How to choose

Property Management Company in Vancouver & Burnaby: How to Choose

Choosing a property management company in Vancouver or Burnaby is less about who has the loudest local page and more about three checks. Is the firm properly licensed for rental property management in British Columbia? Is the written scope placement-only or full ongoing management? Can they communicate clearly on repairs, rent collection, and Residential Tenancy Act processes for your building type, including strata?

Licensed rental property managers work through a licensed brokerage under BCFSA oversight. Hiring help does not replace the Residential Tenancy Act. Alex Lam PREC reviews service fit for Burnaby and Greater Vancouver rentals through Coldwell Banker Prestige Realty. Fees and availability are discussed per property. There is no public rate card. This page is general education, not legal advice. The property management hub, the hire versus self-manage guide, and the licensed property manager explainer are the companion pages.

By Alex Lam

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Furnished rental living room in a Metro Vancouver home

What should a Metro Vancouver landlord look for?

Look for a licence you can confirm, a brokerage you can name, and a service agreement that lists tasks. Trust handling and owner statements belong in that conversation when the firm will hold rent or deposits. The BCFSA Consumer Guide to Tenancies is a consumer starting point. It is not your contract.

In Burnaby and Vancouver, many rentals are strata lots. A useful manager can read bylaws, deal with council notices, and tell you when a renovation, an entry, or a Form K is the owner’s job versus the manager’s. That is strata literacy. It is not a promise about a named building.

Screening should be described as a process: what is asked, what is verified, and what is refused. Screening does not guarantee a quiet tenancy. After-hours maintenance needs a named path, not a slogan. You should know who you call, and what they are allowed to approve before they call you back.

Why BCFSA licensing matters.

Paying someone else to manage a rental is generally a licensed activity. The licensed property manager page is the longer explainer. In short: a rental property management licence, held through a brokerage, is the category BCFSA uses for ongoing rental management. A trading-services licence is a different category. BCFSA’s trading services or rental property management note is the official colour on that split. Do not treat a sales licence as if it were a management licence.

Confirm the current rental property management licensing page before you hire. This guide does not rank firms and does not tell you that a particular person is exempt.

Decide scope before you compare brands.

Placement, full management, and self-managing answer different problems. Comparing brand names before you know which problem you have produces quotes you cannot line up. The full task split is on tenant placement versus full management.

Owner priority and the scope that usually fits
Owner priority	Likely scope
Fill a vacancy, then manage it yourself	Placement-only is usually the closer fit.
Rent collection, repairs, and tenant messages after move-in	Full management, with those tasks written into the scope.
Marketing help only, no ongoing file	Ask whether that is placement or a narrower listing service, and which licence applies.
You can own the calendar and you want to	Self-managing stays a real option. No management fee is required for your own rental.

How should I compare fees without a public rate card?

Compare structures, not a single percentage pulled from a homepage. Ask whether the monthly fee is a percentage or a flat amount, whether it uses rent collected or rent due, whether placement is separate, and which add-ons exist. That education lives on the property management fee structures in BC page. Illustrative market ranges there are labelled as market education. They are not Prestige rates.

Prestige discusses fees per property. There is no public rate card on this site, no published door count, and no vacancy guarantee. A lower headline fee is not automatically better value if licensing, trust handling, or the task list is thinner.

Questions to ask before you sign.

Ask these of any firm, including Prestige. Write the answers into the agreement. A friendly call is not the contract.

Is the firm licensed for rental property management with BCFSA, and through which brokerage?
Who is the managing broker, and who actually answers when something breaks after hours?
Is the written scope placement-only, full management, or a mix? What ends at move-in?
Is the monthly fee a percentage of rent collected, a percentage of rent due, or a flat amount?
What does the tenant placement fee include, and what is extra, such as photos or paid ads?
Are maintenance mark-ups, inspections, renewals, vacancy fees, or an exit notice billed separately?
Where are rent and deposits held, and how often do owner statements arrive?
How does the firm handle strata buildings: Form K, bylaws, entry, and renovations?
Who prepares Residential Tenancy Branch notices, and which decisions stay with you?
What notice is required to end the management agreement, and is there a fee to leave?

