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How can I manage my rental properties myself without an agency?

Short answer

An owner can manage a rented property personally: the Real Estate Brokerage Law requires a licence from whoever manages property on the owner’s behalf. Most of the work is done from the owner’s own Ejar account: renewing the lease, ending it by mutual agreement, filling in the receipt and handover form, and receiving rent, which on new residential leases is paid only through Ejar’s digital channels. Creating any new lease on Ejar, however, can only be done from a licensed real estate broker’s account, and the documentation fee falls on the lessor.

What you can do yourself and what needs a broker

Ejar splits lease services between your account and a broker’s account as follows:

  • From your account: renewing the lease by sending it to the tenant to accept with a verification code, cancelling automatic renewal (a lessor in the Riyadh urban area may refuse renewal only in set cases), requesting a rent adjustment, ending the lease by mutual agreement at no charge, filling in the receipt and handover form, and changing the IBAN that rent is paid into.
  • Through a licensed broker: creating every new lease, whether for a new tenant or for an existing paper lease both parties agree to document, and moving leases to a new owner through the Change of Lessor service if you sell.
  • Advertising the unit: a property ad needs a licence from the Real Estate General Authority (REGA) unless the regulation exempts it. REGA’s partner service account on X said on 2 January 2026, before the current Real Estate Marketing and Advertising Regulation took effect on 1 May 2026, that an owner obtains the licence through a licensed broker or a licensed property platform.

What the rules require of a self-managing owner

An owner who manages their own rentals must follow these rules:

  • Ejar fees are on the lessor: SAR 125 per contract year for residential, and SAR 200 for the first year then SAR 400 for each additional year for commercial; Ejar does not allow charging them to the tenant.
  • Rent through Ejar: since 15 January 2024, rent on new residential leases is paid only through Ejar’s digital channels (mada, Apple Pay and SADAD biller 153), reaches the account registered in the lease within 5 working days, and Ejar issues the payment receipts. Commercial leases are outside this restriction.
  • Security deposit: if one is agreed, it is reserved from the tenant’s Ejar wallet and held by the platform, then refunded or reduced according to the receipt and handover form both parties fill in within 7 days; letting the deadline pass counts as implied approval that the unit is in good condition.
  • Maintenance: necessary repairs fall on the lessor unless agreed otherwise (Civil Transactions Law, Article 419). Under the unified residential lease, if the lessor does not carry out required maintenance within 5 working days, the tenant may apply to Ejar with an accredited valuer’s report and repair at the lessor’s expense.

When an office makes more sense

With many units, or units far from you, you may hand management to someone else. The Real Estate Brokerage Law defines property management as handling a property’s financial and administrative affairs on the owner’s behalf and makes it a real estate service that may only be provided under a REGA licence (Articles 1 and 4), so check the FAL licence of whoever you hire. If you sign a property management contract with an office, Ejar’s FAQ explains that the lessor authorises the broker through a legal power of attorney, whose details are entered on the platform, to let the units and collect rent as the two agreed.

Steps

  1. Keep a file for each unit with the title deed number, the Ejar lease number, the tenant’s details, the payment schedule, the deposit amount, and both handover forms with photos.
  2. Put the key dates in your calendar: 90 days before the lease ends is the last day to request a rent adjustment (in the Riyadh urban area only decreases are allowed), 60 days for a non-renewal notice, and 7 days from documentation for the receipt form and 7 days after the lease ends for the handover form.
  3. Track payments on Ejar and reconcile them with what reaches your bank account. Under the unified residential lease, the grace period is 15 days from the due date for payment cycles shorter than 180 days and 30 days for longer ones.
  4. Log maintenance requests with their dates and costs, and complete them within the 5 working days the unified lease allows.
  5. If the tenant is still late after the grace period, do not cut off services; a unified lease documented on Ejar is an executive instrument that can be enforced at the Execution Court through Najiz.
  6. At the end of each year, review each unit’s income, costs and net yield. If your taxable supplies, such as commercial rent, exceed SAR 375,000 a year, VAT registration is mandatory; residential rent is exempt.
Calculate it: Lease Dates CalculatorLease end and instalment dates in both calendars, plus non-renewal and rent-adjustment deadlines.Calculate it: Ejar Lease Fees CalculatorEjar documentation fees: SAR 125 per year residential, SAR 200 then 400 commercial.Calculate it: Rental Yield CalculatorGross and net rental yield and payback period for any property.

Follow-up questions

Do I need a FAL licence to manage my own property?

The Real Estate Brokerage Law defines licensed property management as handling a property’s affairs on its owner’s behalf, so an owner managing his or her own property falls outside that definition. You still need a licensed broker to create any new lease on Ejar.

I have old paper leases that were never registered. What should I do?

A lease not registered on Ejar has no administrative or judicial effect (Council of Ministers Decision 292), and the statutory provisions require the lessor, anywhere in the Kingdom, to apply to register it. Not applying is penalised with a warning, then three months’ rent, then six months’ rent.

Can I accept rent in cash if the tenant asks?

For residential leases documented since 15 January 2024, payments outside Ejar’s digital channels are not accepted as proof of payment, so it is safer for the tenant to pay through them.

Official sources

General information for guidance, not legal advice; the governing regulations and official bodies are the final reference.

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