Landlord FAQs

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Yes, we will send this to you after our initial phone call.

In order to earn the CRMC® designation, a management company must prove that they have numerous processes and procedures in place to maximize the protection of their clients. In addition, the company must have at least one Master Property Manager (MPM®) on staff (we have two). In order to earn the MPM® designation, one must have a proven track record of managing at least 500 units over a five year period and must meet numerous education requirements specific to managing single family properties. In a nutshell, the CRMC® designation proves that both our firm and our people are qualified to manage your rental house. The CRMC® designation is extremely exclusive. In fact, as of this writing, we are one of less than 50 CRMC® designees in the country.

We will begin marketing the property once it is vacant and rent ready.

This is for your protection. We have put together a two-page document fully explaining how to add us as “additional insured” and why it is important. If this is a concern for you, let us know and we will send you the full document.

As of this writing, based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) statistics over the last year, the average days on market (“days on market” is defined as the number of days between when the property comes on the market and when the property is rented) for rental houses has been between 47 and 58 days. Therefore, if you plan to market your property at market rent, you should expect about a two month vacancy period to find a qualified resident. However, we encourage you to market the property slightly below market rents in an effort to reduce the vacancy period and get more money in the long run. For prudent planning, we also suggest that you plan for three months of vacancy so that you are sure to have enough reserves to carry you through the vacancy period. Of course, each rental house is different and may be challenged by things that extend the vacancy period including; an age-restricted community, undesirable proximity to a main road, outdated condition of the house, etc.

We find residents primarily through our strong internet presence on various marketing websites like Zillow, Trulia and Hotpads. But we also have other marketing tools at our disposal. Once we have an applicant for your house, they go through a stringent screening process so we can determine if they are worthy of renting your house.

Nothing. This is included as part of our management services, so there is no additional cost to you for this service.

No. Over the years, we have discovered that you will get the best results by waiting until the property is vacant to market your house.

Perhaps the most important service we can provide is finding you a quality and reliable resident. We’ve learned that you can prevent 95% of backend problems with a solid screening process on the front end.

We have a proven and detailed screening. We screen for: credit, criminal history, previous evictions, employment and income verification (3x), judgements, etc. We’ve processed thousands of applications and know what to look for in finding the best residents possible.

We cannot allow this due to our insurance company requirements, fair housing laws, the requirements of our screening company and other liability issues. In addition, this would create a huge liability risk for you personally. Sometimes, we have to protect our clients from themselves.

We ask our landlord client to allow at least 2 pets in the property. Most studies on pet ownership estimate that somewhere around 70% of U.S. households have pets. By not allowing pets, you potentially eliminate a large part of the market and lengthen your vacancy period. We have also built in protections for you through our Pet Guarantee in our management agreement. All pets are screened though our third-party pet screening company.

At the time of this writing, we set our security deposit amount at one month’s rent. However, we adjust this amount over time based on market conditions. In Arizona, the maximum allowable security deposit amount is one and a half times the monthly rental rate.

We outsource incoming maintenance requests to outside vendors. We have established relationships with reliable vendors that we depend on daily. Per our management agreement, we handle all maintenance items that are under $500. We have found this to be a good limit for the day-to-day maintenance requirements. Any maintenance item over $500 will require your authorization before we proceed. However, in the event of an emergency to protect your house or the health and safety of the residents, we may handle these maintenance emergencies prior to obtaining your authorization. If you have a home warranty company in place, we ask that you provide us with their information so we can coordinate with them as needed.

Yes, we hold $500 in reserve for your house. This is not a fee, this is money that is used to cover any required maintenance repairs or utility bills that may come due. Each month we will replenish your reserve account with the received rent money or ask you to replenish it in the event the house is vacant. Upon the termination of our agreement, your reserve balance will be returned to you.

We process owner statements and disburse proceeds mid-month. We send funds electronically via direct deposit. We will email your owner statement to you.

As the owner, you will continue to pay the HOA fees as you always have. Costs for the HOA fees will be offset by the received rent.

We ask that our clients provide pool service for the residents. We do this for two reasons. First, it ensures the pool is serviced, and second, it insures the pool is serviced correctly. Costs for the pool service will be offset by the received rent.

Per our lease, the resident is responsible for the yard maintenance and compliance with the HOA yard requirements. However, some owners that are concerned about specific plants or trees or the landscaping in total choose to provide landscaping services for the resident to ensure that it is done and done correctly.

