Property Management FAQS
This Property Management FAQ section was designed to help you navigate some of the difficult questions that come up in the day-to-day life of property management. No question is too small, and we try to address as many as possible in the drop-down below. For more helpful information, visit RentLife® Property Management Blog for updated property management information and articles!
Owner FAQS
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Yes, you will need to make sure you have a Landlord Property Insurance Policy, which includes a minimum of $500,000 of General Liability Insurance with RentLife® Property Management listed as "Additional Insured."
This simply means that RentLife® Property Management is an Additional Insured on your policy on the Liability side in the event of an accident on the property. Your insurance company will defend both of us together and not against each other. Both parties working together to resolve the matter is far more successful. If your current Insurance Agent is not able or will not list RentLife® Property Management as "Additional Insured," please let us know, and we will provide you a list of Agents who specialize in insuring rental properties for a living.
RentLife® Property Management's contractors are happy to assist our clients with any make-ready needs. We recommend that our clients
(1) have the home professionally cleaned
(2) have the carpets professionally cleaned and stretched if necessary
(3) have the yard manicured
(4) de-clutter your home
(5) make sure you remove any valuables
(6) touch up or entirely paint walls depending on their color and condition
(7) address any deferred maintenance
(8) use pest control service
(9) make sure pool is well maintained "if applicable"
(10) and do not be present at the home when a potential renter comes to see the house.
We use current and historical data from the last 180-days taken from the local MLS Database and our experience of over 23-years to determine what would be suitable For Lease Listing Price.
We will submit your distribution via ACH Direct Deposit to your back by the 15th of each month. It takes most banks 1-2 business days to process the distribution into your account after we have submitted the ACH file to the bank
Every month you will receive an electronic accounting statement by the 15th of the month that includes all income and expenses for the reporting period. We also provide electronic copies of any invoices incurred during the reporting period. All statements will be uploaded to your Owner's Web Portal.
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The lease commission covers all services and costs related to marketing your property for lease. This includes photography, showing service, listing your home on the local MLS, screening tenants, and preparing the lease agreement paperwork.
- We reduce the risk of a tenant not paying rent or damaging the property by using a conservative and thorough tenant screening process. We do not assume we are being told the truth until we verify the information with credible evidence. We use an Independent Third Party who runs the Credit Bureau Report through TransUnion Credit Bureau, a Multi-State and Federal Criminal Record Search, Employment, Rental Verification, and Multi-State Eviction Search. If the Applicants have a Pet, Emotional Support Animal, or Service Animal, they are screened through a third-party service utilized by property managers to screen household pets, validate reasonable accommodation requests for assistance animals (Service/ESA/Companion) and confirm every resident understands their pet policy.
- We expect that our tenants pay rent in accordance with their lease agreement. We charge late fees, send notices to vacate, and file eviction suits if a tenant is in default of their lease agreement.
- We also offer inspection services while the tenants are occupying the residence to reduce the risk of damage to the home.
- As a result of our strict screening and payment management procedures as well as our inspection services, we minimize the risk of tenants not paying rent or damaging the property for our clients.
When a tenant needs to break a lease, we inform them that they are responsible for all costs that our Owner would not have otherwise incurred if the tenant did not break the lease. This means that the current tenant will be responsible for (1) the lease commission of one month's rent (2) the rent, lawn care, and utilities until the day the new tenant moves in (3) all make-ready costs to get the home ready for the new tenant and (4) the cost of rekeying the home. If the tenant pays all of these costs, we will release them from the lease contract.
The repair & maintenance personnel are contractors, NOT employees. You are not required to use our contractors if you have established relationships with contractors you would like us to use, and they are approved through our Vendor Selection Process and carry the required Liability Insurance.
Our property management agreement allows our office to take care of any single repair that does not exceed $ 350.00 without the Owner's consent.
We hold $ 500.00 in reserves for any additional repairs or services that are needed after you your monthly Net Rental Proceeds have been disbursed. The following month is replenished back up to the required $ 500.00.
We run a Comparative Market Analysis based on the current market conditions and typically renew the Lease Agreement for another year. However, we do try to make sure the leases do not expire during the slower winter months. Our lease renewal fee is $295.
We have thoroughly screened, vetted, and shopped our contractors and vendors, and due to the volume of business we give them, in return, we are given special pricing that we pass along to our Fee-Managed properties that a self-managed owner would not be able to obtain. Our contractors are held to the highest professional standards and are required to carry the proper insurance. We do have a Maintenance Coordination fee of 5% of the repair.