Property Management

Our goal is to make sure that we have systems in place to obtain conscientious tenants that will take good care of the property and pay rent promptly, to make sure that all laws are followed, the owner’s rights and property are protected and the tenant’s needs and concerns are addressed in a timely matter to insure longer tenancies and no problems. We will take away the headache of you having to deal with the nuisance of tenant phone calls over small items, and you can rest assured that we are on top of those issues.

Prepare Property for Leasing

We will perform a full market analysis of your property, and suggest the correct rental price so that the property is rented in a timely manner. Without a doubt, the most expensive cost of owning rental property is vacancy, and we strive to minimize any vacancy period. In addition, we will complete a walk-through of the property and suggest any improvements or repairs and obtain cost estimates for the completion of any such work, and follow that process through to it’s conclusion. We do require that all of our management properties conform to current state and local ordinances regarding the maintenance and upkeep for rental properties to protect both ourselves and you, the owner, from potential liability.

Marketing Your Property

We use a number of different outlets to advertise your property for lease. We use multiple websites including our own, www.ClocktowerRealty.com, and outside sites, such as Craig’s List, and Postlets to market your property. We will also include a prominent yard sign, and color brochures available outside of the property. We have found that newspaper advertising is more costly, and less effective in finding quality tenants, than other techniques we utilize. If you feel strongly that newspaper advertising is something you desire, additional fees will apply.

One of the biggest benefits to having a property management company is our availability to show your property to potential tenants in a timely manner. We answer and return calls promptly, and make ourselves available at the potential tenant’s convenience to make sure your property is seen.

Thorough Screening of Prospective Tenants

We require that all applicants complete our application, and we run a credit check and verify current employment and past landlord references. At that point, we will come to you with all the information for your approval. We suggest high standards in the acceptance of potential tenants, in good, verifiable references, and a credit score in the range of 650 or higher. We’ve found that those high standards help dramatically in acquiring a tenant that pays rent on time, and is conscientious in maintaining the property. We also typically ask for a security deposit equal to 1 – 1 ½ times the rental amount.

Completing Lease and Legal Disclosures

Once you approve of the tenant applicant, we will prepare and sign the lease agreement. Our lease agreements include stipulations that the tenant maintain renter’s insurance, allow no smoking on the premises, allow no pets, and no waterbeds. We also require that tenants have carpets, if any, professionally cleaned upon move-out.

Ongoing Property Maintenance & Repair

We perform regular inspections annually to identify preventive maintenance items and generate a list of suggested repairs and/or replacements. Our goal is maintain all areas of the structure on an ongoing basis to prevent larger problems down the road. We have excellent, ongoing relationships with a wide range of contractors and handymen ensuring that we receive competitive pricing and prompt service. Our tenants can reach an on-call property manager quickly to get any issues resolved.

Detailed Walk-Through Inspections

A thorough inspection of the property with the tenant prior to move-in documents in writing and photographs the condition of the property. Near the end of the tenancy, another inspection with the tenant reveals the existing conditions and identifies those items that may need to be addressed prior to vacating. A dollar value is assigned to each item for reduction from the deposit if the tenant chooses not to make corrections.

Complete Accounting

Each month, we will collect the rent, and send you a statement of income and expenses along with a direct deposit of your funds on or before the 15th of each month. We will include invoices for any repairs that were done during the month. At year end, you’ll receive a full year end statement with all costs itemized to make it easy to do your taxes, or hand off to your accountant.

Excellent Communication

We pride ourselves on responding quickly to tenant issues, both to help protect your property, and to insure satisfied tenants, leading to less tenant turnover. We are available to both owners and tenants by our phone system with automatic paging, and email.

Fees

Our standard fees for residential property management contracts are as follows:

Property Leasing for Each New Tenant – 6% of the total amount of a one year lease agreement

Ongoing Management – $60 monthly + 3% of monthly rent amount