Property Management

Single Family and Small Multi-Family

Asset Management v Property Management

Before hiring a property manager it is very important to establish what you are looking to do. Are you hoping to buy a property, maximize its earning potential and sell or refinance as a stabilized, long-term hold or are you looking for someone to take on of your headaches for you? There is no right or wrong answer but when choosing a firm to manage your property it is crucial to choose one that understands what you want.

If you own or plan to acquire a house (or 10) and you want a company to collect your rents, serve notices when necessary, inspect yearly, process maintenance requests, deal with your HOA, and basically make sure your headaches are minimized then a traditional property management company would be the best fit for you. Our property management division is headed up by Shelby Neidert. Shelby and her team are experienced in single-family and small multi-family properties and have the tools and systems in place to offer you the highest level of service with the best possible results.

If you own or plan to acquire a large property or portfolio of smaller properties where your goal is to bring rents to market value and maintain consistent growth, renovate to earn maximum revenue, and build toward stabilization for a sale or refinance then you should be looking for an asset manager, not a property manager. Jerrid Richards and Johanna Kok have successfully turned a number of failing properties into high-performance assets, in less than 12 months in most cases.

It’s all about goals and expectations…

In summary, a property manager is going to be attentive to the little things, while an asset manager is focused on the big picture.

Tenant Screening

Tenant screening is arguably the most important part of a property manager’s job. Our tenant screening process includes a credit check, criminal background check, rental history and income verification. Most firms stop at the credit score, however we look beyond the score to evaluate the potential tenant and minimize the risks while also following all state and federal fair housing laws and regulations. A “good” credit score, clean rental history and a clear criminal background cannot always tell you if a tenant is able to pay their rent on time. We require potential tenants’ gross income to be 3X the monthly rent and we require that income is provable and verifiable with both payment stubs and bank statements to match. Another factor is DTI (Debt to Income). Income tells us how much a person receives each month however we look into their monthly debts to make sure applicants are not overly leveraged and that the rent payment will not cause financial hardship to the applicant.

Rent Collection

The world of finance looks drastically different than it did even just a few years ago. It is not uncommon for people to never even step foot in a bank or credit union these days which is why we make paying rent easy regardless of a person’s situation or circumstances and eliminate mad dashes to our office at 5 pm on Friday. If someone wishes to pay rent the old fashioned way, they can do so, if they live a busy life and need automated payments, they can do so, if they are running short and need to use a credit card we have them covered. We minimize delinquency by maximizing payment options.

Maintenance Coordination

No one wants to get a call at 8 AM on Christmas morning from their tenant stating that the water heater has flooded the hallway but unfortunately it happens. We have a 24 hour maintenance line that can deal with problems big and small. Although all issues do not qualify as emergencies, all true emergencies can be attended to 24/7/365 with our large network of contractors and handymen.

We can also serve as the contact point for all maintenance even if your property is covered under a home warranty policy.

We do not “mark up” maintenance repair bills nor do we receive “private discounts” or “kickbacks” from our vendors. Our clients often get better pricing than they would if they were to call someone from the yellow pages, which naturally one would expect however we are of the opinion that is unethical and a gross conflict of interest for property management companies to have incentives for using specific companies. Our preferred vendors are usually not the cheapest or the most expensive but they are reliable and consistent and do quality work.

HOA Compliance

HOA compliance is something that many landlords forget about and end up having fines or liens on their property. When you sign your property management agreement, one of the first requests we will make is to have your HOA send all notices to our office. This way we can address them immediately, perform the necessary action and close the notice before it becomes a violation or fine.

Turnover

Turnover is every landlords nightmare however it should be a smooth, simple process. Once a tenant provides their notice (30 Day Written Required) ], we will schedule a move out inspection, determine market value, a begin marketing the property for a new tenant. Once the vacating tenant submits keys, we do a full inspection of the home, process the move out disposition and work with you to determine what items are normal wear and what items are excessive and need to be retained from the tenants security deposit. We make the necessary repairs, screen new applicants and prepare a lease for the incoming tenant.