Monthly Archives: November 2020

As a real estate investor (yes, even owning one property makes you an investor), hiring a skilled property manager is one of the most important steps in maximizing your passive income and ensuring your investment is well maintained. The good news is that there are a lot of property managers to choose from. The bad news is that there are a lot of property managers to choose from… so how do you choose? Crosstown Properties has been providing the Austin, Texas metro area with excellent residential property management services for nearly 20 years. In our opinion, you should find someone who can demonstrate tried and true methods to keep your property well maintained, minimize vacancy, and defend your rights as the landlord.

1. What services does the company offer? You may expect that all property managers provide more or less the same suit of services and that price is the most important comparison, but it is essential to investigate the services you will be paying for. For example, preventive maintenance processes, marketing methods, and tenant screening, are just a few of the highly impactful services that can vary dramatically between property managers. Take a look at our FAQ page to see the services we offer at Crosstown Properties.

2. What is the Tenant screening process? Proper due diligence in tenant screening is one of the top reasons to hire a property manager – they act with your best interest in mind and should not be influenced by emotions when approving tenant applications. Inquire after the qualifications for tenant approval before signing a contract. We qualify tenants based on credit, Income, Employment Status, Rental History, Criminal Background and Pet Ownership. If you would like to know the specifics, your agent can access our qualifications on the MLS listing or you can contact our office and one of our agents will be more than happy to help you!

3. Does the company handle general repairs and preventive maintenance? This topic is a common area where property management differs, with some noticeably better than others. Preventive maintenance is essential in protecting your investment. Make sure you hire a property manager that inspects your property annually for issues that tenants may not notice. Further, discuss how the company receives and responds to repair requests during tenancy. Crosstown Properties has several processes to ensure maintenance is properly attended to. First, we have an extensive make-ready process between tenants that includes an 150 point check list of repairs – this ensures not only that the tenant is charged correctly for damages, but also that the property is in tip top shape. Second, we perform annual preventive maintenance inspections of each property inside and out as well as check roofing, exterior carpentry, and proximity of trees. Third, our tenants submit repair requests via an easily accessible form on our website and we are usually able to send one of our trusted vendors to attend the issues within 24 hours.

4. How is rent determined? Your property manager should always conduct a comparable market analysis to determine the correct market rent for your property. This is a strength of hiring a property manager – they have access to professional listing services and can compare your property to other properties in the immediate area that match in size, age, amenities etc. The residential rental market changes rapidly, so a current market analysis is essential. We perform a comparable market analysis to determine the maximum rent for your property and then monitor the market closely, adjusting the rent if needed until the property is leased.

5. How many units does the company manage? Depending on the property management style you are looking for, the number of units can tell you a lot about what to expect. Too many units per property manager may risk lack of proper attention and care for your investment while too few units may indicate lack of experience of loss of clients due to poor management. At Crosstown Properties we manage around 170 doors. Our property manager Jim is also the broker and owner – he is hands-on and coordinates every aspect of management personally.

6. What are the fees? Check whether the monthly management fee is a flat rate or a percentage of rent. There is also usually a listing fee to put the house on the market and pay the agents involved in bringing tenants. We would be happy to discuss our fees with you! Give us a call at 512-328-8500 or email our property manager Jim Wilson at jim@crosstownproperties.com 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!

The Crosstown Properties team has just about seen it all – nearly 20 in residential property management will do that for you. Our goal with this blog is to offer valuable insights that only come with extensive professional experience in the field. One such area of insight is showing rental properties to prospective tenants – in particular, safety tips. Over the next several months we will be doing a blog series on our top tips for safely showing rental properties. Stay tuned! Tip #1: Make sure agents are licensed before allowing them access to the property. Sometimes people call our office asking for the combination to the combo lock on one of our listed properties. This question is an immediate red flag alert – we always have an MLS Supra lockbox on our available properties and REALTORS have access via their electronic key app. This method of access keeps track of the license numbers that access properties as insurance in case anything untoward were to occur. We will politely inquire why Supra Key access isn’t an option. Most often the person will say they are a licensed agent but are not a REALTOR. This means they don’t belong to a board of Realtors and therefore don’t have a Supra Key. Instead of just taking their word for it, we ask for their license number and check the Texas Real Estate Commission website to ensure it is a real and active license that matches the name provided. It’s actually happened more than once that the license for that particular agent has expired! Once we confirm that the person on the phone has a name, brokerage, and active license number that matches the records in the TREC website, we will give them the combination to the combo lock so that they can show the property. In this way we allow licensed agents who are not members of a board to also show the property – optimizing prospective applicants and minimizing vacancy – while at the same time making sure that we’re not giving the combo code to someone who is not a licensed agent! 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!