Memphis Property Management: How to Choose the Right Company

Most Memphis investors pick a property manager based on one number: the management fee. That's how you end up switching managers 18 months later with a vacant unit, thousands in surprise invoices, and a tenant who should never have been approved.

I've managed rentals in Memphis for years. I've seen what bad management looks like from the inside. The difference between a good Memphis property management company and a bad one isn't the fee percentage. It's what happens after you sign the contract.

Here are the questions that actually matter.

What Do You Actually Charge?

Every Memphis property management company quotes a percentage. Most quote 8-10% of collected rent. That number is almost meaningless by itself.

The real question: what's stacked on top of it?

Some managers charge leasing fees equal to a full month's rent every time they place a tenant. Some mark up every maintenance invoice 40-60% over cost. Some bill minimum service call fees of $125 just to dispatch someone. Some add lease renewal fees, advertising fees, or setup fees that never came up in the initial conversation.

The fix isn't finding a manager with zero fees. Every legitimate operation has costs beyond the management percentage. The fix is knowing exactly what those costs are before you sign.

At LPS, the long-term management fee is 8% of collected rent. New tenant placement is 50% of one month's rent. Lease renewals are $195. Maintenance performed by our in-house technicians carries 0% markup. Subcontracted vendor work gets a 10% coordination fee. That's the full picture. No minimum service call charges. No hourly labor rates. No surprise line items six months in.

A manager who won't hand you a complete fee schedule on the first call is a manager who profits from your confusion. Ask for the full breakdown in writing before you sign anything.

Who Fixes Things?

This is where most Memphis property management companies fall apart. They don't employ maintenance staff. They dispatch third-party vendors, mark up the invoice, and pass it to you.

That creates three problems. Longer response times. Higher costs. Zero accountability when the work is bad.

LPS runs 4 in-house maintenance technicians plus a dedicated maintenance coordinator, handling 2,628 work orders per year. That's 219 per month. Most get resolved in under 24 hours. Every work order includes before-and-after photos. When you log into AppFolio and see a charge, you also see exactly what was done and why.

The cost gap is real. A water heater replacement costs $1,600 through our in-house crew. The same job from a typical vendor runs $3,500. Multiply that kind of difference across a year of maintenance on a Memphis rental and the "low fee" manager becomes the most expensive option in your portfolio.

Ask every manager you interview whether their techs are on staff or on call.

How Do You Fill Vacancies?

Vacancy is the most expensive line item in rental ownership. Every empty day is lost rent you never recover.

Two numbers matter here: how fast can you turn a unit, and how good is your screening?

LPS averages 21 days from move-out to move-in when owners follow our pricing strategy. The unit gets a tech the day after the tenant leaves. Our cleaning team handles turnover cleaning in-house. Listings go live on Zillow, Apartments.com, and every major platform through AppFolio syndication. Prospective tenants book self-guided tours through ShowMojo, which means showings happen on their schedule, not your manager's.

Screening runs through Findigs, an AI-powered platform that delivers decisions, not just reports. Identity verification, income verification, fraud detection, document analysis. Fake paystubs and synthetic identities are real problems in Memphis leasing. A PDF and a credit score aren't enough anymore.

Ask your prospective manager what their average days-to-fill looks like. If they can't answer with a number, that tells you everything.

How Do You Handle the Money?

Your property manager collects rent, pays bills, and sends you what's left. If their accounting is sloppy, you'll never know whether you're making money or losing it.

LPS runs all financials through AppFolio. Owners get a full portal with real-time access to statements, inspection reports, and maintenance records. Monthly reconciliation happens before owner payments go out. Rent collection hits a 95%+ rate with automated delinquency workflows. If a tenant moves out with a balance, it goes to a debt collector. That money doesn't just disappear.

Ask for a sample owner statement. If the manager can't show you one, or if it looks like a spreadsheet someone built in 2014, keep looking.

What Happens When It Goes Wrong?

Every Memphis landlord eventually faces an eviction, a major repair, or a tenant dispute. The question isn't whether it happens. It's whether your manager has a system for it.

LPS uses the best eviction attorney in Memphis with a defined workflow and specific triggers. We've never lost in court arguing for tenant damages. Not once. Emergency maintenance runs 24/7 from on-staff technicians. Not an answering service. Not a voicemail box. And the repair threshold is set at $500 per occurrence without owner approval, so your manager isn't calling you at 11 PM to approve a burst pipe fix. If it's a true emergency, there's no limit and no delay.

Ask how many evictions the manager handled last year and what their court record looks like. If they dodge the question, you have your answer.

Can They Manage Both Short-Term and Long-Term?

Memphis investors increasingly hold properties across both strategies. Market conditions shift. A property that cash-flows as an Airbnb today might perform better as a 12-month lease next year.

Most Memphis property management companies can only do one or the other. STR managers typically aren't licensed brokers. LTR managers don't understand Airbnb algorithms, turnover operations, or guest screening.

LPS operates both under a single management contract because our broker, Randy, holds a Tennessee real estate license. Owners switch strategies based on performance data, not because they had to find a new manager. If you're investing in Memphis from out of state, that flexibility matters. Markets change. Your manager should be able to change with them.

The Checklist

Before you sign with any Memphis property management company, get answers to these six questions:

1. What's the full fee schedule, including leasing, renewal, maintenance markup, and any minimums?
2. Are your maintenance technicians on staff or subcontracted?
3. What's your average vacancy period, move-out to move-in?
4. Can I see a sample owner statement from your portal?
5. How many evictions did you handle last year, and what's your court record?
6. Can you manage both short-term and long-term rentals under one contract?

If a manager can answer all six with specifics, you're probably in the right place. If they talk around the questions, you're about to become someone else's cash flow.

Talk to Us

We built LPS by managing 200 of our own properties for six years before taking a single outside client. Every system, every workflow, every vendor relationship got tested with our own money first.

If you own rental property in Memphis or you're looking to buy, reach out: andrew@staywithlps.com. Run us through the checklist yourself.