Rental administration: outsource it or do it yourself?

With one or two rented properties the question eventually comes: keep doing this myself, or outsource it? The honest maths differ per situation — here are the three flavours and what they cost.

Option 1: full property manager

A professional manager handles tenant contact, collection, maintenance coordination and often financial reporting.

• Cost: typically 6-10% of the monthly rent for technical + financial management, plus a one-off letting fee (often one month's rent) for a new tenant.
• Example: at €1,800 rent you quickly pay €1,500-2,200 per year, per property.
• Worth it when: you live abroad, have no time for tenant contact, or hold several properties remotely.
• Note: even with a manager, you remain responsible for the tax return and must be able to verify the manager's numbers.

Option 2: accountant for the numbers

You handle tenants yourself; the accountant does the tax return and possibly annual figures.

• Cost: a return including rental property often runs €250-750 per year, depending on how organised your records arrive.
• The kicker: the messier your shoebox, the more billable hours. A tidy export directly saves money.

Option 3: DIY with software

For 1-10 properties the work is very doable yourself — provided you keep it up monthly instead of reconstructing once a year:

• rent received? One click;

• receipt? Attached to the transaction;

• bookings? Automatic via iCal;

• tax return? Annual overview and accountant export ready to go.

• Cost: Lentano is free for your first property and €14.99/month for three — a fraction of a manager.

• Worth it when: you want to stay in control, are fine handling tenants yourself, and mostly want the administrative burden gone.

The combination that usually wins

Many landlords with 2-5 properties settle on: DIY with software + an accountant for the return only. You then pay the adviser for advice instead of for retyping bank statements — and with a clean accountant export that conversation takes half an hour.

This comparison was written by the team behind Lentano. Manager and adviser rates vary by region — always request a concrete quote.