HomeRelay vs hiring a property manager.
The short version: A property manager takes 8-12% of your rent and still calls you for every decision over $250. HomeRelay handles the maintenance coordination for $69 flat (1 to 4 units, or $99 for 5 and up) and gives you the controls so YOU make the decisions.
Side-by-side.
| HomeRelay | A property manager | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost (per month, $1,800/mo unit) | $69 flat (1 to 4 units) / $99 (5 and up) | $144-$216 (8-12% of rent) |
| Cost (annually, single unit) | $690 (annual prepay) / $828 (monthly billing) | $1,728-$2,592 |
| Plus leasing fees? | No | Usually 1 month's rent per new lease |
| Plus repair markup? | No | Often 10-20% on every vendor invoice |
| Maintenance dispatch | AI-triaged, your vendors, you can approve every dispatch or run on auto | Their team, often their preferred vendors, you approve over their threshold |
| Vendor relationships | Yours (you bring your trusted pros) | Theirs (their network, their kickbacks) |
| Tenant communication | You stay in the loop; we handle the routine stuff | They handle everything; you're often last to know |
| Lease decisions | All you | All them, with your sign-off |
| Rent collection | You keep what already works | They process and take their cut |
| Cancel anytime? | Yes | Usually 60-90 days' notice + termination fees |
The 5-year math.
Say you have one rental at $1,800/mo. Here's what each option costs over 5 years.
HomeRelay
- $69/month × 60 months = $4,140
- (Or with annual prepay = $3,450)
Property manager (10%)
- $180/month × 60 months = $10,800
- Plus leasing fees on tenant turnover (~$1,800 every 2 years) = ~$5,400
- Plus repair markups (~$300/year) = ~$1,500
That example is a single unit, which sits in the 1 to 4 unit band at $69/mo. At 5 or more units HomeRelay is $99/mo flat: $99 × 60 months = $5,940 over 5 years, or $4,950 with annual prepay. Either band is one flat price for your whole account. A property manager's cut keeps climbing with every door and every rent increase; the HomeRelay rate does not.
Questions to ask any maintenance tool before you sign.
Not every maintenance tool is priced the same way. Before you commit, ask these:
- Is there a per-text or per-SMS fee? Some tools bill per message sent to tenants or vendors. At volume, this adds up fast.
- Is there a per-ACH or per-transaction fee on rent collection? Tools that route rent payments can take a fee on every transaction. HomeRelay never processes rent, Stripe Connect goes landlord-direct.
- Is there a property or unit cap at the base price? Some tools bill per door. Understand what the price actually covers before your portfolio grows.
- Is this dispatch automation, or just a group chat? Some tools give you a messaging thread and call it "dispatch." HomeRelay triages with AI and automatically contacts your vendors, no manual forwarding required.
When a property manager actually makes sense.
We're not going to pretend HomeRelay is right for everyone. Hire a property manager if:
- You have 20+ doors and the operational lift is genuinely full-time
- You're truly hands-off and don't want a single notification, ever
- You need legal compliance management (rent control, fair housing audits, etc.) that a licensed PM provides
- You want someone else to handle tenant relationships, including renewals, screening, and difficult conversations
For everyone else, the small landlord with 1 to 10 units who just wants their evenings back, HomeRelay does the part that matters (maintenance coordination) without taking 10% of your rent.
More on the boundary: what HomeRelay deliberately doesn't do →
Comparing software instead of a person? HomeRelay vs MagicDoor →
See if HomeRelay does what you'd otherwise pay a PM to do. No charges during your trial. Cancel anytime.