Typically the resident pays all the utilities. However, sometimes the water, sewer and/or trash are paid through the HOA. As the property owner, you will continue to pay the HOA dues and offset the costs through the received rent.

We recommend that you allow two pets. The reason for this is that over 65% of U.S. households have pets. If you do not allow pets, you are eliminating over half the potential rental market right off the bat. This will equate to a longer vacancy period for your house.

We do not have a mark up on the maintenance costs for your house. If the vendor charges $150 for a repair, that cost will be directly charged to you.

It depends on whether or not the property is vacant. If the property is vacant, you are welcome to complete any repairs you choose. However, once the property is occupied, we will only use professional contractors. This helps us protect you from the possible pitfalls of speaking with and dealing directly with the resident, and the possibility of being accused of completing work in an unprofessional manner.

We ask that you allow us to use our vendors to best protect you and your interests. This also benefits you because it allows us to control the resident experience in a positive way that will encourage them to take care of your house and hopefully renew the lease.

Although we do not recommend using home a warranty company for the maintenance of your rental house, we have developed systems to work with them. That being said, there may be specific instances that arise where we cannot use your home warranty company. Our management agreement explains the details of how we work with home warranty companies. Please be sure to pay special attention to that section if it applies to you.

We inspect the property at various times during the tenancy. Before the tenancy begins, we will complete a detailed pre-move-in evaluation to document the initial condition of the property. During the tenancy, if there is a red flag such as a concerned neighbor calling, an abnormal HOA violation or some other warning sign, we will plan a visit to the property to confirm that all is well. In addition, we will conduct one walk through evaluation per year at your request. At the end of the tenancy, we will conduct the move-out evaluation to determine if there are any damages that must be deducted from the resident’s security deposit.

In the event of a lease violation, we will provide the resident with the appropriate legal notice to correct the violation. If the violation is not remedied within the allotted time frame, our response will be escalated, up to the point of eviction, if appropriate.

Through one of the documents that we provide to you, we will ask you to ask your HOA to notify us directly of any HOA violations. Upon our receipt of the violation notice, we will immediately notify the resident to remedy the violation. If the violation is not remedied within the allotted time frame, our response will be escalated, up to the point of eviction, if appropriate.

Although this doesn’t happen often, it does happen. It is more common for residents to pay rent late than not at all. However, because we strictly enforce our lease, including the timely payment of rent, we will take the necessary steps toward the eviction process while keeping you informed about the process. We also offer an Eviction Protection Plan, which we can discuss further when we meet.

One thing that is constant in life is change. Sometimes residents decide to break the lease for one reason or another. However, this does not release them from their legal responsibility of the lease. Per our lease agreement, we charge the lease breaking resident a re-renting fee. This fee is meant to help offset the unexpected vacancy. We will do everything we can to help mitigate your loss.

Evicting for non-payment of rent is typically a very straight forward process. We will typically have a non-paying resident out of the property within 30 – 45 days from the first of the month that they do not pay rent.

Sorry, but this is not a service that we offer. However, we can guide you to an attorney that can assist you. Once the resident is gone, we can take over from that point.

Yes. We will evaluate the rental rate based on current market conditions.

Yes. In the state of Arizona you can non-renew a resident for any reason, there are currently no restrictions.

When the resident moves out, we will conduct a thorough walk through evaluation of your property. We will compare the results of that evaluation to the evaluation completed prior to the resident moving in. If there are damages beyond normal wear and tear that are due to the resident, they will be held responsible for those repair costs and the amounts deducted from their security deposit.

If you would like to cancel your management agreement, simply give us written notice and we will cancel your management agreement. Depending on where you are in the leasing cycle, cancellation fees may or may not apply. Please refer to our management agreement for details.

That’s no problem, just let us know that you would like to cancel your management agreement upon the resident’s move out and we will guide you accordingly.

Yes, we absolutely can help – and we’re happy to do so! If you were referred to us by another real estate agent, we do encourage you to reach out to them first. We make a commitment to our referring agents to send you back their way when you’re ready to sell. That said, you're under no obligation to work with the referring agent if you choose not to. If you prefer to use our in-house sales expert – who specializes exclusively in selling rental houses – he is ready and fully equipped to assist you.

Through our management agreement, we ask that you agree not to sell the house while it is resident occupied. Selling the property while it is resident occupied is not in alignment with our management philosophy and is not in your best interest either.