The management fee is the smallest number on the page
Why comparing agencies on management fee alone costs owners money. A worked example on a $900 a week property, with every assumption shown.
5 minute read
Five minutes that could be worth $3,000 or more a year.
If you are choosing between agencies right now, you have two fee percentages in front of you. One is lower. That feels like the decision.
The fee is guaranteed and small. Everything it affects is variable and large. Below is the arithmetic on a $900 a week property. Change any number you like.
A 1% fee difference on that property is $468 a year, $9 a week. Even 2% is $936, $18 a week.
What we deliver
The value, simply.
Days median to lease. The market median is 19.
The enquiries versus the market average.
The applications versus the market average.
Rent you keep each letting by leasing 11 days faster.
Against that, a 1% cheaper fee saves $9 a week. Even 2% is $18.
The biggest lever
One vacant week beats the whole year's saving.
Vacancy is the biggest controllable cost in property. Leasing 11 days faster returns three times the entire annual fee saving, in the first letting.
Median days advertised
The Gallery against the Sydney market median
Eleven days at $900 a week is $1,414, each time the property turns over.
The comparison
Put the fee saving next to what it is competing with.
Two ordinary examples. A rent review that does not happen. A tenancy that ends early.
One missed rent review costs more than two full percentage points of fee.
Halve every orange figure and the conclusion does not move.
One year on a $900 a week property
The fee saving against what it is competing with
Where the money moves
The four levers that decide the real cost.
Every one of these is about how an agency is run, not what it charges.
01
Days on market
Priced right, photographed early, open homes from the first weekend.
02
Rent reviewed
Set right, then actually reviewed. A missed review compounds for years.
03
Tenancy length
Tenants who stay are the cheapest tenants. Responsiveness keeps them.
04
Maintenance triage
A dripping tap this week is a washer. In three months it is a ceiling.
The honest part
What we are not going to put a number on.
- Your time back. No chasing trades, no fielding calls.
- Not interpreting the Residential Tenancies Act at 9pm.
- Knowing that when something goes wrong, someone competent already has it.
You will have your own view on what that is worth. We would rather leave it to you than invent a figure.
Due diligence
What to ask any agency, including us.
Compare the answers, not the percentages.
Who looks after my property day to day?
We do not run individual portfolios. More than one person knows your property.
What is your median days on market?
8 days, against a market median of 19.
What happens if my manager leaves?
No individual portfolios means no handover to survive.
What happens after hours?
A documented protocol with authorised trades. A process, not a promise.
When do you review the rent?
Scheduled and diarised, not ad hoc.
Do you do sales as well?
Management only. There is no sales department.
Our fees
What we charge.
Mid-market on purpose. Quoted per property, not from a rate card. Nothing upfront and no onboarding fee. If you are switching, we handle the notice, the handover and the tenant introductions. You sign one form.
Next step
Want these numbers run on your property?
Send us the address. We will run the same arithmetic with your rent, your vacancy history and our fee for your property.
Request a rental report Book a 15-minute call →
Figures are a worked example on a $900 a week property, not a projection for any specific property. The $3,000 figure is one missed rent review plus one avoidable turnover on that example. Days advertised, enquiry and application figures are The Gallery's own from Ignite, 12 months to April 2026, against market medians and averages for the same period. Nothing here is financial or investment advice.