Residential rental homes in Merced, California near UC Merced
Merced, CA

Merced Property Management, Honestly Described

We manage houses in north Merced, near Yosemite Avenue. Merced is the southern edge of where we work: an hour from our Stockton office, close enough that our crew covers it, far enough that we will tell you plainly what that means.

Quick Summary: SUM Property Management manages single-family homes in Merced, CA for a flat 7% of the rent we collect, plus 50% of one month's rent when we place a new tenant. No setup, renewal or inspection fee. California DRE licensed, in business since 2015, 4.8 stars on Yelp and Google.

mail Email us phone (209) 299-2100
300+
Doors under management
2015
In business since
4.8 ★
Yelp & Google
check_circle Flat 7% of rent collected check_circle 50% of one month's rent to place a tenant check_circle No setup, renewal or inspection fees check_circle CA DRE licensed
Why SUM

Should a Merced owner hire a Stockton company?

Here is the honest version. Merced is the southern edge of where we work, and Turlock, half an hour up the road, is our nearest real footprint. Our handymen are in Merced when one of our houses there needs them, not every week. For a house in north Merced that is fine; for a fourplex on the south side that needs someone through the door twice a month, a Merced-based manager may serve you better, and we will say so on the phone.

What you get from us is the same thing our Stockton owners get: one flat fee, statements you can read in two minutes, a leasing agent who prices against what actually leased last month, and repairs with photos on every invoice. Merced rents have been pushed up by UC Merced and by people priced out of the Bay Area and Modesto, and a north Merced three-bedroom at $1,800 to $2,050 leases quickly if it is clean.

We own rentals ourselves and manage 300+ doors across the Valley. Our founder still reads the owner statements, and Stacy runs the leasing. You deal with them and the office team, not a call center.

What we manage in Merced

check_circle Single-family houses, all in north Merced, 95348.
check_circle Rents in the $1,795 to $2,050 range, three-bedroom houses.
check_circle Section 8 welcome. We manage voucher tenancies across the Valley and the paperwork is routine for us.
check_circle Turlock is our nearest real footprint, thirty minutes north. Turlock page
What We Handle

What does SUM do for a Merced rental?

The same work we do on our own houses. Here is what a Merced owner can expect from us, month to month.

apartment

Leasing

A vacancy goes on Zillow, Apartments.com, Redfin, Trulia, Zumper and about thirty other sites the same day. Stacy, who runs our leasing, handles the showings. Our north Merced houses have leased in two to three weeks.

person_search

Tenant screening

Credit, eviction and criminal history through Experian and CIC, income verification and rental history. Graduate students and university staff with thin credit files get the same written criteria as everyone else, usually with a co-signer.

build

Repairs

Our own handymen cover jobs in Merced when they are down for one of our houses, and licensed trades we have used for years handle the rest, with before-and-after photos on every invoice. Anything over your approval limit waits for your yes. Response is slower here than in Stockton, and we say so up front.

payments

Rent collection and statements

Tenants pay through the portal, or in cash at CVS, 7-Eleven and Walmart with a barcode we issue. You get a monthly statement, a 1099 every January, and a portal where the ledger is always current.

shield

You stay out of it

Tenants get our office number, never yours. Most owners we manage for do not live in the town their rental is in, and many have never met their tenants.

gavel

Notices, rent caps and evictions

We prepare and serve 3-day and rent-increase notices in-house, keep increases inside the AB 1482 cap, and hand a non-paying tenant to the eviction attorney we have used for years. You approve an eviction before it is filed.

Pricing

How much does property management cost in Merced with SUM?

Two fees, the same in Merced as everywhere we manage. On a house renting for $1,990 that is $139 a month and $995 once at placement.

7%
Monthly management fee

of the rent we actually collect. A vacant month costs you nothing.

  • check_circle Covers collection, repairs coordination, statements, notices and compliance
  • check_circle Lower rate if you bring us four or more properties
50%
Tenant placement

of one month's rent, charged once, when a new tenant signs.

  • check_circle Photos, listings, showings, screening and the lease are all inside that number
  • check_circle Not charged when an existing tenant renews
$0
Setup, renewal, inspection

None of these are on our fee schedule.

  • check_circle No onboarding fee, no cancellation fee
  • check_circle Anything optional is priced in the contract before you sign

The full schedule, including the optional items, is on our fees page.

Property Types

Which Merced properties will we manage?

