FAQS

Are you licensed?

Both our Director of Property Management along with our Principal Broker are fully licensed through the Oregon Real Estate Agency. We also hold a position on the board of the Rental Housing Alliance of Oregon and are members of the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors.

What types of properties do you manage?

We specialize in managing single family homes, condos, townhomes, plexes, and multifamily properties (50 units and below).

What steps do you take to lease out my property?

  • We start by doing an onboarding inspection and determining everything that may need repair and have a discussion around what’s worthwhile or not to have done to the property to help maximize value of the home.
  • After all work has been completed, we take marketing photos and create a listing.
  • We review our internal wait-list and reach out to prospective applicants before putting the property out on the open market.
  • If we don’t have a wait-list applicant, then we post the property on roughly 20 different major sites, along with our website.
  • We allow for self-service showings after obtaining a copy of their ID to maximize efficiency for possible applicants and our staff.
  • We accept applications online to help streamline the process and make it easy to people to apply, right from their own smart phone if they want.

How long does it take to rent out my property?

  • It depends. Did you just buy a vacant property that’s in 100% rent ready condition that has marketing photos already available? Does the home/unit need work? How aggressive are we going on the pricing – are we trying to maximize rents to make the proforma look good, or are we more concerned about overall profitability of the property and pricing it accordingly?
  • On average, once a home is ready to market, it takes 30 days to get it rented. It can take longer during winter months, or if you have a higher-end / unique home.

How do you get my house ready to rent?

  • We start off by inspecting the property to determine what’s ok and what needs repair.
  • From there we come up with two lists – one list of required items and one for optional items.
  • You’ll receive this information and discuss getting the home ready, and what rent we want to charge based on the amount of work we plan to do.
  • We will schedule the vendors to complete the work as their calendars allow.
  • Once everything has been completed, we go back out for a final inspection to confirm everything is ready, take marketing photos and post it on the market!

How do you handle maintenance requests?

  • First, we contact the resident to try to troubleshoot the issue. If we’re unable to resolve it with the resident directly, then we send out the appropriate vendor to get it addressed. If it’s a toilet clog or garbage disposal issue (or something that’s often a resident-caused issue), then we let them know that they will be billed back if it’s determined to be their fault, but if it’s an issue with the property itself, then the owner will be responsible. Next we exchange contact info between tenant and vendor for scheduling and then get the work completed. After the work has been completed, we can then determine what the cause was and bill the tenant back if they were responsible.
  • Each property has an individual maintenance limit. If the work will exceed the maintenance limit, we will ask for authorization first, with a few minor exceptions – water heater replacements or after-hour emergencies, for example. These are items required to work all of the time, so if it needs replacement, we’re going to get that done asap for the tenant.
  • Regardless of the request, you will be informed of the work requested and how we plan to handle it. We do act quickly on maintenance items, so if you want to discuss options, give us a call when notified and we can talk through options if there are any.
  • Modification requests (non-essential work order items) will always be run by you for approval before completing the work.

Will I get a call in the middle of the night for emergencies?

  • Nope – that’s what you’ve hired us for! We take care of everything, including after-hour emergencies.
  • We will send you an update the next day regarding what happened and let you know if it’s been resolved or if it’s going to be a longer process (for bigger emergencies).

Can you use my friend or contractor for repair work?

  • As long as they are licensed, bonded, insured and are able to provide us with a W9, we are happy to work with any of your friends (or vendors). If someone doesn’t meet those requirements, they aren’t allowed to work on the property for liability purposes.
  • An important part of property management is liability management. We’ve all heard stories of the uninsured “friend” that got hurt on someone’s property and had a windfall insurance claim. We would never want to risk your nest egg trying to save a couple of bucks by using someone who doesn’t carry adequate liability protection or licensing.

How do you choose your vendors?

  • We work hard to keep reliable vendors that perform quality work at a reasonable price, that also ensure to deal kindly with all of our residents. We follow-up with every resident after any work that’s performed to ensure that not only was it completed, but find out how they felt about it because we know unhappy tenants are more likely to move, and vacancy hurts your bottom line way more than saving a couple of bucks with a cheap vendor.
  • We’ve all know someone who’s been there before. A vendor was hired because the price was so good, only to find out that they were a fly by night company and not only was the work done sub-par (or not actually completed at all), our residents (your customers, who pay the mortgage) also had a horrible experience. Our vendors are not always the cheapest, but they are reliable, stand by their work, and do a quality job that we can rely on.
  • We do not use big box stores for appliances, please don’t ask us to. While the prices can be enticing, the output is usually not. Think multiple delays on deliveries, no point person to contact for issues, returns or warranties, sketchy installers or sub-contracted vendors doing sub-par installs, causing us to send out our own vendors to fix it. It’s a mess, and it is frustrating for tenants, you and us.

What are the steps in your tenant application process?

  • We screen every adult age 18 and over.
  • After receiving the application, we review it for completion and then once verified, run it through our screening process.
  • We screen for civil, criminal & credit, along with landlord references and income verification.
  • Once approved, applicants need to pay an execution deposit in order to hold the home until their move in date.
  • After the tenant provides us with evidence of renters insurance, all utility account numbers, pays all move in funds and sign the rental agreement, then we schedule the move in with them.

Do you require tenants to have renters insurance?

Yes, we require all residents to maintain renters insurance (as long as they aren’t exempt due to low-income qualifications) throughout the entire tenancy. Should a tenant fail to pay their renters insurance, we force place a $100,000 liability policy against their unit and bill them back to make sure our units are always insured, unless the tenant falls under the State mandated 50% median household income which then releases them from the requirement to obtain and pay for renters insurance.

