Owner Guide

Lease-Only or Full-Service: Which Fits You?

The short version. Lease-only means a professional finds, screens, and places your tenant for a one-time fee, then hands you the keys to manage yourself. Full-service means the manager runs everything, month after month, for a percentage of rent. One costs less money. The other costs less of your life.

We offer both, at published prices, so we have no reason to push you toward either. Here is how to pick, honestly.

Who does what, task by task

Both models start the same. They split the moment the tenant moves in. Everything below the line is yours under lease-only.

The work	Lease-Only	Full-Service
Pricing the home from live comparables	Manager	Manager
Marketing, photos, and showings	Manager	Manager
Screening every applicant against written criteria	Manager	Manager
Attorney-prepared lease and move-in video	Manager	Manager
Collecting rent every month	You	Manager
Taking the 2am maintenance call	You	Manager
Coordinating repairs with vetted vendors	You	Manager
Periodic inspections	You	Manager
Late notices and legal compliance	You	Manager
Security deposit claims under Florida’s strict rules	You	Manager
Monthly statements and year-end accounting	You	Manager
Move-out inspection and turnover	You	Manager

The math on a $2,000 rental, over two years

Using our own published fees so the numbers are real. One new tenant placed, staying both years.

Lease Only

One placement fee of $2,000. Monthly fee $0. Two-year total paid to us: $2,000. Plus every rent chase, repair call, notice, and inspection is yours, for 24 months.

24 Managed, 8%

Placement fee of $1,500, then $160 a month on collected rent. Two-year total: $5,340. And the phone that rings at 2am is ours, not yours.

Most picked

24 Protected, 9%

Placement fee of $1,000, then $180 a month on collected rent. Two-year total: $5,320, with up to $750 in eviction and pet damage protection included.

Notice the two full-service plans land within $20 of each other over a two-year stay, which is why most owners pick 24 Protected: nearly the same total, with the protections included. Against Lease Only the gap is about $3,300 over two years, roughly $138 a month. That is the real price of full service. Whether it is expensive depends on what your hours are worth and what a compliance mistake would cost you. All totals assume rent actually collected, because that is the only rent we charge fees on.

Lease-only fits you if

You live near the property and can get to it when something breaks
You have time for tenant calls, and the patience for them
You know the basics of Florida landlord-tenant law, or will learn them
You are comfortable holding the deposit and handling claims correctly
You want the lowest possible cost and accept the work that buys

See tenant placement →

Full-service fits you if

You live out of the area, or plan to
You have a demanding job, a family, or simply better uses for the time
You own more than one rental
You want distance between yourself and the tenant relationship
You want one number a month and a statement, not a second job

Compare the plans →

What owners underestimate about self-managing

Not the big things. Most owners can handle a repair bill. What wears people down is the steady drip: the rent that arrives on the 8th instead of the 1st, the deposit claim that has to follow Florida’s 15 and 30-day notice rules exactly, the repair quote you cannot tell is fair, the tenant text at dinner. None of it is hard once. All of it is work every month.

Two honest caveats from our side of the fence. Our Lease Only plan does not carry the 12-month placement guarantee that our full-service plans include, because after move-in the tenant relationship is yours, not ours. And if you start with lease-only then change your mind, switching to full service later is simple. The agreement is month to month either way.

Lease-only questions, answered

What is the difference between tenant placement and property management?

Tenant placement, also called lease-only, is the front half of the job: pricing, marketing, showings, screening, the lease, and move-in documentation. After the tenant moves in, you take over. Property management is the whole job: everything placement includes, plus rent collection, maintenance, inspections, notices, accounting, and the move-out. Placement is a one-time fee. Management is a monthly percentage.

How much does lease-only service cost in Orlando?

Typically 75% to 100% of one month’s rent, paid once per new tenancy. Our Lease Only plan is 100% of one month’s rent with a 0% monthly fee, and you pay nothing until there is a signed lease and money paid by the tenant. Renewals are optional at 75% of one month’s rent and include a property inspection with video plus a new lease prepared by an attorney.

Is lease-only property management worth it?

It is when the owner honestly has the time, proximity, and legal footing to self-manage, because it removes the hardest part, finding a well-screened tenant, at a one-time cost. It is not worth it when the monthly work lands on someone unprepared for it. A bad month of self-management can cost more than a year of management fees.

Can I start with lease-only and switch to full service later?

Yes, and owners do. If self-managing turns out to be more than you want, we can take over management of the tenant we placed. Our management agreement is month to month either way, so switching does not lock you into anything long term.

Does lease-only include a tenant placement guarantee?

Ours does not, and we say so plainly. The 12-month placement guarantee, where we re-lease the home for free if the tenant breaks the lease in the first year, comes with our full-service plans, because there we control the tenant relationship for the life of the lease. On Lease Only, day to day management is in your hands after move-in, so we cannot guarantee an outcome we do not manage.

What does full-service management cost in Orlando?

Most Orlando firms charge 8% to 10% of monthly rent plus a placement fee. Our full-service plans are 8% monthly with a 75% placement fee, or 9% monthly with a 50% placement fee and added protections, including up to $750 in eviction and pet damage coverage. Every fee is published on our pricing page.

Want the full fee picture first? Read the 2026 Orlando fees guide.

Either way, it starts with the rent number.

Lease-only or full service, the first step is the same: find out what the home should earn. Free rental analysis from a licensed Florida broker, usually within one business day. Or call (407) 588-9600.

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