Then I manually adjust their charge and move on.

It may sound nice to pay a 5% management fee but the extra fees can add up to be more than the other company that charges 10% with no add-on fees.

If there is a lease with the tenant it is up to the owner or through its agent the property manager to back charge the tenant or sue the tenant for lease specific damages .

A landlord may not:(1) charge an applicant a screening fee when the landlord knows or should have known that no rental unit is available at that time or will be available within a reasonable future time;(2) collect or hold an applicant screening fee without giving the applicant a written receipt for the fee, which may be incorporated into the application form, upon request of the applicant; or(3) use, cash, or deposit an applicant screening fee until all prior applicants have either been screened and rejected, or offered the unit and declined to enter into a rental agreement.Subd. 2.Return of applicant screening fee.

Someone mentioned one to me that had only $150 a month charge with no split and no franchise fee. 

BP IME is not a great resource for legitimate information from commercial operators - for that, just look in the tax records and cold call the owners of the type of property that you want to buy and ask them questions, tell them you're just getting started - 2 out of 3 will be happy to talk to you and lend you a hand. 

Talk with a financial advisor and one that charges a fee, not one that will try to sell you something.  

Self-directed IRA If you are self-employed with no full-time w-2 employees, you can set up a Solo 401k & rollover funds from a non-Roth IRA as a tax-free direct rollover and then invest in real estate.A Solo 401k has several advantages as compared to a Self-Directed IRA including the following which specifically apply to your situation: Unlike a Self-directed IRA, you can have the account for the Solo 401k at a bank or brokerage that does not charge maintenance fees and where you will have checkbook control.Unlike a Self-directed IRA, if you use leverage (which must be non-recourse financing in either case) to acquire real estate with your Solo 401k the income will not be subject to Unrelated Debt Finance Income taxGeneral Considerations Re Investing Retirement Funds in Real Estate:1.

They sign a six month lease with the tenants and they charge $150 to $170 a week.

If your place can rent for $1000 and you pay some of the utilities which are $50 a month, charge $1050.