I have no problem paying a wholesale fee if there's plenty of margin for me. 

Also who pays servicing fees. if curious to learn more reach out. 

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.

Quote from @Matt McNabb: I'm a solid $400k/yr job in NYC and have $250k to begin investing as my first step into building a portfolio, although I don't have time to be a landlord so I have to account for management fees.  

I want to avoid being massacred by those fees if at all possible.

Then do a thorough research on tenant applicants (note: leaving this to a PM may be hazardous to your financial health) and choose the one that is most “stable” with the best potential for long term tenancy.This advice is contrary to maximization of rental income, but IMO will reduce expenses of tenant turnover, property damage, property management fees so much that the difference in bottom line income will be quite small.  

I never got the consultation, but was politely told my portfolio is probably too small to pay their annual fees (starts at $2500 and goes up).

I think my fees are high until I shop around and then I am thankful. 

✅ Typical origination fees?

What we do is bundle it into an application fee.