Delegating the management of your apartment: 7 questions to ask before handing over the keys

Entrusting your Paris apartment to a third party means entrusting far more than a set of keys: an income, an asset and a measure of peace of mind. Before signing, seven questions are enough to reveal what a management contract really covers — and what it leaves with you.

Delegating rental management is rarely a purely financial decision. It is almost always a decision about mental load: no more organizing viewings, no more taking the tenant's call on a Sunday evening, no more chasing a plumber's quote. The problem is that every player promises the same thing — “we take care of everything” — with contracts that do not cover the same realities at all.

Here are the seven questions that, in a single meeting, separate a solid offer from a sales promise. They work just as well with a traditional agency as with a concierge service or a guaranteed-rent operator.

1. If the rent doesn't arrive, who absorbs the blow?

This is the most telling question, and almost always the one asked last. A standard management mandate (mandat de gestion) organizes the reminders, the formal notice (mise en demeure), possibly legal proceedings — but the missing rent stays missing. The manager acts for you; they do not stand in for the defaulting tenant.

Three possible answers, very different from one another:

• “We follow up and take the necessary steps” — the risk stays entirely with you;
• “You take out unpaid-rent insurance” (assurance loyers impayés, GLI) — the risk is transferred to an insurer, subject to eligibility conditions, ceilings and a deductible (we detailed this point in our comparison GLI or guaranteed rent);
• “We are your tenant, we pay you the rent” — the risk changes sides, because the contract is no longer a mandate but a lease.

Demand the answer in writing, in the contract. A reassuring verbal statement is not worth a clause.

2. And if the apartment stays empty?

A second blind spot, even more common than unpaid rent. Between two tenants, a Paris apartment can sit unoccupied for a few weeks — sometimes longer, depending on the season, the condition of the property or the rent level targeted. In the meantime, co-ownership charges and property tax (taxe foncière) keep running.

Ask the question head-on: during a vacancy, what do I receive? Under a management mandate, the answer is zero. Because the manager is paid out of the rent collected, they earn nothing either — but you are the one who bears the loss. It is often the heaviest item in a landlord's budget, as our analysis of the real cost of vacancy in Paris shows.

3. What exactly does the contract cover — and what is billed on top?

“All-inclusive” is a sales expression, not a contractual clause. Ask for the complete fee schedule and check line by line how the following are handled:

• putting the property on the rental market (viewings, assembling the application file, drafting the lease, move-in inspection);
• the move-out inspection and the handling of the security deposit;
• the annual reconciliation of service charges and the annual rent review;
• representation at the co-ownership general meeting;
• oversight of works, often billed as a percentage of the amount of the work coordinated;
• handling an insurance claim or a dispute.

The gap between two offers is rarely found in the advertised rate: it is found in this list. Our article on the real cost of rental management in Paris details the method for reconstructing a full annual cost rather than an isolated percentage.

4. Who decides what, and from what amount?

Delegating without framing the decisions means either being consulted on everything or discovering decisions after the fact. The contract must set an autonomy threshold: below a certain amount, the manager acts alone; above it, they consult you.

Also specify who approves the choice of tenant, who decides between repairing and replacing a piece of equipment, and who decides to start proceedings. A threshold set too low brings back exactly the mental load you wanted to get rid of; one set too high deprives you of control over your property.

5. How long am I committed, and how do I get out?

A commitment term is not a flaw in itself: it can be the counterpart of the visibility given to the manager, and therefore of better service or better income for you. What matters is knowing it before you sign, not when you want to leave.

Four points to get in writing:

1. the initial term and the renewal conditions (tacit or express);
2. the termination notice, its form and the window in which it can be given;
3. what happens if you sell the property during the contract;
4. what happens if you want to take it back for yourself or for a relative.

On that last point, the answer must be crystal clear from the start: a property you cannot take back within a foreseeable time frame is not really delegated — it is tied up.

6. Who actually occupies my property, and on what basis?

An essential question, and one that is often dodged. Depending on the arrangement, your apartment may be occupied by a tenant holding a direct lease with you, by an occupant housed by an operator who is itself a party to a lease with you, or by successive short stays.

Have four items spelled out: the type of contract that binds you to your counterpart, the targeted occupant profile, the average length of stays, and whether subletting is permitted — under what conditions and with what safeguards. Then check consistency with the co-ownership rules (règlement de copropriété) and, in the case of short-term stays, with the regulations that apply in Paris. A vague arrangement today becomes a dispute tomorrow.

7. How will I be kept informed, and by whom?

Successful delegation is not the absence of information: it is the absence of demands on you. Ask concretely what your typical year looks like. A named contact, or a switchboard? A monthly management statement? An annual summary you can use directly for your income tax return?

A good test is to ask for a real example of a monthly statement, anonymized. How readable it is says a lot about the rigor of the firm.

The question that sums up the other six

If you could keep only one: “what remains my responsibility when things don't go as planned?” All offers look alike when the tenant pays and the property is occupied. They diverge radically as soon as an incident occurs — and it is precisely for those situations that you delegate.

Run through these seven questions with two or three counterparts of different kinds: an agency, a concierge service, an operator. The answers will differ, and that is the point. To frame the comparison, our article agency, concierge service or guaranteed-rent operator sets the three models side by side.

This article is for information purposes only and does not replace personalized legal or tax advice. The rules governing management mandates, leases and subletting change over time: have your situation and contracts reviewed before committing.