Rough shape of it, with the warning that every one of these is negotiated and nobody publishes real pricing.
Property management and accounting software (Yardi, RealPage, Entrata and similar) is usually priced per unit per month, commonly in the low single dollars for the core system, with modules for screening, utility billing and revenue management stacked on top. A 5,000-unit portfolio can easily land in the low six figures annually once the modules are added. Market data subscriptions (CoStar, and apartment-specific services) are quoted by seat and geography and run from a few thousand a year for a narrow subscription into well past six figures for a national platform with several users. Get quotes rather than trusting any number in a forum post, including mine.
On a single deal in due diligence, the third-party reports on a garden apartment complex commonly run in these neighborhoods: a Phase I environmental site assessment a few thousand dollars, a property condition assessment similar, an appraisal from several thousand into five figures on a large asset, plus survey, zoning report and unit-by-unit inspection labor. Add legal. It's normal for a serious pursuit to cost $40,000 to $80,000 before you own anything.
That last point is the one people underestimate. Those costs are spent on deals you don't win. A shop that bids ten deals to close one is absorbing dead deal costs on nine, which is why acquisition fees exist and why disciplined buyers are careful about which deals they take to third-party spend.
Buying property for your own account generally doesn't require a real estate license. Brokering someone else's transaction does, and raising money from investors puts you in securities territory. Both vary by state and both are questions for a licensed attorney in the state you're operating in.
