Finding tenants, collecting rent, maintenance, dealing with authorities and bills, and regular financial reports. Partial management isn't management.
24 hours for emergencies, 48 for routine faults, 72 to answer a general enquiry. Not 'promptly', not 'within a reasonable time'.
Response times, an arrears timeline, reporting dates, a named contact, an approval limit, invoice transparency, penalties, exit terms.
A fair range is 7% to 10% of rental income. Fees of 3% to 4% usually signal partial service, hidden costs, or both.
At Compass Group RO, the company that designed, built and sold your villa also manages it: one point of contact for everything.
It is not the type of property that decides whether your investment succeeds – it is who looks after it the day after you buy. In Romania, a good management company can add thousands of euros a year. A bad one can wipe them out. Here is how to choose well, and how to build an SLA that protects you even from a distance. A guide to choosing a property management company in Romania – and to drafting a service level agreement (SLA) that protects you even when you are 2,000 km away
Summary: Choosing a property management company in Romania may be the most important decision you make after choosing the property itself. The Romanian management market is active but unregulated, and the difference between a good company and a bad one can amount to thousands of euros a year – and a whole year of aggravation. In this article you will find the precise criteria to apply, the clauses that must appear in your SLA, and the questions to ask at every meeting with a prospective property manager.
The question people ask at night, when something has gone wrong… It is not a question investors ask at the first meeting. It is a question they ask themselves, at two in the morning, a month after signing:
"Hang on. If a pipe bursts right now, who do I call?"
That is the moment an investment stops being an Excel spreadsheet and becomes reality. And it is the moment most Israeli investors discover they had not thought it through carefully enough.
At Compass Group RO, we do not want you to face that moment alone. That is why this article is the first in the Israeli market to take Romania's property management sector apart in depth and give you practical tools to choose well. Read it, save it, and come back to it before you sign.
The truth about property management in Romania: what nobody will tell you
Let us start with the uncomfortable truth:
Romania has no uniform regulation for property management companies.
In Israel there are laws, licences and oversight. In Romania, anyone can set up a management company tomorrow and start offering services. There is no professional licensing, no minimum standard, and no regulator you can complain to. That does not mean the market is failing – it means the responsibility for making the right choice is yours.
The practical implication is simple: two management companies charging the same fee can deliver services that are worlds apart. One will deal with a fault within 24 hours; the other will disappear for two weeks. One will find a new tenant in two weeks; the other will leave the apartment empty for four months. The difference to your pocket: thousands of euros a year.
Strategic point: precisely because there is no regulation, your opportunity is greater. An investor who knows what to look for gets quality service at a fair price. An investor who does not, pays for poor service.
From the field: four quiet years, then ten months of renovation
Attorney Ilan Leibovitch recalls:
A client bought an apartment in Bucharest, in a two-family house in Drumul Taberei, with a stable local tenant who always paid on time. Four years of quiet. One evening the management company reported that the tenant had not paid. According to the neighbours, he had moved into a medical rehabilitation centre.
The management company had visited the apartment once a year, as agreed, and had noticed nothing. When they went in, they found dirty, damaged walls and broken cupboards. The property manager proposed a contractor and estimated two to three months of work. In reality the renovation took ten months, with a new excuse every week, and every month the client paid the mortgage, insurance and local taxes with no income at all.
When the renovation was finally done, he decided to sell. We went through the sale contract, the taxes and the obligations together, and within two months the deal closed.
An annual visit is not oversight. The gap between a management company that visits and one that reports is exactly what the tasks and agreement clauses below are meant to close.
The five tasks a management company must perform (and perform well)
Before discussing how to choose, we need to understand what we are choosing. A professional property management company in Romania (or anywhere else) is responsible for five core tasks:
- Marketing the property and finding tenants
Listing on the right platforms (OLX, Imobiliare.ro, Storia), professional photography, screening applicants and checking their financial background.
Your metric: the average number of days between the end of one lease and the arrival of a new tenant.
- Collecting rent and transferring it to your account
Collecting the monthly payment, handling late payments, and enforcement proceedings where necessary.
Your metric: whether the money reaches your account on a date known in advance, every month.
- Routine maintenance and repairs
Coordinating tradespeople, approving expenses and supervising the work.
Your metric: response time to a fault (24 hours for emergencies, 48 hours for routine issues).
