
Instead of just comparing percentages, look at the total package.
When comparing companies, ask:
1. What’s included in the leasing fee?
- Photos, marketing, screening, move-in inspection?
2. What’s included in the monthly management fee?
- Rent collection, 24/7 maintenance line, owner portal, reporting?
3. What extra fees might apply?
- Renewals, inspections, setup, admin, maintenance markups?
4. How is maintenance handled and billed?
- ◦ Any markups on vendor invoices? Approval thresholds?
5. Are there guarantees?
- Eviction protection programs, lease-length guarantees, communication response time, etc.?
Then compare:
“What would I pay in total over a year with this company at my expected rent level?”
Sometimes a slightly higher monthly fee but fewer extras ends up cheaper (and simpler) than a lower headline percentage with lots of add-ons.
7. How Palomar Oaks Can Position Its Fees
For most long‑term single‑family homes, condos and small multifamily properties, we use a flat 8% monthly management fee based on collected rent. That flat fee already covers the core services owners care about most — marketing support, leasing coordination, tenant communication, inspections, rent collection and standard reporting.
Many companies advertise a very low teaser percentage and then add separate fees for lease‑ups, renewals, inspections, statements or maintenance coordination, so the real cost ends up higher. We keep the structure simple and transparent instead. You see your management fee and what is included, and you can easily compare your total annual cost with other companies.
For more complex assets, such as larger multifamily, short‑term rentals or highly specialized properties, we may recommend a different flat monthly fee. The principle stays the same: one clear management fee, written down in advance, with no hidden or ‘junk’ fees.
