In this article, I want to explain why you should market and manage your rental property with the same company. In this case, with Chesapeake Property Management.
We often get asked "Can I list my home with another real estate agent and still use Chesapeake Property Management for property management?" or, "If I already have a tenant, can I use Chesapeake for property management?"
In 99.9% of the homes that we manage, we also place the tenant. Every now and then, we make an exception for tenants who are already in a home and in an existing lease (I think we have done this 3 times in 18 years). However, we never allow another real estate agent to market the home and then for us to just take over the management.
Why is this the case?
Because property management and leasing are complicated. There are a lot of emotions, expectations and moving parts. Therefore, in order to have the most positive and seamless transaction possible, we need to control the process every step of the way.
>> See How Chesapeake Property Management Came To Be
Let's take a closer look:
1. If another real estate agent markets the home:
Sometimes people come to us after their home is already listed for sale with another agent and they now want to consider renting it out. Or they have a relative or friend whom they feel obligated to use for the listing and they ask us if we can just manage the home. Unfortunately, we can't just manage the home and here's why.
If another agent markets/lists the home, they don't know our application criteria, how we document our homes, how we handle repairs, how we hire contractors, our special lease clauses and our expectations for our landlords and our tenants. Every one of our leases is the same so that we can provide a consistent experience for all of our customers. We cannot have different tenants and different properties with different lease clauses and different expectations. That would be a disaster and lead to a lot of disappointment and frustration for all parties.
So, no, we cannot manage a home that an agent from another company markets due to the conflicting expectations. The marketing agent just wants it rented so they can collect their commission and go on their way and we have to take the long view since we are going to be in a relationship with all parties for the entire lease term, which is a minimum of one year. So we want to set everyone's expectations up front so there are no misunderstandings.
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2. If there is already a tenant in place:
We have taken over management on a few occasions when a tenant is already in the home, however, this can be very difficult. Usually a Landlord who had been in town is now moving out of town, has an existing lease and wants someone to manage the home for the remainder of the lease term. Here is what we have to do:
- Run the applicant though our application process to make sure that they meet our criteria.
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- Draft a new lease that is in line with all of our current leases.
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- Educate the tenant on their responsibilities in the new lease. They usually are not happy about this because, most of the time, landlords are more lenient than we are.
>> See Why Choose Chesapeake Property Management To Manage Your Baltimore Area Home?
- Wean the tenant from their relationship with the landlord. Since the tenant already has a relationship with the landlord and has all of the landlord's contact information, we have to wean the tenant from contacting the landlord and educate them on contacting us instead. We also have to educate the landlord on "not giving in" to the tenant's requests after we have said "no". It can be like good cop, bad cop and we need to make sure that the landlord does not circumvent our systems.
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So, can it be done? Can we take over the management of a home that already has a tenant in place? Yes, but it is complicated and we have to be careful. Too often, landlords want us to manage a property because they are having problems with the current tenant and the landlord wants us to evict the tenant. We cannot take this on as, for an eviction, you need to hire an eviction expert or an attorney.
Once you have evicted your tenant and the home is vacant, we would love to start at the beginning and help you market and manage the home so that you have a more positive experience.
Chesapeake Property Management For Marketing and Managing Your Rental Property!
If you truly want an excellent management experience, it is best to hire us right at the beginning to market and manage the home. We will manage the process every step of the way and minimize your risks as much as possible. After 18 years in business, we know what works and what does not. And we want you to have the best experience possible. So, let us put our experience to work for you. Give us a call anytime.
>> Check out Chesapeake Property Management's Google+ Reviews
