Most owners weighing a property manager in Bruce County ask the fee question first — and fair enough. But the honest answer has two halves: what you pay, and what you stop losing.
The typical fee structure
Property management in Ontario generally follows the same shape:
1. A monthly management fee — a percentage of collected rent. Across the industry this commonly runs 8–12% for single properties.
2. A tenant-placement or “finder’s” fee — charged when the manager fills a vacancy. The industry standard is roughly half of one month’s rent, sometimes a full month.
3. Maintenance billing — this is where quiet costs hide. Some firms add a markup on contractor invoices; some charge trip fees. Always ask how maintenance lands on your statement.
What Ben Brewer Homes charges
We keep it deliberately simple:
- 6% of gross monthly rent — all-in. 5% for portfolios of 20+ units.
- Finding your tenant is included. No finder’s fee, ever — which alone typically saves you about half a month’s rent every time a tenancy turns over.
- Maintenance with no games. In-house work at $45/hr; outside contractors passed through at cost, no markup.
- No long lock-in. 90 days’ written notice to cancel, backed by a satisfaction guarantee — we’d rather earn your business every month than tie you down.
On a $2,000/month rental, 6% is $120 a month. One avoided finder’s fee covers most of a year of that.
The other side of the ledger: what self-managing costs
The fee is visible; the costs of self-managing usually aren’t.
Vacancy. Every empty month on that $2,000 rental costs $2,000 — more than a full year of our management fee. Owners managing from a distance, advertising in the wrong places, or slow to respond to inquiries routinely eat extra weeks of vacancy. Our direct pipeline of working tradespeople needing housing — sent to us first through our union relationship — exists precisely to make vacancies rare and short.
A bad tenancy. Skipped screening steps are how expensive tenancies happen. Proper screening — credit, employment and income, rental history, references, applied consistently and in compliance with the Ontario Human Rights Code — is tedious, and it is also the single highest-value task in this business.
Paperwork done wrong. Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act is unforgiving about process. An N4 served incorrectly can add months to resolving unpaid rent (we walk through the process in What to do when a tenant stops paying rent in Ontario). Getting notices right the first time is a large part of what you’re actually buying.
Your time. Rent chasing, 11 p.m. maintenance calls, showings, inspections, statements. Owners are often surprised which item on this list they were happiest to hand off.
Questions to ask any property manager
Whoever you talk to — including us — ask:
- What is the monthly percentage, and is it on collected or scheduled rent?
- Is tenant placement included, or is there a finder’s fee?
- Is there any markup on maintenance or contractor invoices?
- How quickly is rent remitted to me each month? (Ours: within the first 10 days.)
- How do I see what’s happening? (Ours: a live shared ledger updated continuously, plus monthly statements.)
- What does it take to leave? (Ours: 90 days’ notice, no lock-in.)
The bottom line
In Bruce County, a fair all-in rate with placement included will usually cost less per year than a single month of avoidable vacancy or one mishandled tenancy. That’s the comparison that matters.
If you’d like the exact numbers for your property — in Kincardine, Port Elgin, Tiverton or anywhere in Bruce County — request a no-obligation quote or call 519-385-5494.