A rental management service handles rent collection, the annual service charge statement, the technical care of the building and day-to-day contact with tenants. The fee is freely agreed, usually a fixed amount per unit and month or a percentage of the net cold rent. It cannot be passed on to tenants (§ 1 (2) BetrKV).
Letting property means constant work: monitoring rents, preparing statements, maintaining the building, communicating with tenants. This article shows which tasks are included in detail, which fee models are common and from what point a mandate pays for itself.
What a rental management service covers
The tasks fall into three areas:
- Commercial management: rent collection and monitoring of incoming payments, reminders in case of arrears, adjustment of advance payments, per-property bookkeeping and the annual service charge statement with correct deadlines and allocation keys.
- Technical management: regular property inspections, commissioning and supervision of contractors, maintenance contracts (heating, lift), road and premises safety duties, and the handling of insurance claims. Under § 535 BGB the landlord remains obliged to keep the rented property in proper condition; the manager organises the fulfilment of this duty.
- Tenant care: point of contact for defect reports and requests, flat handovers and inspections with protocol, deposit handling and, on request, re-letting with credit checks and legally sound contracts.
Of these tasks, a report of a defect allows the least time, because the rent may already be reduced from the moment the defect arises, without the tenant having to declare anything (§ 536 (1) BGB). What has to be met for that, and how such a report is worked through properly, is set out in our guide to defects and rent reduction.
Rental, condominium and individual unit management
Rental management looks after the relationship between owner and tenants, typically for an apartment building held by one owner. Condominium (WEG) management, by contrast, runs the owners’ association; for individually let condominiums there is individual unit management. How the three roles interact is explained in our article on what a property management company does.
What does rental management cost?
There is no statutory fee schedule, so remuneration is freely negotiable. Two models have become established in practice:
- a fixed amount per unit per month, depending on the size, condition and scope of services, or
- a percentage of the net cold rent, so the fee moves with rental income.
Special services such as re-letting, support during modernisation or the supervision of major refurbishments are usually agreed separately. What matters is less the nominal price than the scope covered: a seemingly cheap flat fee that charges extra for every contractor assignment can end up more expensive. Anyone letting a condominium flat also pays a share of the WEG manager through the Hausgeld; the orders of magnitude there are set out in the guide to property management fees.
Not allocable, but deductible
Important for your calculation: under § 1 (2) BetrKV, administration costs are expressly not operating costs and therefore cannot be passed on to tenants. They remain the owner’s expense. In return, the costs of rental management for let property can generally be claimed as income-related expenses against rental income; which further items are deductible is covered by our guide to taxes for landlords in Germany.
When does rental management pay off?
A few questions help with the decision: How far do you live from the property? How much time can and do you want to invest on an ongoing basis? And how confident are you with deadlines, statements and tenancy law? The more units, the clearer the answer. From an apartment building upwards, professional management is the norm. But heirs who suddenly become landlords and investors based outside the region also frequently hand over the task before arrears, missed statement deadlines or vacancies become more expensive than the management itself.
Rental management in the Rhine-Main region
Short distances make the difference when a contractor needs coordinating or a flat needs handing over. For owners of apartment buildings and commercial properties in the region, we offer rental management in Frankfurt with a dedicated contact person, from rent collection to re-letting.
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Sources
Editorial responsibility: digo.immo Verwaltung & Invest - certified residential property manager under § 26a WEG (IHK Frankfurt), licence under § 34c GewO. About the certification
This article provides general information only and does not replace individual legal advice. It was created with AI assistance; the legal statements have been checked against the official texts of the law. Legal status: 28/08/2026; laws and case law may change. No warranty is given as to completeness, accuracy or timeliness. When in doubt, please seek qualified advice.