Owner FAQ
Elements of Inquiry
As Owners, you have questions. It's our job to have answers. Below are some common ones that come up when owners are considering management:
Process
What's so efficient about your operations?
Informed by years of experience in multifamily management, and refined with the latest technology and industry trends, we are always seeking operational improvements. Efficiency is not a static goal. It is a dynamic path, refreshed by experience and curiosity.
What's entailed in the day-to-day of multifamily?
Successful multifamily management is a balancing act of numerous factors: tenant satisfaction, asset preservation, and financial performance; all while staying compliant with regulations and responding quickly to daily issues. A highly adaptive team, skilled in organization, social interaction, and finding solutions to challenges is key to the ongoing health of a multifamily investment.
Why shouldn't I manage my property?
Investors have differing lifestyles, careers, and family lives, and most value their time, peace of mind, and long-term goals. Hiring a professional property manager allows you to focus on those invaluable aspects of life. Also, placing management isn't just about convenience either. It's about reducing risk, increasing efficiency, and protecting the investment you worked hard to acquire. Let us clear the bottleneck of self-management and give you the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your labor and focus on scaling your portfolio.
Preserve
How do you take care of maintenance?
Not only is maintaining your property of paramount importance for your long-term return, it's the highest ranking metric for tenant satisfaction. For those reasons, we work hard to make sure maintenance issues are dealt with quickly and effectively. We offer tenants simple and convenient ways to notify us of any issues in their unit or on the property. Between our in-house maintenance techs and our relationships with many vendors, we can gather the expertise necessary to look after your asset.
When do you involve vendors?
While our maintenance technicians are extremely capable of handling most issues that come up, vendors with licensure in specific trades such as electrical, plumbing, roofing, etc., become essential for bigger problem or projects. Also, if our techs are spread thin at the moment, it's in the property's (and tenant's) best interest to involve a vendor for expediency. The longer issues wait, the worse they tend to become.
Why does maintenance expense vary so much?
If, like many of our clients, you own property of an older vintage, it may be difficult to determine what maintenance needs may arise. While we can certainly inspect and budget for certain conditions, inevitably we may be met with the unexpected. We always encourage investors to retain a reserve of funds for the unforeseen. Further, we are seeing local governance and insurance carriers insisting on specific upgrades to building systems. This has startled many owners, especially when those systems haven't necessarily presented any problems as of yet.
Promote
How do you advertise?
Our software partner is a workhorse for marketing vacancies. Our centralized leasing hub syndicates our listings to numerous apartment marketing sites. We get broad exposure from a single source of information we control.
When will my vacancy be filled?
We recognize the lost revenue of a vacant unit can be one of the single biggest expenses for a multifamily property, so we begin turnover and leasing efforts as soon as we receive notice from a tenant. We pre-market an upcoming vacancy; we schedule unit inspections prior to move-out to assess turnover needs; and we begin sorting out turnover logistics with vendors and our in-house maintenance as soon as possible. All of these proactive steps help mitigate the number of days a unit sits vacant.
What's your leasing process entail?
We make the leasing process as streamlined as possible for prospective tenants and leasing staff. Applications can be processed entirely online; payments for hold deposits, security deposits, app fees, etc., can all be accepted online; and we can even initiate a lease signing from our forms software. As technology advances, so does our leasing and marketing process, ensuring new tenants make their way to your property as simply and smoothly as possible.
Collect
How do you collect rent?
Tenants can use our portal to conveniently make one-time rent payments, schedule recurring payments with their bank account or credit card, and they can even print a payment coupon to pay their rent with cash at Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, 7-Eleven, etc. We make it as simple as possible for tenants to pay their rent on time. If for some reason they don't, our collection outreach program kicks in; text and email reminders go out, then legal notices to pay or vacate are used to reserve our (your) right to pursue eviction should delinquency contiunue.
Can you charge tenants for utilities?
Both Washington and Oregon allow landlords to recoup utility expense in some way. Oregon has greater restrictions and requirements for charging tenants on non-submetered utilities. A methodology must be described to tenants and the bills must be made available to them for review if they request them. RUBS (or Ratio Utility Billing Systems) calculations can be updated upon lease renewal; charges may be increased with renewals, and third-party utility billing companies can be utilized to bill amounts based on monthly changes in usage. For an investment, units can have submeters installed and charges for exact usage can be made.
What happens when tenants owe money after they move-out?
Tenants receive statements within 30 days of their move-outs; specifying any balances outstanding, charges for damages; credits on their accounts, and the balance of their security deposit. If there are amounts owing, the former tenant has 30 days to pay their balance or the account is submitted to collections. We monitor the collection accounts and post payments when they are collected.
Enforce
What can you do about delinquent tenants?
On occasion, a tenant may miss a payment, whether by mistake or misfortune. We proactively engage with the tenant through a communicative outreach workflow. Reminders are sent out by text and email. If their accout remains delinquent, we issue legal notices so our (your) options for eviction are available. Obviously, we would rather collect the rent than evict, but sometimes eviction is the only option to attenuate further rent loss.
What happens with an eviction?
Should eviction be the only method left to regain possession from a non-paying tenant, we provide our legal partner with the proper documentation to support the unlawful detainer case in court. The law office will file an initial complaint with the district court and an initial hearing will be scheduled. Should the tenant fail to answer or show for the initial hearing, we (you) win the case by default. Should all parties attend the hearing, the presiding judge will often encourage a compromise; expecting an agreement on a vacate date or deadline for payment in full. If the tenant fails to vacate by the given date or fails to pay as agreed, the court is notified and a lock-out with the Sherriff can be scheduled.
Tenant's damaged a unit. Now what?
Damage is anything affecting the unit that is not normal wear and tear. If it occurs when the tenant is still occupying the unit, we will find out what the repair will cost and charge the expense to the tenant's ledger. We may also file a claim with the renter's insurance company. Tenant's are required to maintain at least $100k in liability to landlord coverage. This may also be done upon move-out.
Evaluate
Will I receive monthly reports?
By the 15th of each month, we will prepare a number of reports on the the previous month's performance. An Income/Expense Statement, Rent Roll, General Ledger, Tenant Activity, and Balance Sheet are posted to the Owner's Portal and an email is sent out notifying you the reports are ready. Additionally, our Owner's Portal allows you to run reports any time, view transactions in real time, and view graphs of property metrics.
How does property income relate to my property's value?
Maximizing Income and minimizing expenses increases your NOI (Net Operating Income). This is one of the key metrics used to calculate your property's value. The NOI divided into the market CAP rate (capitization rate), will give you a market value. For example, an annualized NOI of $150,000 divided into the market's CAP rate (the average CAP rate for which properties are trading in a market), say 6.5% (or 0.065), results in $2,307,692. This is a value for which you'd expect your property to sell. There are many other factors involved in underwriting a property's value, but NOI/CAP is one of the most frequently used, especially in multifamily.
How does the market affect my property?
As mentioned above, a market CAP rate will be a major factor in the value of your property. However, day-to-day operations, leasing, rents, occupancy, etc. are impacted by numerous factors in the immediate market: total inventory of multifamily units vs population (and % of renters), development projects permitted for a given time; unemployment rates; area mean income; new development absorption rates; job growth; etc. All these factors inform our leasing expectations, marketing strategies, pricing, and budgeting.
Let’s Work Together
Get in touch so we can start working together.