Residential only, and in Merced we are best suited to single-family houses and condos. Small multi-unit buildings here need more frequent visits than our distance allows, and we will tell you if that is your property.

home

Single-family houses

Three-bedroom houses in north Merced, renting in the $1,795 to $2,050 range. This is what we do here.

apartment

Condos and townhomes

We deal with the HOA for you, including move-in registrations and the parking-violation letters.

holiday_village

Duplexes to fourplexes

We run these in Stockton and Turlock. In Merced we take them case by case, depending on how much on-site attention the building needs.

Local Expertise

Merced neighborhoods where we already manage

Where our current Merced houses sit, and the areas nearby we cover.

North Merced
95348 · where our Merced houses sit. Newer subdivisions north of Yosemite Avenue, near the UC Merced commute. The fastest-leasing part of town.
Central and south Merced
Older housing, lower rents, more hands-on management. Case by case for us.
Atwater
Ten minutes west. Same office and fees.
Turlock
Thirty minutes north, our nearest real footprint. Turlock page
Reviews

Trusted by Merced property owners on Yelp

4.8 stars on Yelp and Google. Quoted as written. Most of our reviews come from Stockton owners, because that is where most of our properties are.

starstarstarstarstar

"We switched from another property manager in Stockton. Let me tell you, that's one of the best decisions I've made for my investment property. The team is very professional and responsive. Most importantly, they take care of my property as if it was their own."

— Alyssa A., Los Angeles, CA via Yelp
starstarstarstarstar

"SUM helped us enforce the leases and kept everything orderly around the apartment building. They pay all the proceeds from each month on time, which is very important for me so I can pay the mortgage. They charge a fair price for maintenance and keep my property cash flowing."

— Eva L., San Diego, CA via Yelp
starstarstarstarstar

"Amazing service! This is my go-to property management company. I left another company that was not up to par with my expectations and communication was lacking. This by far was the best decision I have ever made to switch. The team has exceeded my expectations."

— Lisa W., Las Vegas, NV via Yelp
FAQ

Questions Merced owners ask us before signing

How much does property management cost in Merced, CA? expand_more

With SUM it is 7% of the rent we collect each month, plus 50% of one month's rent once when we place a new tenant. On a $1,990 house that is $139 a month and $995 at placement. No setup, renewal, inspection or cancellation fee. Around Merced you will generally see 7% to 10% a month plus a placement fee of half to a full month, and the add-ons are what separate the quotes.

How long does it take to rent a house in Merced? expand_more

Two to three weeks for a clean house priced at market, based on the north Merced houses we have leased. Demand near UC Merced peaks in summer. Overpricing is the usual reason a house sits, and we will tell you if the number is high.

You are in Stockton. How often are you actually in Merced? expand_more

When one of our houses needs us, not on a fixed weekly route. For a single-family house that is fine: tenants reach our office any time, repairs go to trades we have used for years, and Stacy comes down for showings. For a building that needs frequent on-site attention, a Merced-based manager may serve you better and we will say so.

Do you manage rentals near UC Merced? expand_more

Yes. The Merced houses we manage are in the north end, on the university side of town, and rent to families, staff and graduate students. Applicants with thin credit files get the same written criteria as everyone else, usually with a co-signer.

What types of properties do you manage in Merced? expand_more

Single-family houses and condos are the fit for us here. Small multi-unit buildings we take case by case. No commercial property and no large complexes.

What happens when a tenant stops paying rent? expand_more

Late fees post automatically and we contact the tenant in the first week. If nothing comes in, we prepare and serve a 3-day notice to pay or quit ourselves. If the tenant still does not pay, we hand the file to the eviction attorney we have used for years, and you approve the eviction before it is filed.

Do you manage properties outside Merced? expand_more

Yes. Turlock and Modesto in Stanislaus County, and Stockton, Lodi, Manteca, Lathrop and Tracy in San Joaquin County, all from the same office.

Are you licensed in California? expand_more

Yes. CA DRE Broker #01004922, Agent #02263113, Corporate #02253300. You can look those up on the DRE site.

Nearby Areas

Own rentals in more than one Valley city?

The same office and the same fee schedule cover Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin County. One statement, one contact, whichever city the house is in.

Turlock property management Modesto property management Manteca property management Stockton property management

Wondering what the rest of the market charges? Our note on what property management really costs walks through a full year, add-ons included.

Want to know what your Merced house should rent for?

Book twenty minutes with us. We will look at the property, tell you what it should rent for, and be straight with you if we are not the right fit.

No obligation. We answer within one business day.

mail Email us phone (209) 299-2100
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