When looking for a commercial property management company, Is it poor taste to negotiate for a lower price than the one the price they offer?
I'm looking to hire a new commercial property management team, and the one I'm focused on has a pretty steep price. I don't have much experience with the hiring process as I've used the same manager for years.

Also, what are some ways I can find a good management team? Google is plagued with companies businesses buying their way to the top pages. When it comes to networking I don't know anyone else who can help me. Thanks.
[{"id": "ego8mpv", "text": "Than the price they offer?*", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "egoa3pd", "text": "You tend to get what you pay for in this business. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "egobukd", "text": "In CRE, everything is negotiable. That said, is there a particular reason a PM would think it\u2019s worthwhile to manage your properties for a lower amount?  ", "replies": [{"id": "egoghpl", "text": "There are many, many properties that we turn down, which is completely fine by us.  We have our price for a reason, we have a lot of clients for a reason.  Our price is our price.  You want Class C service, then you\u2019ll pay for it.", "replies": [{"id": "egoqyk2", "text": "I own hundreds of units both directly and as an investor and I get price breaks all the time due to economies of scale even if I\u2019m only giving them a small single property to manage. You can get price breaks for a variety of reasons. Negotiate.", "replies": [{"id": "egq6snu", "text": "Cool, different market.  We have a client with over 1MM Sq Ft.  No price breaks.  Again, we get our price for a reason.  ", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "egocelp", "text": "Second rule in real estate: EVERYTHING is negotiable. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "egocley", "text": "If you're looking for an established company who will take you on as a client in a broader portfolio, look up commercial properties you find or have heard are well run. Do this through talking to different businesses you visit or looking up reviews of buildings via Google Reviews. Reviewers may specifically mention who the property manager is. Many good companies don't have trouble finding clients so won't invest in digital advertising.    \n\n\nAlways negotiable, but that's a trade-off. Your tenants will have a very different relationship with your PM than you do. Something that to you is worth negotiating down may cause a tonne of reputation issues for your building.    \n\n\n**Example:** Had an office in a C-grade commercial building. Nothing fancy, but had a very tight, very difficult parking lot. Too few visitor spaces, so people would end up snagging other people's spots. Our original PM ran a tight ship of know whose cars went where and either notifying or towing people who weren't following the rules. This was REALLY important to me as a tenant because I was in and out of there all day everyday attending meetings/picking up drawings/moving my car to free up the space for a client. I needed to always have that space available.   \n\n\nThe building was purchased by a new company who put in a much lower cost PM. I guess they negotiated down parking management as the new company with zero experience using our parking lot didn't feel it needed to be included. Well me not being able to use my parking space as required impacted my company to the point they felt it was a breach of their lease. We moved. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "egodcqb", "text": "Everything is negotiable. That said, if they are swamped and are selecting to work on your property or one paying the standard rate it\u2019s easy to see where they will focus resources. Be careful you don\u2019t get them to a price at which they don\u2019t provide a quality service. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "egofbkn", "text": "Do you use a broker to lease your space? Ask them for some recommendations. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "egouj14", "text": "No it\u2019s absolutely not in poor taste. Everything is business in negotiable. And if that company is going to offer you a lesser service because you negotiate, than you should find a different company. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "egpedkc", "text": "As an ex-commercial property manager and broker - NO it is not in poor taste to negotiate.  You have to remember that most PM companies will make a profit off of you any way they can: Rent up fees, vacancy fees, maintenance fees (often a % of the total vendor bill).  If you are bringing a portfolio to the table they \\*will\\* make a profit off you.  This isn't to say they will accept your counter-offer, but it happens all the time and you should definitely try to haggle. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "egrs4l2", "text": "I own a commercial property management company.  I do not think it\u2019s in poor taste but a few things to keep in mind.  We focus mostly on retail and office and most of our fees are mostly passed through the NNN\u2019s so we usually just try to stay within market range.  I understand that not to be the case in multi family.   \n\nKeep in mind we usually know the back story behind a property, it\u2019s tenants and it\u2019s owners and if it will require more staff time than we can afford we will be less inclined to give in to negotiations.      There have been times I\u2019ve gone back to owners a year later and told them based on the time commitment,  we are going to reduce the fee and other times I\u2019ve told them we could no longer afford to manage their property at the rate and helped them identify a replacement.   Ironically the owner that nickel and dimed us in the beginning were the ones that didn\u2019t work for us long term.   Think of it more like hiring staff rather than an employee.   How long will they stay underpaid before moving on?  Though I am ok in some cases to be underpaid if the investor is easy to get a long with and respectful as are the tenants.   A high maintenance investor who is rude to staff and requires us to give poor service because he/she does not want to fix things the right way in order to save a buck... doesn\u2019t usually work out as they increase my staff and vendor turn over.   I\u2019m learning those investors  are usually the ones pushing our fees as low as we can afford to go on day one.  \n\nWe also negotiate less than other firms because we staff with more experienced and more expensive staff that in turn usually translates into a better run and higher valued property.   That is not always the case with management companies and if the resumes of the staff are not impressive and they have a lot of turn over and aren\u2019t collecting reconciliations to their full extent,  you may indeed be overpaying.    \n\nA good company is worth it and will save you thousands, if not hundreds of thousands by having excellent vendor contacts and leverage,  risk management, and solid accounting (a surprisingly lacking skill with many even national companies) and collection skills.  \n\nI doubt I\u2019m in your  market but I\u2019m happy to help you review your options (for no charge) in whatever market you are in and give you some guidance and review agreements and proposals.   Although I\u2019m no help if you are looking at multi family.   Feel free to reach out.   www.foresitecre.com   My e-mail and phone is on the website under Bethany ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "egx0hdq", "text": "Some things might be \"Rude\" to negotiate, but this is not one of them. \n\nA good property manager is worth their weight in gold. The high price is often worth it. You're not just paying for their services, you're paying for their expertise. With the right property manager, they will be able to handle a leak, water heater, lighting, finding a new tenant when the lease expires, taking all calls and complaints, etc. \n\nYou go from having a headache on your hands to maybe paying a good chunk of your profit, and all you have to do is sign a few things every year, and not even look at or think of your property. Finding landscaping companies, handling the appointments, tours, parking, maintenance, etc. \n\nProperty managers total value-add varies. Some property managers have fewer responsibility, and some will let you live in peace for months or years between contact, hands off, and they sometimes have their own broker to make SOME informed decisions on your behalf. \n\nSome people think it's worth it, and some are willing to trade the hands-on headache for the cost savings.\n\nFeel free to negotiate, but you may find that property managers in general are more expensive than an average joe may think, but many find it worth the expense. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]