Short answer: For the ongoing management of a rental property, Swiss providers typically charge 2.5 to 6 percent of the annual gross rent. If re-letting is included, the rate rises with many providers to as much as 12 percent. The exact amount depends on property size, region, and scope of service.
What Are You Actually Paying For?
A property management company takes the work around your rental apartment or apartment building off your hands: finding tenants, collecting rent, billing ancillary costs, organizing repairs, answering inquiries. In return you pay a fee – usually as a percentage of the rent or as a fixed amount per unit. One note up front: all percentages in this article are plus 8.1 percent VAT – always check with every quote whether it is calculated net or inclusive.
Before we get to the numbers, it's worth looking at a few terms that constantly get mixed up in quotes – and that strongly affect the price.
↑ together they make up the gross rent
Net rent is the pure rent, ancillary costs are heating, water, caretaking and similar. A fee can be based on either figure – so always ask which one is meant.
Briefly explained – more terms
- Annual rent
- all of a property's rents added up over the year – the usual base figure for the fee.
- First letting
- the very first time a newly built apartment is rented out.
- Re-letting
- renting out again once the previous tenants move out – with a listing, viewings, and a new contract.
- Vacancy risk
- the risk that an apartment stands empty and generates no rent.
- Management fee
- also called the "administration fee": what you pay the management company for managing the property.
How Is It Billed? The Three Models
Put simply: you pay the management company either a share of your rental income (percentage model) or a fixed amount (flat fee). Three models have become established in the market:
- Flat fee: a fixed amount, regardless of the rent level.
- Gross target-rent fee: a percentage of the target rent (the rent at full occupancy). If a unit stands empty, you still pay the fee – the vacancy risk stays with you.
- Net fee: a percentage of the actual rental income (what actually comes in). During vacancy, the fee drops too – the management company shares in the risk.
In comparisons, you'll also come across a much lower figure – "around 3 percent." That's not a contradiction, but a different fee: it's embedded in the utility cost statement and charged to the tenant, not to the owner. We'll explain how the two relate in the deep-dive section.
In practice, the percentage model dominates. And this is exactly where the biggest cost driver sits: with every rent increase, the fee rises too – for the same amount of work. With a rent-independent flat rate, on the other hand, it stays constant. The overview below makes this tangible (monthly management cost per unit, own calculation based on the market percentages cited further below and a flat rate of CHF 69):
Own calculation by RESONUS IMMOBILIEN based on the cited market percentages and a flat rate of CHF 69 per month and unit. None of the sources depict this comparison directly. Percentages and flat rate each plus VAT. The percentages shown apply to ongoing management without re-letting; the CHF 69 flat rate already includes re-letting.
Whether a percentage model or a flat rate is cheaper in a given case – and from what monthly rent it becomes worthwhile – we calculate in detail in the article Flat Rate or Percentage Model.
What's Included in the Base Fee – and What Isn't?
There's no universal answer – what scope of service is included in the base fee is a matter of contract and differs from provider to provider. This lack of a standard definition is precisely one of the reasons a pure percentage comparison is misleading. Usually included, but always worth checking in the contract:
- Rent collection and account management
- annual utility and heating cost statements
- ongoing tenant support and communication
- basic reminders
- annual statement and reporting to the owner
- contract and document management
Not automatically included are special services that may be billed separately – such as re-letting (listing, viewings, contract) or additional advice. For such extra work, market sources cite hourly rates of around CHF 145 to 200, depending on qualification. For other special cases, such as accompanying larger renovations, the market provides no reliable flat figures – here it's worth asking about the specific rate before commissioning the work.
What Should Owners Look Out for When Choosing?
- Transparency: Are all services included in the price, or are there hidden extra costs?
- Accessibility: Is there a fixed point of contact, or does responsibility keep changing?
- Digital tools: Can you view statements and receipts at any time?
- Conflict of interest: Does the management company automatically benefit from rent increases (pure percentage model), or is compensation independent of that?
Besides the classic percentage model, there are also flat-rate providers where compensation stays independent of the rent level – RESONUS IMMOBILIEN, for example, works on this principle. Which model fits your situation depends on your own circumstances. If you'd like to work through these points in a structured way, you'll find them in our free guide "Finding the right property management".
From here on it gets technical – for anyone who wants the full picture: detailed market figures, the legal background behind the two fees, a worked example, and special cases like region and condominium ownership.
What Do Current Market Surveys Show?
The percentages in circulation vary noticeably by source – a sign that the market as a whole is not very transparent:
- An analysis by gryps.ch cites 2.5–5% without re-letting, up to 5–10% with re-letting
- Immolution puts the range at 4–5% without re-letting, up to 12% with re-letting
- Fairwalter cites 3–6%, depending on region and management effort
- cash.ch cites 3.5–5%, up to 6% in regions with lower rents, around 12% with re-letting
Taken together, this yields a real range of roughly 2.5% to 12% – considerably wider than any single blanket figure would suggest. There is no binding industry rate table: the trade association SVIT withdrew its earlier fee guidelines after the Competition Commission (WEKO) classified them as problematic under antitrust law in the late 1990s. The ranges circulating in the market are therefore informal benchmarks, not an official standard.