When is self-managing still rational?

When you can answer inquiries, show the home, screen applications, collect rent, coordinate repairs, and serve notices on the official timeline, and you want that calendar, self-managing is a real choice. It is not a failure to hire. You still follow the starting a tenancy rules and the rest of the Residential Tenancy Branch process. The hire versus self-manage guide is the longer version of that fork. If the alternative is selling, read sell a tenanted home in BC.

How Prestige property management works for Burnaby and Greater Vancouver.

Alex Lam PREC reviews Burnaby and Greater Vancouver rentals through Coldwell Banker Prestige Realty. The local context for housing forms is the Burnaby real estate guide. The intake is a conversation about the property: placement, full management, or a recommendation to keep self-managing. This page does not publish years-in-business claims, portfolio size, rankings, or review scores.

Owners who also need the vacancy-tax picture can read the speculation and vacancy tax landlord guide. A manager does not create a tax exemption. Rent-increase notices, when they are in scope, still follow the BC rent increase guide.

Choosing a property manager: questions.

How do I choose a property management company in Vancouver?

Start with three checks: a current BCFSA rental property management licence through a licensed brokerage, a written scope that is either placement-only or full ongoing management, and a clear path for repairs, rent collection, and Residential Tenancy Act processes. Homepage claims are not a substitute for those three.

Do I need a BCFSA-licensed property manager in BC?

If you pay someone else for rental property management, they generally need a BCFSA rental property management licence through a brokerage. Self-managing your own rental is different. Confirm the current licensing pages. This page is not a licence opinion about a named person.

What is the difference between tenant placement and full management?

Placement is the work of filling a vacancy and typically ends when a suitable tenancy starts. Full management is the longer relationship after move-in, when rent, repairs, and tenant communication are in the agreed scope. Read the tenant placement versus full management page before you compare companies.

Why are management fees not listed on this page?

Fees and availability are discussed for the specific property. Coldwell Banker Prestige Realty does not publish a public rate card. Structures, not a Prestige price, are explained on the property management fees page.

Should I hire a manager or self-manage my Burnaby condo?

Self-managing remains a lawful option when you can own the calendar and you want to. Hiring makes sense when you want placement help, ongoing management, or both, under a written scope. The hire versus self-manage page is the decision guide. A strata condo still follows the Residential Tenancy Act and the building’s bylaws.

What questions should I ask before signing a property management agreement?

Ask who holds the licence and the brokerage, whether the fee is a percentage or a flat amount and on what base, what the placement fee includes, how maintenance mark-ups and after-hours calls work, how strata notices are handled, and what cancellation requires. Get the answers in the agreement, not only in an email.

Does hiring a manager replace the Residential Tenancy Act?

No. The written tenancy still has to follow the Act and Residential Tenancy Branch rules for the agreement, deposits, repairs, entry, rent increases, and ending a tenancy. A manager works inside those rules. The manager does not replace them.

How do I start with Alex and Prestige?

Request Property Management when you want ongoing management reviewed, Submit Your Rental when the immediate need is a vacancy, or Talk to Alex if you are not sure which scope fits. The conversation is about the property. Fees are discussed then. There is no public rate card.

Official sources.

Licensing belongs on BCFSA. The tenancy itself belongs on the Residential Tenancy Branch and the Act. This page does not rank other management companies and does not copy another firm’s inventory claims.

Last verified: 1 October 2026 PT. The BCFSA rental property management, trading-services comparison, and consumer-guide links, and the RTB starting-a-tenancy page, were checked the same day.

Bring the checklist to a real property.

Burnaby and Greater Vancouver. Alex Lam PREC. Coldwell Banker Prestige Realty. Fees are discussed per property.

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