Property Management Agreements

Investing In Real Estate:

A real estate investor is someone who actively or passively invests in real estate. An active investor may buy a property, make repairs and/or improvements to the property, and sell it later for a profit. A passive investor may hire a property management firm to manage the investment for him or her. Typically, investors choose real estate investments for several reasons: cash flow, appreciation, depreciation, tax benefits, leverage or supplement income. Many new investors have no idea how difficult it is to manage a property, screen tenants or do the accounting then their investment fails to return any profit. Property management is hard work so you should hire a professional with experience to help you with your investment.

What is a Property Manager?

One important role is that of liaison between the landlord and/or the management firm operating on the landlord's behalf and tenant. Duties of property management include accepting rent, responding to and addressing maintenance issues, and providing a buffer for those landlords desiring to distance themselves from their tenant constituency.

There are many facets to this profession, including managing the accounts and finances of the real estate properties, and participating in or initiating litigation with tenants, contractors and insurance agencies. Litigation is at times considered a separate function, set aside for trained attorneys. Although a person will be responsible for this in his/her job description, there may be an attorney working under a property manager. Special attention is given to landlord/tenant law and most commonly evictions, non-payment, harassment, reduction of pre-arranged services, and public nuisance are legal subjects that gain the most amount of attention from property managers. Therefore, it is a necessity that a property manager be current with applicable municipal, county and state laws and practices.

Management Fees:

The management fee is a percentage of the contracted rent amount. This fee is charged each month for the efficient operation of the property*. This fee is quoted based on the total number of units being managed as well as the location and condition of your property.

Leasing Fees:

The Leasing fee is a one time commission paid each time we rent the property. This fee is also a percentage of the first months rent for each newly executed rental agreement. The leasing fee includes:

• Advertising:
  We place ads on the internet to offer your property for rent. We include placement on our web site and provide yard or window signage. We also recommend additional print and internet advertising.
  
  
• Showings:
  We schedule appointments to show prospective residents your property. Our leasing assistants are courteous and friendly.
  
  
• Application and screenings:
  We offer a simple but effective application along with a modest application fee. We screen each applicant’s credit, verify current and past rental history and verify current employment. Initial set up fees: We do not require a set up fee of any kind. We do require you to deposit an initial amount to cover any additional advertising or property expenses such as utilities, water etc. After your property is occupied we do not require you to keep any reserve amount of funds in your account. Some of our owners do, but that is up to you.

Renewal Fees:

We also value each of our residents and encourage them to remain with us. That is why we do not charge a renewal fee.

*All of the services included with each management account are explained on the Management Agreement.