Property Management Pricing FAQs

Most New York City property managers charge a monthly management fee — typically a percentage of the rent they collect — plus a separate leasing (tenant-placement) fee when they fill a vacancy. The exact rate depends on the size and type of your building, the mix of rent-stabilized versus free-market units, and how hands-on the management needs to be. At Yak Management, pricing is customized to your building and structured one of two ways — a flat fee per apartment or a percentage of the rent roll, whichever fits best. We finalize the number during a free consultation, and it stays the same each month no matter how many issues come up. Because pricing is tailored to your specific building, a number in isolation doesn't tell you much — the better question is what that fee includes and what it saves you. Schedule a property consultation and we'll quote your building directly.

This is one of the most important pricing questions to ask any manager, and the answer differs by company. When a fee is charged on rent collected, the manager only earns their percentage when the tenant actually pays — which keeps their incentives aligned with yours. When a fee is charged on rent charged (or scheduled rent), the manager gets paid the same whether or not the unit is occupied or paying. Ask every company you interview which model they use, because on a vacant or delinquent unit the difference is real money. We're happy to walk you through exactly how our rent collection fee works during a consultation.

They cover two different jobs. The monthly management fee pays for ongoing operations — rent collection, maintenance coordination, tenant communication, financial reporting, inspections, and compliance. The leasing fee is a one-time charge each time a unit needs a new tenant, and it covers marketing the apartment, showings, screening applicants, and preparing a compliant lease. A manager who leases quickly and keeps good tenants longer directly lowers how often you pay that leasing fee — which is why lease-up speed and tenant retention matter to your bottom line, not just the headline rate.

At Yak Management, the monthly fee covers the full scope of running your building day to day: collecting rent through our AppFolio owner portal, coordinating routine and emergency maintenance with trusted vendors, handling tenant communication and requests, conducting inspections, preparing owner statements, and keeping your building on top of NYC compliance — HPD registration and violations, heat and hot-water rules, and rent-stabilization filings. See the full breakdown of what's covered on our property management page.

'Hidden fees' are usually charges that are technically disclosed but buried in the contract. The ones to look for when comparing NYC managers include:

• Markups on maintenance and repairs — a percentage added on top of every vendor invoice.
• Leasing or renewal fees charged again each year a tenant renews.
• Setup, onboarding, or account-activation fees.
• Vacancy fees — a charge that continues even while a unit sits empty.
• Technology, administrative, or 'reserve' fees layered on separately.
• Eviction or legal-coordination surcharges beyond actual third-party costs.

The fix is simple: ask any company for a written list of every fee they can charge, not just the headline rate. We put ours in plain language up front — no surprises.

This is worth asking every manager directly. Some companies add a percentage markup to every vendor bill, which quietly inflates your costs and creates an incentive to spend more, not less. At Yak Management we coordinate repairs through trusted, competitively priced vendors and focus on getting the work done right the first time — because unnecessary repair spending hurts your returns and ours is a long-term relationship. You can read more about how our maintenance service works, or ask us to spell out the repair-cost policy in writing.

For most NYC owners, yes — but it depends on your situation. A good manager typically pays for itself by leasing faster (we routinely fill apartments in under seven days, so you lose fewer weeks of rent), screening better (fewer costly evictions and turnovers), and preventing compliance mistakes — a single missed HPD registration, mishandled rent-stabilization filing, or Fair Housing misstep can cost far more than a year of fees. If you own a rent-stabilized or subsidized building, the specialized expertise is especially valuable. We break down the real math in our guide to property management vs. self-managing.

Ask this of anyone you interview, because policies vary. Our incentive is to keep your units occupied and paying, not to collect a fee while an apartment sits empty — a vacant unit is lost income for you and, in most models, lower fees for us. That alignment is exactly why lease-up speed matters. Because our management grew out of a residential brokerage (Pear NYC), leasing quickly is in our DNA. We'll explain our exact vacancy policy when we quote your building.

Rent-stabilized and subsidized housing takes deeper expertise — DHCR filings, HPD compliance, subsidy program requirements, and inspections all add work that a generic manager often isn't equipped to handle. Pricing reflects the scope of what your specific building requires. The upside is that specialized management protects your rent registrations, keeps subsidies intact, and avoids the violations that cost stabilized-building owners the most. This is a core specialty of ours, and we'll factor your building's exact profile into the quote.

Request a property consultation. Tell us your building's location, unit count, and the mix of rent-stabilized versus free-market apartments, and we'll come back with a tailored quote and an honest read on what your building needs. There's no cost and no obligation — many owners use it simply to sanity-check what they're paying now. You can also see how onboarding works on our getting started page.

Contract terms are part of any pricing conversation, and you should always read them before signing. We believe management should be earned through performance, not locked in by a punitive contract — owners who switch to us often come from managers they felt trapped with. We'll walk you through our agreement in plain language, including notice terms and anything that could affect your costs, before you commit. Reach out and we'll answer specifics for your situation.