Letting agent, property manager or do it yourself: how to let a flat in the Czech Republic

The difference between an estate agent, a property manager and guaranteed rent is not only the price. They differ mainly in when the service ends and who carries the risk when something goes wrong. An estate agent’s work usually ends when the lease is signed. A property manager continues throughout the tenancy, but the risk of a non-paying tenant usually stays with the owner. With guaranteed rent, a company becomes the tenant, pays you the agreed rent and sublets the flat.

None of these is best in general. It depends on how much time you want to spend, how far from the flat you live and how much lost rent you can absorb. The sections below look at each option in turn.

Letting yourself makes sense if you live near the flat, have time for viewings and do not mind dealing with the tenant. You save the commission or ongoing fee, but everything an intermediary would do is your job:

• set the rent by comparable let flats nearby rather than by asking prices,
• prepare and photograph the flat and write a listing with clear conditions, in Czech and ideally in English,
• answer calls and e-mails and arrange viewings,
• screen applicants as described in our guide to tenant screening,
• prepare the lease and handover protocol and transfer the utilities,
• monitor payments, settle service charges once a year and deal with repairs and emergencies.

In our price list we estimate how much time these tasks take an owner: viewings, takeover and handover including protocols about 14 hours, rent collection with reminders 10 hours, recharging services 5 hours and repairs and maintenance 16 hours. Actual time varies with the flat and the tenant, but it shows that letting is not a one-off task.

For owners who live abroad, letting alone is particularly demanding. Viewings, handovers and emergencies need someone on site, some steps require a signature in person and most applicants and suppliers communicate in Czech. In our experience, the biggest risk is not the paperwork but choosing a tenant under time pressure. An empty flat costs money every month, so owners sign with the first applicant who seems pleasant. If you let yourself, set your criteria in advance and stick to them. Waiting two more weeks is better than dealing later with arrears, notice and getting the flat back, which can take many months.

An estate agent helps with the first phase of letting: pricing the rent, advertising, viewings, selecting and screening applicants and preparing the lease. The scope varies, so have it written into the contract. Ask whether professional photography is included, on how many portals and for how long the listing will run, who hands over the flat and signs the protocol and whether the agent transfers the utilities.

The agent’s service usually ends with the signed lease and the handover. From then on you are the landlord: the tenant calls you about a dripping tap, you monitor payments and you prepare the service charge statement. If the tenant stops paying after six months, the agent will usually not get involved unless you agreed otherwise. Some agencies offer a guarantee such as “if the tenant leaves within a certain period, we find a new one free of charge”. Read exactly when it applies.

An agent suits an owner who wants to save time finding a tenant but can run the tenancy themselves, or whose long-term tenants change only every few years. If tenants change every year, you pay commission again and again, and it is worth calculating whether ongoing management would cost about the same.

Details vary between agencies, but the structure is similar. Knowing it helps you see what an offer leaves out:

1. First meeting and viewing. The agent sees the flat, asks about your conditions and suggests a rent.
2. Brokerage contract. A written contract with the scope of services, commission, any exclusivity and the term.
3. Listing. Photos, description, floor plan and sometimes a video. Photo quality has a large effect on the number of enquiries.
4. Viewings. The agent handles enquiries and organises viewings, often as group viewings to keep their number low.
5. Selecting and screening applicants. The agent presents applicants and their documents. The decision should remain yours.
6. Lease and deposit. Signing the lease, paying the deposit and the first rent.
7. Handover. A handover protocol with meter readings, an inventory and photos, and transferring utilities to the tenant.

Before the first meeting, prepare proof of ownership or the unit number in the land register, the building’s energy performance certificate, the advance payments for services set by the owners’ association or building manager, an inventory and your conditions on minimum term, pets and move-in date. The more precise your conditions, the fewer unsuitable applicants come to viewings.

Estate agency in Czechia is governed by the Real Estate Brokerage Act No. 39/2020 Coll., which also applies to letting. If you are a consumer, letting as a private individual, some provisions give you extra protection. The overview reflects the version in force on 14 October 2026.

This leads to practical questions to ask before signing. Is the commission and who pays it stated explicitly? Is it due only after the lease is signed? How long does exclusivity last and what happens if you find a tenant yourself during it? Read the whole contract, especially the clauses on contractual penalties and on when the agent becomes entitled to commission. If you do not read Czech well, ask for a bilingual version before you sign.

You can check an agent’s licence in the Czech Trade Register. Finding tenants under a brokerage contract requires the regulated trade “Realitní zprostředkování” (real estate brokerage). Property management alone is a free trade in the field “Nákup, prodej, správa a údržba nemovitostí”.