One point none of these sources discloses: whether the percentages quoted are net or VAT-inclusive. For a clean comparison, it's therefore always worth asking whether a quote is calculated "plus VAT" or "including VAT" – an 8.1 percent difference can decide a close comparison.
Two Fees That Are Often Confused
Above, we briefly mentioned the "much lower figure" – here's the explanation. Behind the percentage figures are in fact two completely different fees: a large one borne by the owner, and a small one charged to the tenant. It's important to keep them clearly apart:
- The property management fee: 2.5 to 12 percent of the annual rent. It covers management, bookkeeping, tenant search, and contract administration, and is borne by the owner.
- The management fee within the utility cost statement: a separate, much smaller item charged to the tenant via the ancillary costs. The legal basis is Art. 4 VMWG (the Swiss Ordinance on the Lease of Residential and Commercial Premises). Common practice is around 3 to 4.5 percent of the ancillary-cost total (not the rent!) – based on cantonal court rulings and a communication from the Federal Office for Housing. The Federal Supreme Court has to date not conclusively set the exact permissible amount.
Worked Example by Property Size
A survey by Fairwalter provides concrete figures for an apartment building with 4 units:
- Without re-letting: CHF 2,500–5,500 per year, averaging around CHF 4,300
- With re-letting: CHF 6,100–13,000 per year
For an apartment building with CHF 120,000 in annual rent, a 6% fee, for example, means CHF 7,200 per year – an amount that, with purely percentage-based management companies, automatically rises with every rent increase, regardless of the actual additional work involved.
Why Region Affects the Price
Several of the sources cited above explicitly point out: in municipalities with lower rents, the usual percentage tends to rise. The reason is obvious: the administrative effort per unit differs little, regardless of the rent level. At lower rents, a higher percentage is therefore needed for management to remain cost-covering. One distinction matters here: not the whole Bernese Oberland is a low-price area – in tourism and high-demand towns like Interlaken, rents stay high. Lower rents are found mainly in remote, rural municipalities away from the centers. Owners in such locations should therefore take a particularly close look at the billing model.
One example makes the wide 2.5 to 12 percent range tangible: a modern 4.5-room apartment with a high standard of finish in the city of Bern renting for CHF 2,800 causes barely more work for the management company than a simple 3-room apartment in a remote rural municipality renting for CHF 1,300 – the same billing, the same support, the same tenant inquiries. At a rate of 4 percent, the city owner still pays CHF 112 a month; in the rural municipality, only a rate of around 8.6 percent would produce the same amount. The wide market range therefore reflects differing rents and finish standards – and the share attributable to re-letting – more than differing effort.
What About Condominium Ownership (STWEG)?
A different model has become established for condominium associations (STWEG): usually a base fee of around CHF 2,000 to 3,000 per year plus CHF 250 to 600 per unit – with larger associations, the amount per unit drops noticeably. Pure per-unit flat fees or a complete flat fee for the whole property also occur. Since STWEG costs depend heavily on the association's regulations and size, we go into more detail in dedicated articles on the renewal fund and on switching management for condominium ownership.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does management of a rental property usually cost?
Without re-letting, most market analyses fall between 2.5% and 6% of the annual gross rent. If re-letting is included (listing, viewings, contract signing), the rate rises to as much as 10–12% with many providers.
What is the difference between "Immobilienverwaltung" and "Liegenschaftsverwaltung"?
Both German terms are used synonymously in the market and mean the same service: administrative, commercial, and partly technical management of rental properties or condominium units.
Why is management sometimes more expensive in rural municipalities than in the city?
The management effort per property is similar, regardless of the rent level. In remote, rural municipalities with lower rents, the percentage rate therefore tends to be higher, so that management remains cost-covering.
What does managing a condominium association (STWEG) cost?
Most commonly a base fee of around CHF 2'000–3'000 per year plus CHF 250–600 per unit. For more detail: our articles on the renewal fund and on switching management for a condominium association.
Is VAT included in the management fee?
The management fee is generally subject to 8.1% VAT, even though residential letting itself is exempt from VAT. Anyone who has not opted for VAT on the letting – the standard case for apartments rented to private individuals – cannot reclaim this VAT as input tax. Always check with every quote whether the percentages quoted are net or VAT-inclusive.
Why do I sometimes read 3%, and sometimes up to 12%?
Because two different fees are meant. The 2.5 to 12% refers to the management fee for the whole property, borne by the owner. The roughly 3 to 4.5% refers to the management fee within the utility cost statement, charged to the tenant, and calculated on the ancillary-cost total – not on the rent (Art. 4 VMWG, the Swiss Ordinance on the Lease of Residential and Commercial Premises).
Conclusion
You can only compare figures that stand on the same basis. So have every quote shown to you net, and get the included scope of service confirmed in writing – only then does the price mean anything. And look beyond the number: at transparency, a fixed point of contact, and whether the management company benefits from your rent increases. A fee that grows with the rent is rarely the cheaper one.
All figures in this article are disclosed and linked → Sources.
Interested in a flat-rate offer?
RESONUS IMMOBILIEN manages rental properties in Bern, Thun, and Interlaken at a flat rate starting at CHF 69 per unit per month – regardless of the rent level.