Should you hire a property manager or use software?
The honest answer is that they solve different problems, and most articles pretend otherwise. A property manager replaces you. Software gives you leverage. HomeRelay sits on the software side of that line, so read this knowing where we sit. The math and the tradeoffs below are real either way.
How much does a property manager actually cost?
A property manager typically charges 8 to 12% of collected rent, and HomeRelay's research puts the true all-in cost closer to 15% once the add-on fees stack. The sticker rate is only the start. Common extras: tenant placement at 50 to 100% of one month's rent, a 10 to 15% markup on maintenance invoices, lease renewal fees commonly $100 to $350, and eviction coordination fees commonly $200 to $600. On a $1,500 rental, the effective cost commonly lands around $200 to $225 a month. On a single $1,200 unit at 10%, that is about $120 a month for one door. Ask any PM you interview for their full fee schedule in writing, then do this math on your own numbers.
What is a property manager genuinely better at?
A property manager is the right call when you want a local human standing in for you, and no software, HomeRelay included, replaces that. A PM can walk the unit, meet a contractor on-site, run showings and turnovers in a market you do not live in, and absorb the whole job when you truly want zero involvement. If your goal is "I never want to think about this property again," hire a PM and vet them well. Software is the wrong tool for that goal.
Why do landlords fire their property managers?
Poor communication is the most-cited reason landlords fire a PM, and it is the exact gap software is built to close. The common complaints run in a pattern: you cannot get a status update, repairs get approved without anyone verifying the work, fees stack past the sticker rate, and you feel out of the loop on your own property. None of that means PMs are bad. It means you are paying a percentage of rent for coordination work and still not getting visibility.
Where I sit personally: I own a quadplex in Dayton and I pay a property manager 10% on $850 units right now. That is $340 a month across four doors, and I still end up chasing repairs and answering tenant questions myself. Paying the full replacement price and doing the coordination anyway is what convinced me the middle option needed to exist. I did not build HomeRelay from a spreadsheet of PM complaints. I built it from mine.
What can software do that a property manager cannot?
Software keeps you the decision-maker, and HomeRelay is built around that difference. Every repair, cost, and vendor choice stays visible and under your control, at a flat price that does not scale with your rent. What software cannot do: show up at the property, meet a contractor in person, or want things on your behalf. With any software, you are still the owner of last resort. The question is how much of the grunt work it takes off you in between.
Is there a third option between a property manager and doing it all myself?
Yes. HomeRelay is a dispatch layer: it runs the maintenance coordination a PM would handle, while you keep the control and the rent a PM would take. Tenants report issues through a QR portal instead of your phone. AI triages the problem, contacts your own vendors, escalates when nobody answers, and brokers the schedule. You approve what you want to approve and see everything. It is a flat $69/mo for 1 to 4 units, or $99/mo for 5 and up, for your whole account, and it never takes a cut of your rent. That is the shape most self-managing landlords are actually looking for when they start pricing PMs: not a replacement, a dispatcher.
How do I decide which one I need?
Name the job you are hiring for, then match the tool to it. If the job is "be my presence in a city I do not live in" or "make this truly hands-off," that is a PM, and the 8 to 12% plus extras is the honest price of a human stand-in. If the job is "stop the maintenance calls, the vendor chasing, and the phone tag while I stay in charge," that is a dispatch problem, and paying a percentage of rent for it is the expensive way to solve it.
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