Owners

 

RPM Reliable Property Management, Inc. management fees range from as little as 6% to as much as 10% of the gross monthly income to the property. Our fees are based on several criteria not the least of which are: Gross rent received, location of the property, service level needed to deliver the quality of service you expect from a full-service management firm. If you are considering a savings by going with a firm that is less experienced or does not provide a full spectrum of management services, you may not receive a good value for your management dollars.

Our leasing commission is 60% of the first months rent for new residents. From this commission, we pay all agents involved in the transaction, all costs associated with listing your property in the MLS, listing in on our Website and all of the additional property listing sites, preparing the lease documents, and performing the lease orientation with your tenants. You will be responsible for $100 a month advertising expense while the property is vacant.

 

The better condition that a house is in, the better quality tenant that it will attract. The home must be left in professionally cleaned condition, as the tenants will be paying a deposit, which they expect to be refunded if the property is left in the same condition. RPM Reliable Property Management, Inc. prefers to arrange any cleaning to insure that the cleaning guidelines are strictly followed. The carpets must be freshly cleaned and all debris and personal belongings removed from the house. It is not necessary to paint automatically, but you should consider painting any room that has dirty or marred walls. A neutral color is best. RPM Reliable Property Management, Inc. will be happy to discuss any necessary repairs or painting. Neutral window coverings such as blinds should be left, but not curtains that match a particular bed spread of couch. For privacy and security, tenants moving into a rental property do expect some sort of window coverings. We prefer installation of mini blinds. You should not leave a lawn mower or any other personal property. Whether or not a refrigerator or washer and dryer should be left depends on the property. The tenants are required to maintain the yard in the condition that it is provided. Therefore, the yard should be freshly mowed, weeded, trimmed and the leaves and debris removed.

Your property will immediately be placed into the Multiple Listing Service of the Austin Board of Realtors where Realtors throughout the city will have access to the property. The property will also be listed in 12-15 different web sites that also link to many other websites, giving the property superior exposure to prospective tenants. Naturally, a sign and lockbox will be placed on the property.

Depending upon the time of the year and the location of your investment, a property can be leased in as little as two weeks or less, to as much as three months and possibly more. Our economy varies from year to year fluctuating between a tenants market and an owners market. Suffice-to-say, our professional approach to marketing will succeed.

At the time an application is delivered, we collect a deposit amount equal to one month’s rent along with non-refundable application fees. At the time we sign the lease, the tenant is required to pay the first full month rent. On the first day of the next month the tenant is then required to pay the prorated rent. The Texas Property Code states that the deposit cannot be used as the last month’s rent.

 

Pets and smokers are definitely not protected classes. However, by eliminating both, you are probably eliminating 60%-80% of otherwise qualified tenants. We acquire a deposit from the tenant equal to one-month rent and if they have pets, there is a minimum deposit of $300 per pet. Also, we do not allow Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Chow Dogs or Doberman pincers or any mixes thereof. If however, you still feel strongly about this issue, we will agree to reject tenants with pets.

 

The rent is due on the first day of each month and is considered late if received, post marked, on the 4th of the month. More than 98% of our tenants pay their rent on time. If the rent is not paid by the 3rd, we begin the first step in the eviction process by sending a 72 Hour Notice to vacate. Unless there is a serious problem, I am generally contacted and the rent is paid before the end of the month. It is far better to keep a tenant in place than it is to complete an eviction. Should the tenant not pay or move after the notice, we then file an eviction with the Justice of the Peace. A hearing will be within 10 to 14 days. In 2012 we filed evictions on less than 12% of our tenants. With an average of 275 managed properties in 2012 we acquired 100% judgments.

In most cases, without an attorney, we will take responsibility of the eviction process thru going to court. As we took the responsibility of placing the tenant, the only charge to you would be the court filing fees. There is no additional charge for our time – it is part of normal management. If an attorney is necessary in a contested eviction, you will be responsible for any legal charges.

 

A security deposit in the amount of one-month rent is taken at the time an application. This amount along with any pet deposit is generally sufficient to manage repairs considered above normal wear and tear. Also, as we have qualified tenants to our parameters, rarely do tenants cause damages above the deposit. However, if they do, we bill them. Should then not pay and the amount is large enough, we take them to small claims court. We also turn them over to the credit bureau.

The horror stories one hears about a property being “trashed” are generally less expensive properties that have been rented without the normal reference checking. National Tenant Network checks previous rental history, criminal, credit (all three bureaus) employment and eviction records.

 

The tenant is responsible for the rent for the term of the lease. If they are forced to choose to leave prior to the termination date, they will be charged for the rent until the property is re-leased to acceptable persons under the same terms and conditions of the original lease. They will also be responsible for the cost of re-leasing the property or 60 percent of one month’s rent, utilities, yard maintenance and any other costs necessary to lease the property. RPM Reliable Property Management, Inc. is responsible for leasing the property as soon as possible to reduce the tenant liability.

 

A tenant should never contact you, much less, in the middle of the night. Should a tenant attempt to call, your responsibility is to immediately direct them to RPM Reliable Property Management, Inc. The tenant requests all non-emergency repairs, in writing. If a repair essential to the maintenance of the property is less than $200, the repair will be ordered and the bill will be found on your next report. If the repair is more than $200, or if there is a question of what should be done, we will call you for direction

 

We use a variety of outside contractors depending on what needs to be done. A requirement for those contractors is listed separately. Our repair vendors have been with us for years and are available on a 24-hour a day basis. They work for competitive rates and guarantee their work. Each of our vendors are required to carry a liability insurance policy of no less than $500,000.

 

We will be happy to use contractors that you prefer provided they meet the RPM Reliable Property Management, Inc. vendor requirements criteria. In other words, they must be fully insured, agree to RPM’s level of quality along with response time and warranty provisions.

 

No!!!! A part of our management company’s normal responsibility is to coordinate all maintenance issues, receive bills from vendors then pay those vendors from your account. RPM Reliable Property Management, Inc. believes that taking an override is a conflict of interest and therefore all maintenance charges are directly passed through to the owner.

 

Rents are due on the first of the month and considered late after the third. The rental funds must clear the tenant’s bank before we can begin disbursing funds. A reasonable time to wait is two weeks depending when we received the rent. We begin payment of all bills on or about the 15th of the month and statements to owners along with their checks, go out between the 25th and the last day of the month. We do this, mostly, so that any expenses throughout the month just come out of the rent without money owed. The statement will have all the activity on the account for that month.