Am I required to make my property available to Home Forward/Section 8?

Source of Income is considered a protected class in Oregon which means you’re not allowed to screen against that in and of itself. With that said, the applicant would still need to meet all other screening guidelines.

What if I don’t want pets, smokers or children in the home?

  • We have a strict no-smoking policy (of any kind including: nicotine, marijuana, vape) at all of our properties. What people do on the street is up to them as that’s a public rite of way, but they aren’t allowed to smoke in or on the property.
  • Pets are up to the owner to decide if they want to allow them or not, along with cats vs. dogs and putting weight limits in place.
    • It’s important to note that in Oregon that there are three classifications for animals: Pets, Emotional Support Animals (ESAs), Service Animals (SAs). While you can restrict pets, there’s very few restrictions on ESAs and SAs, but we do require that they provide all proper documentation/licensing along with vaccination records.
  • Familial Status is protected by Federal Fair Housing Guidelines and it’s illegal to discriminate against children. We understand that the fear is that children will damage a home and our proactive approach to management is to inspect all of our units 90 days after move-in and every 6 months thereafter to verify what’s actually going on and take corrective action as needed.

How are the property finances handled and when do I get my money?

  • We collect rent on the 1st and provide monthly owner distributions on the 20th of the month along with an itemized accounting of everything that has happened throughout the month.
  • In January we provide a 1099, cashflow statement and balance sheet that you can simply hand off to your CPA.

Can I visit my property or drive by?

Absolutely! We encourage owners to actively participate in their investments. If you want to drive by at any point or to come along for the regular inspections, we are happy to help make that happen.

What should I do if the tenant calls me?

You’ve hired us as your full-service management company to deal with everything. If a tenant reaches out (as can sometimes happen when things first swap over), it’s important to not respond to what they say and instead simply reply: “All communication needs to run through 24/7 Properties. Please contact them directly.”

How often will I hear from you?

We understand that every owner has different preferences and we custom tailor our management to fit those needs. We are happy to talk on the phone, text, email (or any combination thereof). With property management, communication is key and we pride ourselves on keep everyone (residents, owners and vendors) updated as needed.

What if the tenant doesn’t pay rent on time or at all?

  • While every resident has a unique situation and rental history, we take a holistic approach to management and try to deal with everyone in a firm but fair style. Ultimately the goal is to collect rent and avoid a vacancy as long as the premises are being well maintained and there aren’t other issues going on.
  • Should it be a straightforward non-payment of rent situation, our rules are as follows: Rent is due on the 1st and late after the 4th. We assess a late fee on all late rent, then send out a notice of termination if rent isn’t paid and notify the owner. Should the resident not pay rent by the cure date, then we then discuss the situation with the owner and decide if we want to move forward with an eviction and talk through the nuances of what that entails and then follow through as needed.

How do you make sure the tenant takes care of my property?

  • We have a top-tier rental agreement for tenants to adhere to, which gives us the ability to ensure the property is kept in tip top condition.
  • We and perform property inspections 90 days after move-in and every 6 months thereafter. Going in every unit/property twice a year, every year, makes a big difference in our ability to keep up on maintenance, and get eyes on the condition of the home
  • If things show signs of unusual wear or are showing a pattern of damage, we have a multi-step corrective action plan going as far as eviction if needed.

What do you do if the tenant causes damages?

  • We document the damage and take corrective action.
  • Sometimes it’s the lawn not being mowed and for a first offense it might be simple friendly reminder to correct their behavior. Other times there may be a hole in a door and we could send out a notice of Termination if it doesn’t get properly fixed. It all depends on how severe the damage is and what the end goal is with that particular resident (corrective action vs. termination).

What if the tenant leaves before the end of the lease?

They would be responsible for a lease break fee equal to 1.5x the rent. The lease break fee gets paid to the owner and would cover the cost of not only re-leasing the unit, but also some of the vacancy or turnover costs.

How do you handle evictions?

On a case-by-case basis. Again, every resident and property owner has a unique situation and we work to balance things out to get the best possible result. We handle all required notices and the three step court process (FED, NOR, WOE). If a tenant hires an attorney and requests a trial, then we would consider getting legal counsel involved, otherwise we are normally able to deal with all steps of the eviction process internally.

What is your monthly management fee?

  • Our management fee varies based on the type of property. It’s important to note that we are upfront with our pricing and list our fees in bold on the first page of our management agreement.
  • If you’re looking at management, beware that some companies will list an enticing monthly management fee and then hide the rest of the costs throughout their contract and itemize charges for every little thing – website fees, posting & mailing fees, monthly per door admin fees, inspection fees, 10-15% invoice upcharge fees, maintenance dispatch fee, etc.

Are your fees negotiable?

  • We have standard pricing for single family homes, but if you have a portfolio of properties or a multifamily/commercial building then we have custom pricing based upon the individual property’s financials.
  • Everyone loves a good price, but no one wants the lowest value. We pride ourselves on our custom tailored style of management and know that hands down, we provide the best value in the market, even though we aren’t the most expensive (or cheapest) option out there.

How soon can you start managing my property?

As soon as you’re ready! We can fill out a property management agreement over the phone and send it for signatures through DocuSign. Once signed, we can start onboarding the property and schedule a time for marketing photos if it’s 100% rent ready. The onboarding process is usually 3 business days.

Do you sell Real Estate too?

Yes, not only do offer full service property management, but we also have a brokerage that can help with buying and selling properties should you want to expand or contract your portfolio.