Residential rental homes in Modesto, California
Modesto, CA

Modesto Property Management at a Flat 7%, from a Landlord-Owned Company

We are a Stockton company, thirty miles up Highway 99, and we will not pretend to be the biggest name in Modesto. What we do have is houses under management here, a bigger footprint in Turlock down the road, one fee schedule that has not changed, and owners who tell us the statements are the clearest they have seen.

Quick Summary: SUM Property Management manages single-family homes in Modesto, CA and the rest of Stanislaus County 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
What We Handle

What does SUM do for a Modesto rental house?

The same work we do on our own houses. Here is what a Modesto 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. Modesto houses in the $1,500 to $2,200 range have been renting for us in two to three weeks.

person_search

Tenant screening

Credit, eviction and criminal history through Experian and CIC, income verification and rental history. A risk score helps us rank applications, but a person at our office makes the decision, against the same written criteria for everyone.

build

Repairs

Our own handymen cover most small jobs in Modesto and Turlock, and we use the same licensed trades we use on our own buildings for the rest. Before-and-after photos come with every invoice. Anything over your approval limit waits for your yes.

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.

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You stay out of it

Tenants get our office number, never yours. Some of our Stanislaus County owners live in the Bay Area and have not met their tenants, which is the point.

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 (Modesto has no local rent control on top of it), and hand a non-paying tenant to the eviction attorney we have used for years.

Pricing

How much does property management cost in Modesto with SUM?

Two fees, the same in Modesto as in Stockton. On a house renting for $1,900 that is $133 a month and $950 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.

Why SUM

Why would a Modesto owner hire a Stockton company?

Fair question, and we get asked it. The honest answer is that the owners who hire us in Modesto usually already know us. Some own in both counties. Some were referred by a Stockton owner or a realtor. A few called every manager in Modesto, could not get a straight fee schedule out of any of them, and found ours on this page.

Modesto rents well. Gallo, the two hospitals, Modesto Junior College and the county keep demand steady, and Bay Area commuters keep buying on the north side. A three-bedroom in the Village One or Pelandale area rents in a couple of weeks if it is clean and priced right. The problems are the ordinary ones: a tenant who stops paying, a water heater on a Friday night, a rent increase you are not sure is legal under AB 1482. Those are the same in Modesto as anywhere in the Valley, and we handle them every week.

We own rentals ourselves, so our advice on repairs and rents is the advice we take. Our founder still reads the owner statements, and Stacy has run our leasing for years. You deal with them and the office team, not a call center.

What we manage in Modesto

check_circle Single-family houses, most of them in north Modesto, the rest in central, east and west Modesto.
check_circle Rents in the $1,395 to $2,200 range, three- and four-bedroom houses.
check_circle A bigger footprint in Turlock down the road, so we are in Stanislaus County most days of the week.
check_circle No multi-family yet in Modesto. We run small apartment buildings in Stockton, so we would take one, but we would rather tell you the truth about where we are today.
Property Types

Which Modesto properties will we manage?

Residential only. Houses, condos, townhomes and small apartment buildings up to about twenty units. No commercial space and no large complexes.

home

Single-family houses

Everything we manage in Modesto today is a house, most of them three- or four-bedroom homes on the north side. This is the bulk of what we do in Stanislaus County.

holiday_village

Duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes

We run these in Stockton, each unit on its own ledger with one statement for the building. The same setup works in Modesto, we just have not been handed one here yet.

apartment

Condos and townhomes

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

Local Expertise

Modesto neighborhoods we know from managing in them

Where our current Modesto and Stanislaus properties are, and what we have learned about each area from leasing there.

North Modesto, Pelandale and Village One
Newer homes, fastest to lease, highest rents. Most of our Modesto houses are here.
Central Modesto and the College Area
Older housing near MJC and Downtown. Steady demand, more maintenance.
East Modesto
Family neighborhoods off Oakdale Road and Briggsmore.
West Modesto
Lower rents, longer tenancies.
Turlock
Our largest Stanislaus footprint. Turlock page
Salida
Ten minutes from our north Modesto houses. Salida page
Ceres and Riverbank
Same office, same fees. Ceres · Riverbank
Oakdale and Patterson
Same office, same fees. Oakdale page
Reviews

Trusted by Modesto property owners on Yelp

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

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"The team has been working with me to manage my property for a year. They are good communicators, very responsive, and pay attention to details. They are also good problem solvers — they resolve most property and tenant issues timely and cost effectively. A trusted partner to work with."

— Gordon W., Fremont, 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

"Great and efficient service. Excellent response time. They made my tenants happy and made sure they pay rents on time."

— Rosanna W., New York, NY via Yelp
FAQ

Questions Modesto owners ask us before signing

How much does property management cost in Modesto, 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 $1,900 house that is $133 a month and $950 at placement. No setup, renewal, inspection or cancellation fee. Around Modesto 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 Modesto? expand_more

Two to three weeks from listing to signed lease for a clean house priced at market, based on what we have leased in north Modesto and Turlock. Overpricing is the usual reason a house sits, and we will tell you if the number is high.

What types of properties do you manage in Modesto? expand_more

Single-family houses, condos, townhomes and small apartment buildings up to about twenty units. Everything we manage in Modesto today is a house. We do not take commercial property or large complexes.

Do you take Section 8 tenants in Modesto? expand_more

Yes. We manage housing-authority voucher tenancies across the Valley, and we handle the HAP contract, the inspection and the paperwork with the Stanislaus Regional Housing Authority the same way we do with San Joaquin's.

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 Modesto? expand_more

Yes. Turlock, Ceres, Riverbank, Oakdale, Salida and Patterson on the Stanislaus side, and Stockton, Lodi, Manteca, Lathrop and Tracy in San Joaquin County, all from the same office.

Why choose SUM over a Modesto-based manager? expand_more

We are landlords ourselves with 300+ doors under management, many of which we own, and we charge one flat 7% with no setup or renewal fees. If you want a manager with an office on McHenry Avenue, we are not that. If you want a fee schedule that fits on one page and an owner who reads your statements, call us.

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 Stanislaus and San Joaquin County. One statement, one contact, whichever city the house is in.

Turlock property management Ceres property management Riverbank property management Oakdale property management Salida property management Manteca property management Stockton property management

Thinking about buying in Modesto rather than renting out what you have? Our Modesto neighborhoods guide covers where the rents and the tenants are.

Want to know what your Modesto 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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