Are you licensed to provide property management?
Yes, we are set up through the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the Virginia Real Estate Board, Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. We are also a member of the National Association of Realtors, Virginia Assocation of Realtors, and Greater Piedmont Realtors Association..
What type of properties do you handle?
We only deal in residential properties. Those can be condominiums, townhomes, single family homes, and muliti-family properties.
How long are the rental terms?
Normally, we do a 12-month lease, and can do a 24-month lease as well. Once a lease expires, we can transition that lease to month-to-month, renew for another year, or find a new tenant.
How do you find tenants?
We take photos, list the property in the MLS, place a sign on the premises, if warranted, and place a lockbox on the property. We also will place the home on our website and put the listing out to websites like Zillow, homes.com, etc.
One of our agents, or a realtor from another agency will show the property to a prospective tenant. If they want to move forward with renting the property, they will fill out an application. A background check and credit history will be performed. In addition, we contact previous landlords, if applicable, to verify payment history and property conditions of the previous properties they leased.
What happens to the security deposit?
It is held in an escrow account and is used should there be issues with the property upon their lease ending and vacating of the property. If no issues are found, the security deposit is refunded back to the tenant.
What does my one-month fee cover?
The one month’s rent fee that you pay is used to pay for finding the tenant, listing the properties, photographs, advertising, paying the listing agent and paying the buyer’s agents (25% of the month’s rental cost). Any additional funds are held in the operating account should there be costs for repairs.
Do you allow people who smoke?
No! All properties are smoke-free.
Will I get to choose who rents the property?
You are limited on what you can and can’t do. You can specify that you want tenants with no pets (dogs and/or cats) but we will have the final say on who is approved for the property based ONLY on Income, Credit, and Rental History. The more restrictive you are, the more limited the market of tenants and consequently the longer it could take to rent your property.
You cannot discriminate against any protected class under the federal fair housing laws or local fair housing laws, such as saying you do not want children. There are seven federally identified protected classes. The federal protected classes are race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, and national origin. Because of this it is best that you stay out of the selection process, or you may be found guilty of discrimination. This could not only cost you thousands of dollars, but it could also cost us our license. We only choose clients who meet the requirements of income, credit, and rental history.