- Dealing with the authorities and recurring expenses
Checking or making payments for local property tax, water, electricity and building maintenance fees, and renewing insurance policies. Reporting and handling payment of the tax on rental income.
Your metric: whether you receive bills late – or not at all.
- Ongoing financial reporting
A monthly or quarterly report showing income, expenses and net profit. Your metric: whether the report arrives automatically, or whether you have to chase it.
Self-check question: does the company you are being offered perform all five tasks, or only some of them?
"Partial management" is not management. It is a recipe for problems.
The eight clauses that must appear in your service level agreement (SLA)
This is the heart of the matter. A management agreement without a clear SLA is worthless paper. Here is what must be set out in black and white:
- Precise response times
Not "promptly" and not "within a reasonable time". 24 hours for emergencies (water, electricity, gas), 48 hours for routine faults, 72 hours to reply to a general enquiry from you.
The management fee is not the expense. Bad management is the expense.
- Timeline for dealing with a non-paying tenant
When the first notice goes out (day 5? day 10?), when the second follows, and when eviction proceedings begin. Without timelines, you end up paying the price of a problem tenant – with interest.
- Frequency of financial reporting
A monthly report – with the exact date it arrives. Not "somewhere around the middle of the month".
- A dedicated contact person and their availability
Name, phone, WhatsApp, email and hours of availability. An investor who calls five different people every time is not an investor – he is a soldier fighting alone.
- Expense approval procedure
What is the spending ceiling the manager may approve without consulting you (usually €100–€300)? Anything above that requires prior written approval.
- Commitment to cost transparency
Original invoices are forwarded to you for every expense. No company-affiliated "preferred supplier" taking a hidden 30% commission.
- Penalty mechanism for missed targets
This is the clause that separates a serious agreement from a sham one. A professional company agrees to penalties; an amateur one runs away from them. For example: a vacancy of more than 60 consecutive days = a 50% reduction in the management fee.
- Clear exit terms
Notice period for terminating the agreement (usually 30–60 days), an orderly handover of all documents and keys, and no additional payment as a condition of termination.
Three critical warnings that will save you a great deal of grief
Warning 1: a property manager who "is also a broker". This is a built-in conflict of interest. When looking for a tenant for you, he will favour the tenant who pays him the higher commission – not necessarily the one who is best for you.
Warning 2: a suspiciously low price. Management fees of 3%–4% are not a "special offer" – they are a sign that something is wrong. Either the service is partial, or there are hidden costs, or both. A fair range: 7%–10% of rental income.
Warning 3: a company with no existing Israeli clients. Not because you need "Israelis only", but because Israeli investors expect a certain standard of communication: availability, transparency, and reporting in English or Hebrew. A company that has never worked with an Israeli client will learn at your expense.
A real-life example: how €200 a month saved €8,000 a year
One of our clients – let us call him Avi – owned a villa in a sought-after town outside Bucharest. He chose a "cheap" management company charging 5% of rental income. Over one year: two tenants left without paying their final month, there were three months of cumulative vacancy, an air conditioner was replaced without his knowledge for €800 (when it was worth €350), and a local property tax bill was not paid on time, triggering a €400 fine.
Cumulative loss: approximately €8,000 in a single year.
He switched to a professional company charging 9% (an extra of roughly €200 a month). The following year: one stable tenant, zero vacancy, monthly reporting on time, and every expense approved in advance. The actual saving: about €7,500 a year compared with the previous year.
The lesson: the management fee is not the expense. Bad management is the expense.
The Compass Group RO model: developer and management company under one roof
Now that you understand what the property management market in Romania looks like, let us talk about how we do it. Our model is fundamentally different from anything else you will encounter in the market, and there is one main reason for that: aligned interests.
We do not "offer a management service". We stay on in the project to manage it for you.
In most real estate projects in Romania, the developer builds, sells and walks away. On the day the last buyer receives the keys, the developer vanishes – and the buyers are left on their own to face the unregulated management market we have described in this article.
At Compass Group RO, we chose a different model. The project's developer is also the project's management company (as Walla Nadlan reported, in Hebrew). We do not "recommend an external provider" – we manage your property directly, as part of the same company that designed your villa, built it and sold it to you.
Why does this matter so much?
