Pre-Marketing
First impressions are critical when people are selecting a place to live. Utilities must be on, repairs must be complete (or almost complete) and the property must be clean before we start marketing a property. It is aggravating to drive an hour to a property with a prospective renter only to find it dirty, smelly and unsightly. Tenants get turned off by houses that are not move-in-ready and often won't return to see them a second time.

Lockboxes (or Supra boxes in Pinehurst) allow all agents in the market and prospective renters to view homes 24/7. We'll install a high-quality lockbox on the front door (or nearby) and start showing the property as soon as it's rent-ready.

Setting the Rent
We know the market and can find lots of rental comps to drive the asking rent. We have access to rental data going back 5 years (actually longer if we wanted). We use this to identify a rental range. You'll set the rent (and make the mortgage payment until it's occupied) so we're on the path to getting it rented quickly. Unrented properties are expensive. Although the asking rent is your call, we'll advise you and report activity. So, if search and viewing activity is low, this would prompt us to check if the rent is at the right level.

Marketing and Showing
We take calls from prospective renters and show houses seven days a week. One third of our homes are leased by outside agents because we list them in the local MLS service and offer to share our commission with others who help us locate good renters.

Our biggest surprise when we set up the property management business was how cavalier prospective tenants were with our time. They would turn up 20 minutes late or not at all, rarely with any prior warning. Many other property managers require tenants to complete an application first. We don’t do this currently – we show the property to anyone who is interested and intending to move in within 30 days.

Screening Applicants
Screening tenants as one of the most important aspects in good property management. As much as we think we have it figured out, applicants are still teaching us things every day. It’s easy to miss something even when you're watching for it. It's not a cut and dry system and takes lot of experience.

We pull credit, employment history, residency history, foreclosure, bankruptcy, eviction reports, sex offender reports and more. There is no perfect system to qualify applicants, but we take advantage of all the information we can get our hands on. Screening applicants is often a balancing act between the information we gather about them and the money they are willing to put down (security deposit) to secure their fulfillment of the promises in the lease. In some instances, income is king and extra deposits can buy a lot of forgiveness.

The background and credit checking service we use gives us a figure of merit, and tells us how many other landlords would rent to this person e.g. “80% of landlords would accept this applicant.” A lot of renters have bad credit, sometimes for reasons that are not their fault (e.g. a former partner who racked up debt without their knowledge), and so we also look at the individual. The key questions are “Can this person actually pay the rent with their other commitments, and will they look after the property.”

Negotiating the Lease
We use the standard Realtor® lease form which is a very robust and proven document. Owners will be involved in negotiating special stipulations for things such as finishing a fence, putting in a refrigerator, having an 18-month lease or allowing multiple pets. Some issues need your input, but most of the time, - it can and will be handled on our end.

 If the applicant has special requests, offers less than asking rent, has multiple pets, or presents any issues outside of the norm, you will be contacted for final approval. We work hard not to exceed our authority when it comes to this or any other matter during our leasing and management of the property.

Co-signers and deposits
Good credit is required to secure the renter's promises in a lease, but it doesn't have to be the occupant's credit. We get lots of folks who have their parents, employers, caregivers and counselors guarantee the lease. The cosigner completes an application and is added into the lease agreement.

By the same token, normally we ask that all occupants over the age of 18 are put as co-signers on the lease. This means that they are all on the hook for payment. However, it also makes sense for one of them to be ultimately responsible for what happens in case one of the tenants wants to move out.

Money is a great equalizer when approving an applicant and can buy a lot of forgiveness. If an applicant is willing to put up lots of money (in the form of a security deposit) to secure a lease, we can approve applicants with less than perfect credit. Since North Carolina courts are owner-friendly and grant evictions quickly, requesting a full security deposit (up to the allowable limit of 2 months for a one-year lease, and one month for a one-month or longer lease) is often sufficient guarantee. Nevertheless, in our experience, tenants who do not have the money to afford a full deposit, are unlikely to manage their rent payments in a timely manner.