Lease Only Services Are a Huge Support for DIY Landlords
Being a Do-It-Yourself Landlord in the Sarasota-Manatee area is no joke, even for a single-residence property! However, whether as a primary occupation or even a side-gig, it’s gratifying work. You’re providing a roof over someone’s head while also investing in your future.
Many DIY landlords relish the work it takes to maintain a home properly, building relationships with their tenants, maintenance workers and contractors, and those throughout the neighborhood. No matter how much you love the job, sometimes it would be nice to take some of the business sides of the property off of your shoulders.
Working with a property management company is always an option! Perhaps you don’t want to pay for others to do the work you’ve been happily taking care of. Occasionally, you just want a little assistance; someone who can help bear the burden. That’s where Real Property Management of Sarasota & Manatee’s Leasing Only Program can help!
Finding a new and reliable tenant is a huge undertaking. Depending on the number of units you own or the rate of turnover in your area, it can be a constant source of stress. Not only does it require you to be on call for appointment setting, but the staging, marketing, photography, walkthroughs…it can all get to be a bit much. Especially on top of your laundry list of tasks to complete once you’ve gained that tenant!
Let’s explore what “Leasing Only” means and how Real Property Management of Sarasota & Manatee can start working for you.
What Leasing Only Services Entail
With Leasing Only property management, you’ll gain just that: leasing services. We’ll go into a breakdown of what those services entail, but ultimately, it gets you from rental readiness to deposit hand-off. Once we’ve secured the best tenant for you and gotten them situated in their new home, it’s up to you to keep the rent collected and the tenant happy.
Now, to some, that may not sound like much! However, establishing a relationship with a property management team like Real Property Management of Sarasota & Manatee could be the peace of mind you need. Especially once you see all of the responsibilities leasing entails!
Unit Readiness
Our leasing program starts with getting your property ready for the next tenant. First, we do a walkthrough to evaluate the unit and suggest improvements. Depending on what’s needed, we will provide vetted and approved vendors to do any fixing up that might be required. This includes electricians and plumbers—things you wouldn’t necessarily be able to handle on your own.
Once the property is ready, we’ll take care of professional photos and videos to set up for the next step: advertising and marketing. Your unit will now be “dressed for success,” and with professional coverage, you don’t have to worry about the competition stealing your spotlight.
Comprehensive Advertising and Marketing
Advertising and marketing may seem easy, especially with all of the free accounts you can post your listing to like Craigslist or when utilizing social media. However, to stand out and attract the best renters requires some serious skill! Not only will we blanket the market to target those who are ready to sign a lease now, but Real Property Management of Sarasota & Manatee will also be able to post on Multiple Realtor Listing (MLS) services you may not be able to access.
Inquiries and Showings Management
Probably the most frustrating aspect of signing a new tenant is fielding all of the calls, emails, and postings of interest on your website. From there comes nailing down a schedule for those potential renters to see your investment. Real Property Management has the availability to take that call at a moment’s notice! We can even follow up with interested parties to secure a showing along with answering the numerous questions they may have.
Scheduling showings is easier for us, too, since this is our day job. You might have a full-time career, a family, or other responsibilities that need your time. If fielding inquiries wasn’t almost anxiety-inducing enough with other duties, dealing with no-shows can take a stressful day even further. With our leasing services, all the front-end busywork is handled for you.
Managing Behind-The-Scenes Paperwork
Now that we’ve secured a worthy pool of applicants for you, we’ll move forward with our professional application and customized leasing documents. We’ll also handle background checks and collecting application fees and deposits. With background checks, you can expect the following:
- Comprehensive reports from national databases
- Both criminal and eviction
- Credit history
- Income verification for all persons
- Whether they be self-employed, working, or retired.
Income verification can be a major stressor, since gathering personal documents from anyone can be dicey. That’s why our leasing program does this for you, so you’re not wasting your valuable time and can rest assured the applicant is properly vetted.
Once we’ve found the perfect tenant for you, we put together the leasing documents, collect the deposit via certified funds, and make sure those funds clear through the bank.
Move-In Duties
With Real Property Management of Sarasota & Manatee, we want you to feel all tasks are performed completely. This is why our leasing program doesn’t just stop at signing! We will even schedule a move-in day with the tenant, where we will:
- Conduct a room-by-room property condition report with a checklist with the tenant
- Take walkthrough video footage on that day as proof of conditions
- Instruct the tenant on where to find and work all manual utility needs.
The tenant will then sign off the condition report, and we will facilitate key transfer and collect the first month’s rent via certified funds.
We Have Lift Off!
Instead, let’s say “Hand Off!” The tenant has been recruited, vetted, signed documents, and moved into your property. All Real Property Management has to do now is provide all of the documentation and the tenant’s security deposit and first month’s rent to you. It’s not until we’ve successfully moved a new renter in that we retain our leasing fee. You can now breathe easy knowing that your investment is secured with a hassle-free, hands-off lease only service.
Is Lease Only the Best Fit for Your Needs?
With all of the tasks that we’ve listed here, you may feel like there’s a catch; there’s not! Real Property Management of Sarasota & Manatee will get a new tenant for you whenever you need. We won’t retain a fee until after they’ve successfully moved in, much like our full-service property management.
Other companies may try to nickel and dime you or require the fee immediately to retain their services. The problem with that is that these companies now have no motivation to sign a tenant! Your property could remain vacant for months on end, while sub-par management companies collect more money without much to show for it.
At Real Property Management, our number one concern is your satisfaction as a landlord. Anything less than a successful lease isn’t worth your money and hurts our reputation to boot. So, if you’re ready to stop stressing over finding your next tenant, contact Real Property Management of Sarasota & Manatee and ask about our Lease Only Program today!
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
