Has your turnkey Co. every charged a fee to find first tenants?

[Daniel Desrosiers]

This is my first time working with this relatively well known turnkey company. Their website describes a turnkey rental property : "Our expectation for a turnkey property is a home that has been rehabbed, leased to a tenant, and has all the systems in place for management to take care of any item that comes up." As I was speaking with the PM company, she went on to explain they charge a fee equal to the first months rent to "market and screen tenants." I said, well isn't that included in the whole turnkey experience. She paused, said thats interesting and advised me to contact the turnkey company directly. I sent them an email explaining my concern and the owner replied explaining the fee as a cost of doing business and pretty much talked down to me saying there are often unexpected expenses in this arena. When I replied, they went on to say they would work with the seller in regards to the fee. The seller is a great guy and it should not be his responsibility. It is marketed by the turnkey company as the "product" that they are offering and in my opinion this fee should be covered by them in the fee they receive from the seller. Am I wrong here?

While I am completely aware of "unexpected expenses", I am just looking for input from other investors to see if they have experienced the same fee in the past. I completely understand this fee for future tenants after the original. This has left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. I would like to buy more from this seller in the Akron area but I am not sure I would be willing to go through this company again. Thoughts?

Thanks