Tennessee Property Management Fees: What Managers Charge in 2026
What property management costs in Tennessee
Property managers in Tennessee quote 8%–12% of collected rent. On Tennessee’s average apartment rent of $1,555, 9% works out to $140 a month, or $1,679 a year before a single lease is signed.
The arithmetic on a Tennessee rental
| Percentage manager at 9% | Ziprent flat | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly management | $140/mo | $199/mo |
| Twelve months of management | $1,679 | $2,388 |
| Tenant placement, one lease | $1,166 | $1,500 |
| Year one, one lease signed | $2,845 | $3,888 |
Worth stating plainly: at Tennessee’s average apartment rent of $1,555, a 9% manager bills about $2,845 in year one against Ziprent’s $3,888. The percentage model is cheaper here on headline price. What the flat fee buys instead is a number that does not climb with rent, no markup on maintenance invoices, and a placement fee that is fixed rather than a share of a month’s rent. A Tennessee rental only has to reach $2,211 a month for the flat fee to win on management alone.
The break-even point is $2,211 a month: above that rent, 9% of rent costs more than $199.
That break-even assumes one property. Additional properties are $100 a month each rather than $199, so the comparison shifts with portfolio size: from 3 properties onward the flat fee is cheaper in Tennessee even at today’s rents — $399 a month against $420 at 9%.
Three years, one tenancy, no rent increase
Fee comparisons usually stop at year one, which flatters whichever model front-loads least. Held flat at $1,555 a month for three years with one lease signed at the start, the three models in Tennessee come out like this.
| Model | Three-year total | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| 9% of rent + placement | $6,204 | Excludes the two lease renewals a local firm would also bill on top. |
| Ziprent $199 flat + $1,500 placement + 2 renewals | $9,164 | Fixed. Includes both $250 renewals. |
| ZipGuarantee $250 flat | $9,000 | Fixed. Placement and renewals already included. |
Those totals assume the headline fees only. In Tennessee the charges that most often land on top are vacancy fee (about $50 per unit per month), annual inspection fee ($75-$200) and eviction fee ($500-$1,000 plus legal costs). None of them appears on a Ziprent invoice.
The fees underneath the headline percentage
The monthly percentage is the number quoted on the phone. It is rarely the whole bill. In Tennessee the rest of the stack usually looks like this.
| Fee | What it costs here |
|---|---|
| Monthly management | 8%–12% of collected rent |
| Tenant placement | 50%-100% of one month’s rent, typically 75% (roughly $1,166 at Tennessee’s average) |
| Lease renewal | Flat fee averaging $190, ranging $150-$500 by metro |
| Maintenance markup | 10%-25% of the work’s cost on vendor invoices |
| Also commonly charged | vacancy fee (about $50 per unit per month); annual inspection fee ($75-$200); eviction fee ($500-$1,000 plus legal costs) |
On the standard plan Ziprent bills three things: $199 a month for management, $1,500 for placement when a lease is signed, and $250 if that tenant renews. No setup fee, no vacancy fee, and vendor invoices are passed through without a markup. ZipGuarantee at $250 a month removes the placement and renewal charges entirely.
What Tennessee requires of landlords
T.C.A. 66-28-201 caps any late-payment charge at 10% of the rent past due and requires a five-day grace period before it can be applied. The catch is jurisdictional: under T.C.A. 66-28-102 the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies only in counties with more than 75,000 people, so in Tennessee’s smaller counties neither the 10% cap nor the grace period binds, and late-fee practice is set by the lease alone.
What to ask a Tennessee manager before signing
- Is the quoted 9% charged on rent collected or rent due, and do you bill in a vacant month?
- Managers here commonly charge for vacancy fee (about $50 per unit per month), annual inspection fee ($75-$200) and eviction fee ($500-$1,000 plus legal costs) — which of those do you charge, when do they trigger, and are any capped?
- What is the markup on a contractor invoice, and do I see the original?
Ziprent’s pricing in Tennessee
| Plan | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Management | $199 / month | Rent collection, maintenance coordination, inspections, day-to-day handling of the tenancy. |
| Tenant placement | $1,500 per lease | Marketing, showings, screening, lease preparation. Charged only when a lease is signed. |
| Lease renewal | $250 per renewal | Re-screening and paperwork when a sitting tenant renews. Not charged on ZipGuarantee. |
| ZipGuarantee | $250 / month | Management plus unlimited tenant placement and lease renewals folded into the monthly fee. |
All four lines are flat, and that is the trade. On a single Tennessee property at today’s average rent a percentage manager bills less in year one; what a flat fee buys is a number that cannot follow the rent up, no markup on repairs, and a second property at $100 rather than another full fee.
Tennessee property management fee questions
How much do property managers charge in Tennessee?
Is a flat fee cheaper than a percentage in Tennessee?
What does tenant placement cost in Tennessee?
What is the average rent in Tennessee?
More on Tennessee
Every Tennessee market we cover · Property management fees by market · Ziprent pricing
Fee breakdowns for other markets
South King County · Georgia · California
Sources
Rents: RentCafe, August 2026. Local and state requirements: Justia (statute text). The fee percentages and add-on charges above come from published fee schedules and industry surveys for this market, expressed as ranges because they vary by firm.