Management Policies and Procedures

  • The policies and procedures we have developed are to protect your property investment and to provide you with the very best of service.

    Leasing

    We want good tenants as much as you do. We pride ourselves in the quality of tenants we are able to attract. Our extensive tenant screening and lease procedures help to ensure this and minimize potential issues.

    Applicants are required to complete a rental application and to provide credit information and references. A credit check on prospective tenants is completed with each application. In addition, we report any delinquencies to the credit bureau. This has proven to be extremely effective in stopping late rents.

    Once a tenant's rental application has been approved, appointments are made with the tenant(s) to meet with the property manager to sign the rental agreement. We have found that this additional personal attention to the tenant greatly reduces misunderstandings and eliminates potential problems. This also gives us a chance to answer any questions and to carefully explain the tenant's responsibilities.

    Rent Collection

    All rent is due on or before the first of each month and is considered late if received after the fourth of the month. Pay or Quit Notices are posted after the fifth day and eviction proceedings are initiated if the tenant does not make arrangements for payment of rent.

    Accounting Services

    Our monthly statements show every transaction affecting your account balance. The statement shows all the monthly income/expenses and the current year to date income/expenses for each individual unit. These statements are specifically designed to simplify and help you in monitoring how each of your properties are performing each month and how well they have performed from the beginning of the year. In addition to the monthly statements, we provide a complete copy of all invoices. These files are emailed to you in PDF format. We have looked at several programs that require the owner to log on and then go through a multitude of loops to get the information and then have to print it out and we decided that emailing the information directly to you saves you valuable time.

    All emails and checks to the owner's are sent out when we close the books on the 12th of the month.

    Vacancies

    Vacancies are expensive for both of us. We make every effort to keep our vacancies to a minimum. Upon receiving the 30 day notice to vacate we immediately start advertising and showing the property. We strive to have a new tenant lined up to take possession when the unit is vacated.

    Property Inspection

    Our main job is to protect your investment property. We do this in two different ways. First, we make frequent drive-by tours of the properties we manage. It is stated in the tenant's rental agreement that we have the right to make routine announced inspections. Tenants are always notified of an impending property inspection. We look for discrepancies, missing items, and additional damages. At the same time, we check for preventative maintenance items that are owner responsibilities.

    Repair and Maintenance Services

    Timely and competent maintenance is the key to protecting your investment. We evaluate all service calls to determine if they are considered an emergency and to determine if the tenant or owner is responsible for the cost of repair.

    Our goal is to provide you with this important service at a reasonable price using only qualified personnel to perform repair's and maintenance services. Each has been selected because of their ability to provide the best possible service and reasonable pricing.

    Routine repair and maintenance will be performed as needed and will be based on urgency and importance. For any major job, we will obtain written estimates and present them to you before we proceed. Emergency service calls such as flood, fire or heating are never delayed. You are further protected because each job is fully documented in writing and backed with receipts.

    Security Deposit

    For additional protection, appropriate security deposits are always collected at the time of the signing of the rental agreement. The amount of the security deposit is based on the market and the application.

    All deposits are maintained in a trust account until they are either refunded to the tenant upon successful completion of their rental agreement, or are forfeited to cover damages caused by lease violations.

    Cleaning Policy

    At the initial takeover of any new property, it will be required that all necessary repairs are completed and the house be thoroughly cleaned, including carpet cleaning by a professional carpet service.

    At the time when a tenant vacates, they will be expected to leave the unit in the same condition or better condition, including professionally cleaned carpets.

    Mortgage Payments

    If you wish, we will make the mortgage payment on your property for you. This is contingent upon the tenant's rent payment. This requires a one month reserve. Simply provide us with the necessary mortgage payment card or coupons provided by your mortgage company. Payments will be deducted from your account balance automatically the 12th of the month.

    Management Fee

    Our monthly management fee is payable when the rent payment is received. It is automatically deducted from your account at the time the rent payment is posted. However, as our job is keeping your property occupied, we do not charge any vacancy maintenance or management fee's while the property is vacant.