When the developer is also the manager, three things happen that do not happen anywhere else in the market:
✅ We know your property inside out – every pipe, every system, every supplier, every subcontractor. When something breaks, we do not need to "look into it" – we already know. That means dramatically shorter response times and lower repair costs.
✅ The builder's warranty and operational responsibility are combined – instead of running back and forth between the developer (who says "that's an operational fault") and the manager (who says "that's a construction defect under the developer's warranty"), you have a single point of contact. We are the responsible party on both sides. No more "it's not us".
✅ Our reputation depends on your success – we have an overriding, day-to-day interest in making sure your property is managed excellently, with one clear goal: that you are satisfied and continue with us into your next project. When our clients are satisfied, the next project practically sells itself.
What does this mean in practice? Four tangible things:
✅ We, the developers, stay on in the project as the management company – the same address, the same system, the same accountability.
✅ We manage your investment, not just your property – the goal is for your property to be rented, maintained and reported on properly, not for us to provide a box-ticking service. The difference is enormous.
✅ We find tenants, provide ongoing service, and deal with suppliers and contractors under the project's responsibility – you are not left alone to deal with Romanian tradespeople, lawyers or tax authorities. You have a Hebrew-speaking team that understands your needs and acts on your behalf as if the property were its own.
✅ We carry out a comprehensive annual quality review – of income, taxation, the physical condition of the property and tenant performance. Every year you receive a report showing where you stand against expectations, and what we are doing to improve the management of your property in the year ahead.
Why do we manage only properties belonging to our own clients?
This question comes up from time to time, and it deserves an honest answer.
We do not manage properties purchased through other parties. Not out of prestige, and not as a marketing ploy to appear selective – but because of the model itself.
Our model only works when we are responsible for the full life cycle: from the moment the villa is designed, through construction and handover, and throughout all the years it is rented out. Only then can we guarantee the quality, the response times and full accountability. A property we did not build is a property we do not know – and that falls short of the standard we are prepared to stand behind for our clients.
What this means for you: when you buy from us, you are not just buying a villa. You are entering a long-term relationship with a team whose entire success is measured by the success of your investment. Our real goal is for you to be satisfied with your property – and to come back to us for the next project. This is not a slogan; it is a business plan.
Frequently asked questions
Are property management companies regulated in Romania?
No. Romania has no uniform regulation for property management companies: no professional licensing, no minimum standard and no regulator to complain to. The responsibility to choose well, and to bind the company to a written SLA, is yours.
How much does property management cost in Romania?
A fair range is 7%–10% of rental income. Management fees of 3%–4% are a warning sign: either the service is partial, or there are hidden costs, or both.
What must a property management SLA include?
Eight clauses: precise response times, a timetable for dealing with a tenant who doesn't pay, the frequency of financial reporting, a permanent contact person, an expense approval procedure, cost transparency, penalties for missed targets and clear exit terms. A management agreement without a clear SLA is a blank sheet of paper.
What is a reasonable response time for a fault?
24 hours for emergencies such as water, electricity and gas, 48 hours for routine faults and 72 hours to answer a general enquiry. Not "promptly" or "within a reasonable time", but numbers written into the agreement.
Why be wary of a property manager who is also a broker?
Because it is a built-in conflict of interest. When looking for a tenant, he may favour the one who pays him the higher commission, not necessarily the one who is best for you.
The bottom line: property management in Romania is not a technical detail – it determines the fate of your investment. An unregulated market means the responsibility is yours to choose well and to hold your chosen manager to account through a tight SLA. An investor who spends 30 minutes reading this article and asking the right questions saves himself thousands of euros and a whole year of aggravation.
Our model at Compass Group RO – developer and management company under one roof, exclusively for our own clients – was built precisely to solve this problem. We are not a service provider. We are your partner throughout the life of your investment.
Want to understand how this works for the specific property you are interested in? Book a 30-minute consultation with us. We will present the full model, the management costs, and the mechanism that ensures your property is properly managed over the long term – not just in the first year.
📩 Contact our team
Next in the series: Am I paying a fair price? How to check the value of a property in Romania and avoid the "foreign buyer premium".
This article is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal or financial advice.
Before entering into any transaction, we recommend consulting local experts.
Compass Group Romania – guiding Israeli investors in Romanian real estate, from the first idea to the keys.
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This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult local professionals before any transaction.