An estate agent usually charges a one-off commission, either a fixed amount or a multiple of the monthly rent. Who pays it, the owner, the tenant or both, depends on the agreement; the law requires the contract to state the commission or how it is set. A property manager charges an ongoing fee, most often a percentage of the rent collected, sometimes a monthly flat fee. With guaranteed rent you receive an agreed amount and the company keeps the difference.

Offers therefore cannot be compared by one number. Convert them to a full year and ask what you get for the price. An example for a flat let at CZK 20,000 a month, purely to illustrate the calculation:

• A one-off commission of one month’s rent would be CZK 20,000. Running the tenancy stays with you and you pay again when the tenant changes.
• An ongoing fee of 11% of the rent would be CZK 2,200 a month, or CZK 26,400 a year, and covers looking after the tenancy all year.

What matters most is how much you would lose if something went wrong. One month of vacancy or a non-paying tenant costs the whole rent plus the time spent resolving it. If such a loss would seriously affect you, for example because the rent pays your mortgage, a service that takes over the risk is worth more than one that is merely cheaper.

Also ask about items outside the basic price: advertising fees, handover fees, fees for service charge statements, mark-ups on repairs and the cost of ending the contract. A fair offer lists them in advance.

A property manager looks after the flat throughout the tenancy. Besides finding a tenant, they usually monitor payments and send reminders, prepare the annual service charge statement, deal with the owners’ association, arrange repairs and emergencies and, when the tenant leaves, take the flat back and find the next one. For an owner who lives far away or abroad, it is the most convenient option, provided you are willing to carry the risk of lost rent.

Check how and when the manager forwards the rent. The tenant’s money should go to your account or a separate client account, not into the manager’s operating funds. Ask how quickly they respond to emergencies, whether there is an emergency line at night and at weekends, up to what amount they may order a repair without your approval and how often you receive a report on the flat. Ask for a sample management contract and see how it can be ended.

Be careful with powers of attorney. Limit them to what the manager really needs, such as signing a lease on agreed terms or dealing with the owners’ association and utility suppliers, and ask for copies of everything signed on your behalf. A good manager also tells you about expiring leases and whether the rent matches the market, through a client portal or by e-mail.

Guaranteed rent works differently from both an agent and conventional management. You let the flat to a company that sublets it and pays you the agreed rent. Your only contractual partner is the company. A tenant who does not pay is the company’s problem, not yours. Depending on the variant, the company may also carry the risk of vacancy between subtenants.

Before signing, check four things:

1. What exactly is guaranteed. Rent when the subtenant does not pay, when the flat is empty, or both? And how much?
2. How long the contract runs and how it ends. Guaranteed rent is usually agreed for longer than conventional management.
3. Who chooses the subtenant and how. Do you have a say, and in which registers are applicants checked?
4. In what condition you get the flat back. Who is liable for damage and how is the subtenant insured?

Guaranteed rent suits owners for whom a regular income matters more than the highest possible rent, for example when the rent pays a mortgage or when they live abroad. It does not suit someone who wants to sell the flat in six months or move in. You also remain the owner: property tax, contributions to the owners’ association’s repair fund and building insurance usually stay with you, as do major repairs such as a new boiler, unless agreed otherwise.

Instead of a general recommendation, answer a few questions. The answers usually show which option makes sense for you.

The decision does not have to be final. Many owners start by letting themselves and switch to a manager or guaranteed rent after their first difficult tenant or after moving abroad.

The following are reasons to slow down and ask for an explanation before signing anything:

• the agent wants commission before the lease is signed, but the contract does not expressly say that payment is not tied to the lease,
• the brokerage contract and the lease are in one document,
• exclusivity is to last more than six months or renew automatically,
• you are asked as a private individual to sign a bill of exchange,
• the agent offers on its own initiative to “hold” the tenant’s money or deposit,
• the company cannot show its trade licence or insurance, or will not share a sample contract in advance,
• the manager has no separate client account and cannot say when you will receive the rent,
• an offer promises rent well above comparable let flats nearby without explaining the basis.

Check the company in public registers too: the Commercial Register for who is behind it and how long it has existed, the Trade Register for its licences and the insolvency register to confirm it is solvent. Treat reviews as a supplement, not the only source; how a company responds to criticism tells you more than the score.

If you have decided to let without an intermediary, spend most of your time on choosing the tenant. A well-chosen tenant saves more trouble than any contract or service ordered later. Our guide to tenant screening in the Czech Republic sets out the process step by step, the public debtor registers and what you may and may not ask applicants.