HIGHER QUALITY TENANTS

Think of tenant screening as the moat and draw bridge around your castle. It is certainly possible to get a bad tenant out of your home once they are in, but it’s a real hassle and you are so much better off never accepting them in the first place. A thorough screening process results in reliable tenants that:

• Pay on time
• Rent longer
• Put less wear and tear on the unit

SHORTER VACANCY CYCLES

Distinctive Property Management will help you perform three critical tasks that affect how long it takes to fill your vacancies:

• Improve and prepare the property for rent
• Determine the best rent rate
• Effectively market your property

BETTER TENANT RETENTION

While it’s easy to see the effects of lost rent, there are other equally serious problems with a high tenant turnover rate. The turnover process involves a thorough cleaning, painting the walls and possibly new carpet or small repairs, not to mention all the effort associated with marketing, showing, screening and settling in a new tenant. This is a time-consuming and expensive process that can often be averted by keeping tenants happy and well cared for.

CONVENIENT AND TIGHTER RENT COLLECTION PROCESS

The way you handle rent collection and late payments can be the difference between success and failure as a landlord. Collecting rent on time every month is the only way to maintain consistent cash-flow, and your tenants need to understand this is not negotiable. By hiring Distinctive Property Management, you put a buffer between yourself and the tenant, and allow them to be the bad guy who has to listen to excuses, chase down rent, and when necessary, evict the person living in your property.

LOWER  MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR COSTS

Good maintenance and repairs keep tenants happy and preserve the value of your investment which make them a very important part of land-lording. By hiring Distinctive Property Management, you gain access to a network of licensed, bonded and insured contractors who have already been vetted for good pricing and quality work.

INCREASE THE VALUE OF THE INVESTMENT

Preventative maintenance is achieved through putting systems in place that catch and deal with maintenance and repair issues early on, before they grow into larger more costly problems. This requires a written maintenance check program, detailed maintenance documentation and regular maintenance visits. We can also offer you suggestions and feedback on upgrades and modifications, how they will affect the rent you can charge, as well as their impact on maintenance and insurance.

MARKET THE PROPERTY FOR RENT

• Prepare home for rent
• Create ads tailored to the property and advertising medium
• Work with other realtors and leasing agents to find a tenant
• 24-hour hot-line with detailed information about the property
• Field calls from prospects for questions and viewings
• Showings throughout the week and weekend.
• Rental applications that are legally compliant with fair housing laws
• Collection of applications with application fee

TENANT SCREENING AND SELECTION

• Background checks, income, credit history, rental history, etc.
• Grade tenant according to pre-defined tenant criteria
• Inform tenants who were turned down
• Negotiate Lease terms

TENANT MOVE-IN

• Draw up leasing agreement
• Confirm move-in date with tenant
• Review lease guidelines, payment terms and required maintenance
• Ensure all agreements have been properly executed
• Detailed move in inspection and condition report
• Collect first month’s rent and security deposit

RENT COLLECTION

• Receiving rent
• Hunting down late payments
• Sending out pay or quit notices
• Enforcing late fees

EVICTIONS

Regarding evictions, there are strict laws concerning the eviction process, and doing it wrong, or trying to evict a “professional tenant” can be a MAJOR fiasco.

• Filing and processing paperwork for an unlawful detainer action
• Representing owner in court
• Tenant removal coordination with law enforcement

LEGAL

• Refer owner to a qualified attorney when necessary
• Abide by the local, state and federal rental laws

INSPECTIONS

• Periodic inspections (Inside and outside) on a predefined schedule looking for repair needs, safety hazards, code violations, lease violations, etc.
• Send owner reports on the condition of the property

FINANCIAL

• We provide Landlord and Tenant Payments electronically. As an owner, you will see your escrow account reconciliation online (via AppFolio’s “owner portal”) and we strive to keep the privacy needs and personal information of our clients secure.
• Owner statements will be emailed to you monthly detailing the rental income and any expenses [such as repairs or a marketing fee for a new lease] deducted.
• At the end of the year, you’ll receive an end-of-year statement – Provide annual reporting, structured for tax purposes as well as required tax documents including a 1099 form

MAINTENANCE, REPAIRS, AND REMODELING

• Provide and oversee an in-house maintenance crew
• Establish a preventative maintenance policy to identify and deal with repair needs
• Assign jobs to different parties (in-house employees, handyman and professional contractors) based on who will do the best job for the best price.
• Maintain outdoor areas
• Maintain and monitor a 24-hour emergency repair hot-line
• Larger renovation or rehab projects

TENANT MOVE-OUT

• Inspect unit and fill out a report on the property’s condition when the client moves out
• Provide tenant with a copy as well as estimated damages
• Return the balance of the security deposit to the tenant
• Forward any portion of the owner’s portion of the tenant deposit to the owner or hold in owner reserves for repairs.
• Coordinate needed repairs or upgrades
• Put the property back on the market for rent