Full-Service Management, Leasing Only, or Managing It Yourself After Placement

Three ways to split the work

You have a vacant Auburn rental and two jobs in front of you: finding a good tenant, then running the tenancy for a year or more. You can pay someone for both, pay someone for the first, or do it all yourself.

Full-service management covers marketing, screening, the lease, rent collection, repairs, notices, inspections and the move-out. Leasing only (also called tenant placement) stops once the lease is signed. After that, you self-manage: the tenant calls you, pays you and sends repair requests to you.

Whichever option you pick, the person you pay to rent the home must hold a license. Placing a home for rent or soliciting tenants for another person for compensation is real estate broker activity under Business and Professions Code 10131(b), so a leasing-only agent needs a DRE license just as a full-service manager does.

Put either arrangement in writing. Under Civil Code 1624(a)(4), an agreement that pays an agent to find a tenant for a lease longer than one year must be in writing to be enforceable. A one-page placement agreement should still say what the agent does, what it costs and when the agent's job ends.

Who holds the deposit

With full service, the manager usually holds the deposit as trust money. B&P 10145 and the DRE regulations require a broker to place funds received for others with the owner, a neutral escrow or the broker's trust account within three business days.

With leasing only, the agent usually passes the deposit and first month's rent to you. From then on you hold it for the tenant (Civil Code 1950.5(d)), and the move-out duties are yours: an itemized statement within 21 calendar days, receipts and photos for repair or cleaning deductions, and, since January 1, 2026, an electronic refund if the tenant paid rent or the deposit electronically, unless you agreed in writing on another method.

Whoever collects it, the total upfront security, including any pet or key deposit, generally may not exceed one month's rent. A narrow exception allows two months for some small landlords who meet both statutory conditions, and it never applies to a tenant who is a service member (Civil Code 1950.5(c)).

Who serves notices and takes the tenant's calls

Every lease must name the person authorized to manage the home and the person who accepts notices, with a phone number and usual street address, plus who receives rent and how (Civil Code 1962). After a leasing-only placement, that is usually you. Owners who live in the Bay Area or out of state should think about whether they want their home address in the lease.

The person named also handles the notices that keep a tenancy on track:

• Entry notices: reasonable written notice with the date, approximate time and purpose; 24 hours is presumed reasonable (Civil Code 1954).
• Rent increase notices: at least 30 days, or 90 days for increases above 10% in 12 months, on month-to-month tenancies (Civil Code 827).
• Three-day notices to pay rent or quit, which must state the amount due and the name, phone and address of the person to pay (CCP 1161).
• The written offer of a pre-move-out inspection (Civil Code 1950.5(f)).
• No fee may be charged to the tenant for serving or delivering a termination notice or a three-day notice (Civil Code 1946.1, CCP 1161).

Repairs and fire-season work

The duty to keep the home habitable stays with you no matter who manages it (Civil Code 1941.1). What changes is who takes the call and finds the contractor. With full service, the manager coordinates vendors within the spending limit you set. With leasing only, a broken water heater on a holiday weekend is your call to make.

Fire season adds a calendar task many owners forget. Placer County's hazardous vegetation ordinance for unincorporated areas names every owner, occupant and person in control of a parcel, and Public Resources Code 4291 covers anyone who owns or leases a building in the State Responsibility Area. Someone has to schedule the mowing and limbing and confirm it was done. A full-service manager usually builds that into the year; after a leasing-only placement, you either do it or write the tenant's share clearly into the lease. The time-and-stress post describes the day-to-day tasks a manager takes on.

What SPMG lists, as written

SPMG's pricing page describes full-service management at a typical fee of 8% to 10% of monthly rent, or a flat fee depending on the property, with "No turnover fees. No renewal fees." It also states "One-time turnover services available on request" and offers custom quotes for owners with a portfolio of rentals.

The page does not publish a separate leasing-only price. If you are weighing a one-time service against full management, a discovery call is the place to ask what the one-time turnover service covers for your home. Ask, too, who would hold the deposit and whose name and address the lease would list for notices under that arrangement.

When each option is the wrong fit

Each model suits some owners and frustrates others. Be honest about which describes you:

• Leasing only is a poor fit if you live more than a short drive away, cannot take tenant calls during work hours, or have never handled a deposit refund under the 2025 and 2026 rules.
• Self-managing after placement is a poor fit for an older foothill home with a well, septic system or large defensible-space area, unless you already have vendors you trust.
• Full service may be more than you need if you live nearby, enjoy the work, own a newer home with few systems to maintain and keep careful records.