For your convenience, our most common customer questions are answered right here.
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Q: Can’t I manage my own property instead of hiring a property management professional?
A: You can. You can also do your complicated taxes or defend yourself in court. But, how much is your time and risk worth? Besides the obvious time and attention it requires, there is a large amount of risk in trying to be a Landlord. Landlord/Tenant law is tilted in the tenant’s favor in Florida and most states. The government is involved in everything nowadays, including this. Laws change every year. An unprofessional is likely doing many things wrong with each tenant. Illegal leases, not providing proper notices, improper or illegal terms and procedures, taking shortcuts. Each time you do not follow procedure, you create a stronger and stronger potential “waiver defense” for a tenant later. This means, by not enforcing the terms of the lease EVERY TIME, you are setting precedent that the terms do not apply and therefore, cannot be enforced later “just when you feel like it”. Much like running across a busy street with your eyes closed, maybe you get lucky for a while and you don’t know the difference…until one day, your luck runs out. You can easily end up in court, likely to lose and have damages against you, have a tenant you can’t get out, get liens placed against your property, and sustain large physical and financial losses to your property. Like any high risk situation, it all goes fine…until it doesn’t.
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Q: Who prepares your leases and legal documents?
A: Our leases and notices are prepared at a very reasonable cost by a law firm that specializes only in representing Landlords. They are experts in the current law and also become a consultation resource for the Owner directly while we are your Manager. Also, by using their documents, they will defend these documents and represent you/us in any related legal action (for a fee). Using generic forms should not be done. They can easily be out of date or not applicable to Florida or local laws.
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Q: Do you manage Condos too?
A: Yes, in certain cases. Condo Associations’ varying rules and red tape present some unique challenges.
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Q: Do you rent for short term or vacations?
A: No. Typically one-year leases but no less than 6 months.
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Q: How does the property management service work?
A: We discuss the property and your situation. We then execute a Property Management Agreement which spells out the terms and fees of the service, then execute a Specific Power of Attorney which allows us to sign leases on your behalf. Once we get started, we take care of everything from there. You receive an emailed statement and a direct deposit for rent proceeds minus any repairs and management fees.
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Q: Do I need to be or can I be involved?
A: No. We offer a total turn-key service. Once the terms of the management agreement are agreed, we manage the property and the owner is not involved until such time you decide to terminate the agreement, sell the property etc. This is in the best interest of the owner (versus too many” cooks in the kitchen”) in order to allow efficient management, consistency to tenants, and more consistent cash flow.
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Q: What do you handle for me?
A: Among other things, we market your property, take applications, screen tenants, have prepared and sign leases on your behalf, perform move in/out inspections, receive all maintenance and emergency requests from tenants, collect rent, hold security deposits, coordinate all maintenance and repairs necessary, receive bills and pay maintenance vendors, collect any damages from tenant security deposits, process evictions if necessary, direct deposit your net proceeds into your bank account, send electronic monthly and year-end accounting statements and 1099s. If the timing is right for you, we can also sell your property for you whether it is vacant or occupied with a tenant.
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Q: How do you screen applicants?
A: All adults are required to pass criminal background, credit, eviction, and income verification checks.
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Q: What don’t you handle in the property management services for me?
A: We do not pay your property or other taxes, HOA or Condo association dues, or any utilities that may be required to stay in the owner’s name.
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Q: Who decides what rent is charged?
A: We decide how much rent is charged based on various criteria such as current market conditions, local supply and demand, nearby comparables, the quality and credit of a tenant, the term of lease, and the condition of your property.
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Q: Do you collect property management fees when the property is vacant?
A: No. We only get receive management fees from rents collected. Therefore, our incentive is aligned with yours. We strive to keep the property occupied with the highest quality tenant at the highest allowable rent.
