Updated November 2026. First published March 2023.
Every so often a developer or an owner with a big enough portfolio asks me whether they should hire us or just build their own leasing office. I get paid if they pick the first answer, so take everything below with that in mind. I'll still try to give you the honest version.
The honest version is that above a certain size, your own office can beat us on price, and I'd rather tell you that than have you find out later.
What an on-site office gets you
Control. You set the policies, you pick the people, and you can walk down the hall and ask why a unit has been empty for three weeks. Nobody is managing your property against a fee schedule that was written for somebody else's. If you have a few hundred doors in one place, with a leasing agent, a maintenance tech and a bookkeeper on payroll, the math can work out in your favor.
What it costs you is everything that comes with being an employer. Hiring, training, turnover, payroll, workers' comp, somebody on call at 2 a.m. when the water heater lets go. And the part people underestimate: the law. Fair housing, security deposits, notices, screening rules, all of it changes, and Colorado changes it often. A leasing agent who learned the rules in 2022 is applying some of them wrong today. Our team includes an attorney and we still spend real hours keeping up.
What a manager gets you
A system that already exists. Screening that applies the same written standard to every applicant. A maintenance line that's answered at night. Trust accounting that's reconciled the way the state requires. Vendors who already know us and show up. You pay a percentage of collected rent and some flat fees, all of which are on our pricing page, and you don't think about any of it until the monthly statement.
What it costs you is control, and I won't pretend otherwise. We make calls on your property every day without asking you first, because that's what you're paying us for. If that makes you uncomfortable, you're going to be an unhappy client, and I'd rather you build the office.
The things that matter either way
Whoever does the work, three things decide whether a rental makes money. The home has to be priced right, and that means the market's number, not the number you need. The tenant has to be screened the same way every time, against a written standard, with no exceptions for anyone. And repairs have to get done fast, because a tenant who waits two weeks on a furnace doesn't renew.
Fair housing deserves its own line. It's not a training topic, it's the law, and violating it can cost more than a year of management fees. I'm a Christian, and treating every applicant the same isn't just a legal requirement for me, it's how I'd want to answer for this company. Build your office or hire us, but get that part right.
My actual advice
If you have fewer than a couple hundred doors, or your doors are spread across towns, hire a manager. The overhead of your own office won't pencil. If you have a few hundred in one place and you want to be in the business of running it, build the office, and hire somebody who knows Colorado landlord law before you hire the leasing agent.
If you're somewhere in the middle, request a portfolio review and we'll run your numbers both ways. We'll tell you if the answer is to not hire us. Or call 719.581.RENT.
A note on AI. The thoughts, experience, and opinions here are mine. This is not AI content. It's not written by AI. I didn't just give it a prompt and out popped this blogpost. This is real. However, I do use AI as a writing and editing tool to help shape and polish the final text, and to check facts and figures before publishing. If it feels too polished to be really written by Chuck, or a detector flags this post, that's why. AI is a tool, and I used it to help with the words, spelling, and grammar, not the thinking.