Owning rental property can be confusing, especially if you’re new to the business. If you are considering enlisting the help of a property management company, like ourselves, then you probably have a lot of questions about how we work.
Here is a list of some of our most frequently asked questions, along with our answers, to help you understand why and how you can depend on a property management company for your rental property management needs.
What type of rental properties do you manage?
At North Pacific Property Management, we frequently manage properties such as single family homes, townhouses, condos, multi-family properties, and apartment buildings throughout the Seattle area. Whether it be one apartment, or an entire unit of apartments, we are capable of managing properties on both large and small scales.
What areas do you manage property in?
Our services extend to clients throughout Seattle, Bellevue, and Issaquah. This also includes the Puget Sound area, and parts of Snohomish County. We currently have office in Seattle and Snohomish County, with a Bellevue office on the way.
What property management experience and credentials do you offer?
To help owners find tenants for their property, or to assist renters in locating their future home, we assign one of our professional real estate agents to help see the job done. Each of our professional team members is by nature an entrepreneurial individual, a creative thinker, and someone who has demonstrated excellence at problem-solving and negotiating. Our agents are Seattle experts that know the local market and neighborhoods better than most tenants do. Our experienced staff is perfectly qualified to manage your real estate.
How big is your staff?
We employ a large number of experienced real estate agents in order to meet the demands of our customers. Take a glance at our team and their credentials.
How much will my home rent for?
The amount that your house will rent for is dependent on several factors. Our agents will need to asses the market rates where the property is located to help with estimating a reasonable rate. In addition, an analysis of the property’s size, value, and expenses will help to determine how much to charge tenants. Once enough data is collected, a reasonable rate can then be decided with the landlord.
What methods do you use to find tenants?
We use a variety of methods to help draw potential tenants to your property. Beyond just adding informative ‘For Rent’ signs to your yard, we add your rental property to specific online listings that reach thousands of realtors and renters with your property’s data.
We also work to ensure that your property is not overpriced to encourage interest in your property. To make sure your property has curb appeal, we work with property owners to ensure that their property is thoroughly prepared for prospective tenants.
All this is accomplished at no cost to the safety of your property. We do thorough background checks on all potential tenants to ensure your investment is protected.
How do you qualify a tenant after they have applied to rent my property?
To protect our clients and their property, we conduct background checks on possible tenants to ensure that they are a good fit for the estate. We refer to the comments of previous landlords, their employment status, their credit reports, and even verify their drivers licenses. Anything that could possibly be threatening, even down to the kind of pet they own, is monitored to ensure a comfortable arrangement for both tenant and owner.
How do you make sure the tenant is taking good care of my home while renting?
The initial process of ensuring that your tenants can manage the estate appropriately is through the original screening process. This screening helps us to weed out those tenants that could potentially threaten your property and investment.
Once they have completed the necessary background investigation and are living in the estate, we conduct general monitoring when completing repairs or doing a standard walk through to check alarms, smoke detectors, etc.
In the unfortunate event that a tenant is found to be mistreating your property, a warning will be issued to the tenant. If the property is found to be extremely mistreated and severe damage has occurred, the landlord may be allowed to evict that tenant immediately.
What happens if the tenant does not pay their rent?
Tenants who are late with their payment will receive a late notice. If payment is not made and, after further investigation, the tenant cannot give a reasonable explanation, the tenant will be evicted.
Should late payment be due to sudden financial hardship or other events that hinder the tenant from making payments, the situation will be brought under consideration with the property owner. In most cases, is far better to have a good tenant that is merely down on their luck than to have to go to the time and effort of finding a new tenant. This is evaluated on a case by case basis.
Who do you use to handle maintenance tasks?
At North Pacific Property Management, we have a well-established network of trusted maintenance, repair, landscaping, and cleaning companies. Because we manage so many properties, we are able to be picky about who we contract with and get better rates on services.
You guys seem sort of picky about the properties you take — why is that?
The reason we are more selective with the properties we agree to manage is because of our commitment to quality. We want to ensure that the properties we recommend to possible tenants have good reputations, high standards, and quality owners while being affordable and accommodating.
Some rental properties simply do not meet the standards that we feel comfortable recommending to searching tenants. While we seek to meet the needs of those within the Seattle, Bellevue, and Kirkland areas, we want to maintain our reputation as a trustworthy and reliable organization that offers great results.
How much is your monthly property management fee? Are there administrative fees or other service charges?
Our fees vary based on the size and quality of the property and the expenses that accompany the estate. Service charges are based on the kinds of maintenance and services agreed upon by the property owners. For more information, feel free to contact us with questions and we’ll work with you to find answers. Feel free to call us, or fill out our contact form.
Why should I hire you as my property management company?
North Pacific Property Management is one of the best Seattle property management businesses available because of our experience, resources, and dedicated team. Our services have been utilized by thousands of property owners and we have achieved only great results for them. Our access to online resources and a plethora of possible tenants makes us the perfect resource for your property. Any maintenance, inspections, or research can be left in our capable hands. In addition, we offer our team of professional, responsible property agents to help you find trustworthy tenants and set up your property agreement.
Along with providing the marketing and financial data to prepare your property for tenants, they will conduct the background checks and investigations on new tenants to ensure they are a good fit for your property. Any needs or maintenance issues they have go up the chain to them, and they resolve the issue on your behalf.
We take all the hassle and stress out of property management so that you can enjoy the benefits.
How soon can you start managing my home?
You can start right now! Visit our contact page, give us a call, or fill out our contact form, and we will be in touch with you to learn more about how we can best start meeting your property needs.