Monthly Archives: October 2020

With decades of experience in the residential property management industry of Austin, Texas, Crosstown Properties boasts a highly efficient tenant turnover process that consistently minimizes vacancy. Our tried and true method not only applies after the tenants have moved out, but actually starts before tenants move out. After the tenants moves out: We are detail oriented: Walk-Through

Once the tenant has vacated and surrendered the property by bringing us the keys, we do a walk-through of the property. We literally do a physical walk-through of the property and take pictures and notes to document the condition of the yard, landscaping, trees, every room, surfaces, window blinds, and more. The detail of the walk-through helps us decide what needs to be deducted from the tenants security deposit to return the property to the excellent condition it was in prior to their occupancy of the property.

Make-Readies

We establish an order for our vendors to do the makeready for each property based on the order in which they have leased.

Our make-ready turnover process uses a 150 point maintenance checklist including cleaning, painting, yard work, maintenance, and updating if needed. For example, as carpet ages it serves the investment to replace the carpet with vinyl plank flooring.

Maintenance

Once the makeready is complete and the property is on the market, we maintain the condition until the property leases. This includes cutting the grass every two weeks, cleaning as needed, and keeping utilities on and paying utility bills.

We are thorough: Utilities

For our owners’ benefit, we switch utility accounts to our name while properties are vacant – something our management agreement allows us to do. The utility bills come to us, we examine and make sure they are correct (link to article), and pay them as an expense to the owners ledger. This way the owners are not saddled with the hassle of paying utilities – in fact, this service is an excellent example of why you should hire a property manager.

We are due diligent: Security Deposits

Once a new lease is signed by the tenant, we require the security deposit (one month’s rent) before we execute the lease on our end.

We also require the first full months rent in exchange for keys. Once a tenant has keys to the property, they have possession. We don’t want to give possession unless we have the full months rent.

Both the security deposit and the first full months rent must be in certified funds. We accept personal checks for the rent after the tenant has possession but we don’t let the upfront money be personal checks. If the tenant has possession and their first months rent check bounces, we are stuck in the position of having to evict them if they don’t make the check good. We utilize an excellent tenant screening process so bounced checks almost never happen, but we want to make sure it never happens at occupancy so we take all the upfront money in certified funds.

Consistently applying these top tips during the makeready process contributes significantly to the efficiency with which we manage our clients’ properties. We are detail-oriented and extremely thorough, operating with a high level of due diligence to ensure your property is expertly maintained and your rental income is maximized by minimizing vacancy. People often find us by searching “property management Austin,” “rental home management austin, tx,” “property manager near me,” and “property management companies austin, tx.” We’d love to hear how you found us!

At Crosstown Properties we stand above other residential property management companies in Austin, Texas by our reliable, time-tested processes proven to provide profitable peace of mind for our clients. A crucial process we have fine-tuned over nearly twenty years of experience in residential property management is the turnover process between tenants. Our system is highly efficient and geared towards minimizing vacancy – benefiting both our owners and tenants. Crucially, we want existing tenants to renew their lease but when we do have move outs we want to to lease vacant properties as quickly as possible to qualified tenants. In this two part series, we outline our turnover process before tenants move out and after tenants move out. Before tenants move out… We are proactive: Rent increase:

About six weeks before the lease end date, we do rental comps to know the current rental market value of the property. We email the owners to let them know their lease is expiring. This email also informs them the rent renewal rate if the tenants stays as well as the market value we will list the property for if the tenant vacates.

Rent almost always increases every year – new tenants will be paying the market value while tenants who renew will only have about a 3% rent increase. The increase varies depending on the property and we will increase the rent as much as possible consistent with the market and having tenants renew the lease. We want to encourage tenants to stay which is a financial benefit to the owner.

Renew or Vacate:

Renew or vacate notices are sent to the tenants about 10 days before the first of the month in which the lease expires. For example, leases expiring on March 31 will receive renew or vacate notices around February 20th with a deadline of March 1st to respond.

The timing we use for sending renew or vacate notices increases efficiency: The lease requires a 30 notice to vacate. By sending renew or vacate notices 10 days before the first of the month in which the lease expires, the tenant has plenty of time to respond if they are renewing and if they do not respond the renew or vacate notice has legally given them a 30 day notice to vacate.

‎ We are diligent: Double Check:

If we do not receive a response from a tenant by the 1st of the month in which their lease expires, we call them just to make sure that they do in fact intend to vacate at the end of the lease. Sometimes they want to renew and simply forgot to respond – remember, we usually want tenants to renew so we take this extra step.

Move Out Instructions:

We always provide a detailed list of move out instructions about 30 days before the lease expires so the tenants are well informed of the very important items they need to know when they move out – for example, they must provide a forwarding address in order for us to return their deposit. Tenants are provided with some move out information in the lease they sign before move-in, however, many tenants do not thoroughly read their lease and are therefore unaware of move out items – we always send a reminder for their benefit.

Showing Properties:

Once we have the list of vacating properties, our listing agent updates the information in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and our website so we can advertise the available properties.

Our lease allows us to show properties before the existing tenant moves out, therefore it’s not unusual that we can get a house leased with a short vacancy.

‎ This time-tested process has served our clients and tenants well for nearly two decades. Being proactiveand diligent towards the end of leases, we are able to optimize the rental income for our clients. This means minimizing vacancy – renewing good tenants and finding new qualified tenants for available properties as quickly as possible, sometimes with no vacancy at all! People often find us by searching “property management Austin,” “rental home management austin, tx,” “property manager near me,” and “property management companies austin, tx.” We’d love to hear how you found us!