How often do we inspect your property?
We normally perform 3-4  inspections per year on your property, which includes pre-move-in, move-out, and 2 tenancy inspections. Inspections are important to help ensure that tenants are complying with the lease, identify problems and remedy them timely, and document throughly your property’s conditions for multiple purposes.

Do you have property setup fees?
Yes,. We charge a fee for onboarding each property to cover the administrative burdens of the onboarding process, such as, onboarding inspection, creating conditions report, providing owner with recommendations, conducting market analysis on the property, ensuring the property is in rent-ready condition, and communications with the owner about the onboarding results. One of the best ways to ensure a successful rental property is to do the necessary work on the front end before any tenant is placed in the property.

Do you have a tenant placement fee?
Yes, but we do not charge a Tenant Placement Fee in addition to the Property Setup Fee when we place a tenant. The Tenant Placement Fee applies once the rental unit becomes vacant, and we prepare the property for re-listing and renting. We charge a certain percentage of the first month’s rent to set up a new tenancy when a prior tenant has vacated. This fee helps to cover the added administrative costs and burdens of processing a tenant move-out and new tenant move-in, such as, move-out inspections, security deposit handling, marketing the property to rent, handling the application process, communications with the owner on any transition issues, and ensuring the property is in rent-ready condition for the next tenant.

Do you have a tenancy renewal fee?
Yes. We charge a tenancy renewal fee when we renew a tenancy, which helps to cover the time we spend to review the tenancy and make a good decision about renewals, including but not limited to, the tenancy history, communicating with the tenant and reviewing his or her updated resident section criteria information, assess whether or not to renew the tenant and on what conditions, communicate with the owner about our determination and assessment, prepare relevant documents to offer and create a renewed tenancy, and consult with needed professionals about any issues that may exist regarding the tenancy. In short, we do not approach renewals lightly and put in the time, knowledge and experience to make wise decisions about tenancy renewals..

Do you handle major repair situations?
Yes and no. By law, repairs over $5,000 must be contracted through a licensed general contractor. However, we can facilitate the process of the major repairs, such as coordinating with vendors to access the property, giving notices to tenants of the repairs, documenting the repairs, and giving owners updates on the repairs. This arrangement would be governed by a separate agreement to the property management agreement.

Do you charge a management fee if the property is vacant?
Yes, but the fee is reduced. We charge a reduced Vacancy Management Fee because we are still providing services for the property, such as, for example, inspecting the property or sending maintenance vendors to address repairs. .

Do you charge other fees besides the base management fee?
Yes, but those fees are conditioned on certain events happening. For example;

• Repairs. We charge a low fee to facilitate repairs to cover the added administrative burdens of handling repairs.. While some property companies do not charge a fee for facilitating repairs, we do, because of the time, attention, and expertise we put into maintenance requests and issues. We know how important it is to ensure that maintenance issues are performed timely, to high standards, and with the knowledge of the law and the lease agreement relative to the tenants’ and landlord’s duties.
• Attorney-Prepared Lease Agreement. We charge a low fee for our attorney to prepare your lease agreement. Under Florida law, non-attorneys cannot prepare a lease on behalf of an owner unless the lease is what is known as as the “FAR-BAR” lease, which is hardly drafted with your property investment in mind. Otherwise, the lease must be prepared by a licensed attorney. 
• Inspections. There are, generally, 5 different inspection events in the course of property management; 1) routine inspections, 2) tenant-related, 3) owner-requested, 4) government related, and 5) insurance related. (1) In our routine inspections, we do more than lay eyes on the property. We look to prevent problems, document and notate conditions, ensure the tenants are complying their obligations, and provide owners with our findings and pictures. (2) For tenant-related inspections, these may be required depending on the nature of the tenant's request and our initial assessment of the request or report. When we inspect the property based on a tenant report, we do more than laying eyes on the property; we determine whose obligation the repair is and what action needs to be taken to protect the property and enforce the lease. (3) When an owner requests to inspect the property, we can accommodate the request and will take the steps needed to ensure the landlord complies with the legal obligations relative to the inspection. (4 & 5) For any government or insurance related inspection, we can accommodate the request and coordinate with the relevant parties to ensure the inspection is conducted when needed.
• Multiple Estimates. In general, we will provide the owner with a repair estimate from a qualified vendor, and the owner may request an additional estimate if he or she believes one is necessary. After the second estimate is provided to the owner, if the owner wants more estimates, we charge a reasonable fee for obtaining more estimates for the owner for the added administrative burdens in this situation.

How do you determine what rent to list my property?
We use a comparative market analysis of similarly-situated properties that have rented in the relative timeframe. The goal is to rent the property at the highest rental value possible, but also considering how long it takes to rent the property. We certainly do not want the property sitting very long, because that amounts to losing rental income—more than if we simply reasonably reduce the rent price. We stay competitive, aim for high occupancy, look for qualified tenants, and strive to improve the value of your portfolio.

Do you require tenants to pay a security deposit?
Yes. That is a well-established practice. We typically require a tenant to deposit 1 month’s rent as security for their lease performance. However, depending on the results of a lease application, we may require more.

Is there such a thing as “forfeit the security deposit” if the tenant terminates early?
No. Florida legislatures imposed strict provisions regarding the treatment of security deposits under Florida Statutes, sec. 83.49. In short, the law requires that we make a claim on the deposit upon the tenant vacating at the termination of the lease. The claim must be made in writing, by certified mail to the tenant’s last known address within 30 days. But since our co-founder is an attorney, when situations arise when a tenant expresses the intent to break the lease, we are able to negotiate with tenants and enter into settlement agreements to ensure that we protect our owners. Sometimes, in those agreements, the tenant agrees to “forfeit” the deposit.

What tenant selection criteria do you use when reviewing tenant applications?
We use selection criteria that is widely used in this business and is approved by our attorney. It includes requirements for income, credit score, employment, lack of criminal history, good tenant history, no violent or sex history, and good references, to name a few.

How often do we communicate with you?
There is no strict rule in this regard. We know that each owner is a bit different when it comes to wanting to hear from us. The most common reasons we need to communicate with you are (1) maintenance issues and (2) a tenant problem we believe you need to be made aware of. These are unlikely to be frequent, but we believe you should be aware of certain things in this regard.

How do you process tenant maintenance requests?
We have a protocol for every tenant maintenance request. We review the request to determine if it appears to be a tenant or landlord obligation. If the obligation cannot be determined through the request alone, we may order a vendor to assess the situation and/or inspect and make a determination and assess the remedy. If the request involves a landlord obligation and the amount of repair falls within the owner pre-approved amount, we make the repair and send owner notice of the repair. If the amount of repair is one that requires notice to the owner, we send notice to the owner and give our recommendations. If the repair is an emergency, we must act promptly and accordingly, and we notify the owner of the situation. A big part of this process is having a firm understanding of the law and the tenant’s and landlord’s obligations under F.S. secs. 83.51 and ..52 and the lease agreement and knowing how to communicate these matters to the tenant and owner.

When do you disburse money to the owner?
We disburse rent to the owner in the month following the month that the money was received.

Would I be a good fit for your company?
If you are a landlord looking for a property management company to simply "follow your orders", we are not the property management company for you. We are a high-standards, professional property management firm that has time-tested systems and protocol and an operations manual developed by our founders, Our staff are trained in and follow the manual for all operations to ensure proper response and action.  That said, if you are looking for a property management firm to take the burdens of property management from you and for a passive income situation, we are a great choice, as we are established to handle all things related to property management with the highest standards of professionalism, legality and experience.