Property management for Calgary landlords
Leasing, rent, maintenance, compliance and reporting. The whole door, handled.
A licensed Calgary property manager markets and leases the property, screens and selects tenants, prepares the tenancy agreement, collects rent into a brokerage trust account, handles maintenance and vendor coordination, serves statutory notices correctly, completes move-in and move-out inspections, and reports to the owner. In Alberta this requires a Real Estate Council of Alberta property management licence and a brokerage authorized for property management. Rent and security deposits must be held in the brokerage trust account.
Talk about your property
Tell me the address and what you're trying to solve. I'll tell you what it should rent for and what managing it actually involves.
What's included
- Pricing and marketing: priced against CMHC zone data and live comparable listings, not a guess.
- Tenant screening: credit, background, rental history, eviction records and income verification.
- Tenancy agreements: prepared correctly, with the deposit handled to the letter of the Act.
- Rent collection: into the brokerage trust account, with owner disbursement and statements.
- Maintenance: online requests, tracked work orders, vendor coordination and invoicing.
- Inspections: move-in and move-out reports completed on time, which is what preserves the right to deduct from the deposit at all.
- Statutory notices: rent increases and terminations served with the right notice period, on the right date.
What we manage, and what we don't
Managed: investor-owned condominium and single-family doors; secondary and basement suites; small multi-family buildings (5-50 units).
Not offered: condominium board / corporation management, which is a separate RECA licence class, not held. Condominium board management is a separate licence class under the Real Estate Act, and offering it without that licence would be unlicensed practice. If you need a condo corporation managed, ask and I will refer you to someone properly licensed for it.
Service areas: Calgary, Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane, Okotoks.
What it costs
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Single-family homes, condos and secondary suites | 8–10% of rent collected |
| Multi-family buildings, 5 units and over | 5–7% of rent collected |
| Tenant placement | 50–75% of one month's rent |
| Lease renewal | $150–250 |
No markup on maintenance invoices, no inspection fees, no setup fee. Charged on rent collected, not rent charged. A vacant month costs us too.
Why an owner would pick this over a large firm
Large firms run on door count, and a door is a ticket in a queue. The trade here is different and it is worth being blunt about: fewer doors, handled by the person you actually hired, priced against published data you can check yourself.
The other difference is what happens when you sell. Most property managers cannot list your property. They hold no real estate licence, so the day you decide to exit, they hand you back the keys and lose a client. I am a licensed REALTOR® first. The rental years and the sale are the same relationship, and I already hold the maintenance history, the rent roll and the tenancy record that a buyer's agent will ask for.
Property management services are provided through Ko Realty Ltd.. Rent and security deposits are held in the brokerage trust account as required by the Real Estate Act and the Residential Tenancies Act.
Questions
What does property management cost in Calgary?
Most Calgary firms charge a percentage of collected rent for ongoing management, plus a tenant placement fee of roughly half to one month's rent when a new tenant is found. Ask any manager what is excluded, the gap between firms is usually in maintenance markups, inspection fees, renewal fees and lease-up charges rather than in the headline percentage.
Does a property manager need a licence in Alberta?
Yes. Property management is a separate licence class from residential real estate under the Real Estate Council of Alberta, and the brokerage must also be authorized for property management. Rent and security deposits are trust money and must be held in the brokerage trust account.
Can a property manager also sell my rental property?
Only if they hold a real estate licence as well, most property managers do not. Where the same person holds both, the maintenance history, rent roll and tenancy records that a sale requires are already in hand, and the tenancy can be wound down in step with the listing rather than after it.
Sources
- Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA): Licence types and property management
- Government of Alberta: Residential Tenancies Act (Alberta), full text
- Government of Alberta: RTA Handbook for Landlords and Tenants
Rules, fees and programs change. Confirm current details with the issuing authority before acting.
Last updated 2026-10-03 · Written by Mohammad Emon, REALTOR® (SRES®) & Licensed Property Manager, KO Realty · RECA licence CON-00133897