Property management
in Vancouver

Most full-service property managers in Vancouver charge a placement fee equal to half a month’s rent plus a monthly management fee of 7-10% of rent. Birds Nest fees are half a month’s rent for tenant placement (plus GST) and 8.33% of monthly rent for ongoing management (plus GST), with no other fees. No vendor markups, no referral kickbacks, no renewal fees, no fees during vacancy. See our Vancouver Property Management Fees Guide for more details.

Rental owners living outside Canada also pay a 2% non-resident tax filing fee if they want Birds Nest to cover their CRA NR4 reporting.

Yes, if you value your time more than roughly 8-10% of your rental income. A single Vancouver condo can take up significant hours for marketing, showings, tenant calls, strata correspondence, repairs, and BC Residential Tenancy Act compliance. One missed deadline, such as a rent increase notice, an Empty Homes Tax declaration, or NR4 filing, can consume additional time and cost, erasing years of management fees.

We guide towards three to five weeks from time of listing to a tenant moving in for rental income, depending on your priorities as a rental owner.

For example, you may either wish to test the market at a certain rent level or wish to start receiving cash flow by a certain date to match your property expenses. In any event, we focus on understanding your needs and preferences as a rental owner to inform how we manage your property.

Another factor is the selected tenant applicant may need to provide one full month’s notice to move out of their existing home. So, even if the lease is signed with security deposit shortly after a rental listing, rental income does not begin until a tenant has moved in.

The maximum allowable rent increase in BC for 2027 is 2.2%, down from 2.3% in 2026. The cap tracks BC inflation and applies to existing tenancies only.

Three rules: you can raise rent once every 12 months, you must give three full months’ notice on the official Notice of Rent Increase form (RTB-7), and missed years can’t be added later. For a January 1^st, 2027 increase, the tenant had to receive notice by September 30, 2026. See our 2027 rent increase guide.

We take care of all the logistics from managing the timeline, filling out the forms, and ensuring proper delivery. We also monitor market rents closely and if your current rent is already at or above market value, we often recommend holding steady. Our priority is finding great residents and keeping them happy at home, as a long-term tenant who takes care of your property is usually more valuable than a 2.2% increase.

Yes. Every owner of a Class 1 residential property within the City of Vancouver must file an annual Empty Homes Tax declaration, even if it was tenanted all year. If you miss the early February deadline, the City automatically deems your property vacant and bills you 3% of assessed value, plus a $250 fine.

Birds Nest reminds and tracks declarations of its Vancouver owners every February. See our Vancouver Empty Homes Tax Guide for more details.

In addition, every Vancouver owner is still subject to the BC Speculation and Vacancy Tax, which is a separate provincial tax that applies across most of Greater Vancouver. Every BC residential property owner in a designated taxable region must file the Speculation and Vacancy Tax declaration annually by March 31. The BC Speculation and Vacancy Tax will be increasing for foreign owners and untaxed worldwide income earners in 2027 from 3% to 4%. See our BC Speculation and Vacancy Tax Guide for more details.

Yes, some of our owners are non-residents living outside Canada, with a particular concentration in Hong Kong, China, and the United States. We handle everything that requires a local presence in Vancouver: property visits, tenant communication, vendor coordination, strata correspondence, monthly statements, and CRA NR4 non-resident tax filings.

Communication runs on whatever channel works for you, whether it be email, WeChat, WhatsApp, phone, or video call, and across time zones. The 2% non-resident tax filing fee covers monthly withholding remittances and the annual NR4 return so you stay compliant with CRA.

The Broadway Subway, which is the Millennium Line extension running from VCC-Clark to Arbutus, is scheduled to begin passenger service in Fall 2027, fundamentally reshaping the Mount Pleasant, Fairview, South Granville, and Kitsilano rental markets. Broadway between Alberta and Cambie is closed to vehicles until January 2027.

Alongside it, the Broadway Plan represents a larger zoning shift than the Cambie Corridor Plan. For owners of older buildings in the Broadway corridor, two things matter. Short-term: construction disruption and a wave of new tower completions will pressure rents in some pockets through 2026–2027. Medium-term: Vancouver condo completions are projected to fall significantly in 2027 and beyond as the development pipeline thins. Owners who hold through this cycle are likely to see tightening supply support rents going into 2028.

Yes, Birds Nest manages apartment buildings across the City of Vancouver for families and private owners transitioning out of self-management. Our 25-person team manages over 1000 units overall, representing twice the staff-to-unit ratio compared to the average property management company, built for the operational depth that multi-residential requires.

If you have an apartment building in Vancouver, whether Kitsilano, West End, Cambie Corridor, or another neighbourhood, we’d love to discuss our process for seamless transition and ongoing property management.

Yes, Vancouver schools affect rental interest significantly, particularly on the Westside. For an owner of a 2- or 3-bedroom condo or townhome on the Westside, the catchment is a leading driver of how quickly the unit rents and how long the tenant stays.

Vancouver School Board catchment boundaries determine which secondary school a family’s child can attend, and the city’s top-ranked secondary catchments are Lord Byng (West Point Grey/Dunbar), Eric Hamber (Shaughnessy/South Granville), Kitsilano Secondary (Kitsilano/Fairview), Magee (Kerrisdale), and Point Grey (Kerrisdale), commanding real rental premiums for family-suitable units. Many feeder elementary schools also have kindergarten waitlists, which means a family that lives a block outside the catchment line may not be able to enrol their child. Since opening in 2023, Point Grey’s Bayview Community Elementary has attracted enrollment interest and we have seen rental interest in the catchment.