How Property Management Works: A Deep Dive Into Keyrenter’s Leasing Experience
One notable advantage of hiring a property manager over self-managing your rental properties is that management companies, at least the good ones, have worked tirelessly to build systems, processes, and standard operating procedures to carry out the core functions they must carry out daily. One of those functions, as one should expect, is to prepare and market your property, and to simplify the process of finding long-term, high-quality tenants. These processes come with years of experience working with thousands of clients and are constantly optimized to deliver the best outcomes to our clients.
Keyrenter’s comprehensive leasing experience ensures our clients’ properties are not only rented within 14 business days but also that they’re well-cared for by responsible tenants who treat them as their own for our clients’ peace of mind. From the start of advertising to the tenant move-in, this process takes a significant load off of landlords’ shoulders.
In this article, we’ll go over Keyrenter’s 9-step leasing experience which was developed with owners and tenants in mind, and secure long-term tenancies, and guarantee a level of landlord, and tenant satisfaction.
Keyrenter’s Leasing Experience For Tenants And Homeowners
- New & Pre-Listing Workflow
The first thing in our leasing process is to perform an initial inspection of the property. This ensures properties we manage meet Keyrenter’s Minimum Property Standards (HQS), which is directly correlated to our ability to find and place a high-quality and long-term tenant.
For the initial inspection, a Keyrenter maintenance technician will visit the property, flag any issues that need to be handled, document those, and add them to a comprehensive inspection report which can be shared with the owner via their online portal. After careful review, your dedicated property manager will determine what work needs to be done (if any) and provide you with a punch list and estimated costs to prepare the property for a tenant. At this point, owners can choose to perform the make ready on their own (so long as it meets our Minimum Property Standards), or let Keyrenter handle it entirely, and trust it will be done right the first time.
Pre-listing repair work commonly includes touch-up paint, fixing cracks or holes in the walls, cleaning carpet stains, getting rid of bad odors, and repairing anything broken (fences, windows, handrails, etc). It also includes making sure safety measures are in place around the property: fire extinguishers under the kitchen sink, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, etc.
If an owner is unable to handle the work themselves, our team will engage our trusted contractors for estimates. We’ll then present the total cost to the owner, wait for approval, and start working shortly after that approval has been obtained. At this stage of the process, it is imperative owners communicate with our team in a timely manner and allow us to move forward with the work or swiftly handle it themselves. Doing so allows our team to reduce vacancy exposure, and loss of rental income, and get the job done quickly for the benefit of our clients.
Once the make-ready is done, we’ll hire a professional cleaner and get the property ready for showings. After cleaning, our photographer will come out to take marketing-quality pictures (if we don’t have those already), and highlight the features to make the listing stand out.
- Property Listed
Once a property is ready, we’ll create a listing for it and upload it to 50+ real estate listing services, our website, and share it across our social media accounts and related groups.
Maximizing the property’s exposure earns it more traction and leads. Our goal is not only to find the best tenants possible but to also make it easier for them to find our clients’ properties.
After a property has been listed and fully syndicated to all websites, owners receive an automated email with a link to the listing. This keeps them informed about the status of their property, and listing and provides them with an opportunity to review the listing for accuracy.
- Pre-Qualification & Showings
On our website, listings include a link to a pre-qualification questionnaire that prospective tenants must fill out if they wish to schedule a self-guided tour and see the property in person. This pre-qualification process allows us to focus on those high-quality prospects, and it is designed to assess their current financial situation, previous residential history, and employment status, and ensure we are only showing properties to those who truly qualify and can fulfill any lease obligations.
Among the things we ask prospects throughout the pre-qualifying process are if they own pets, their current income, how they earn this income, and other basic information that allows us to make more informed decisions. We then use this information to conclude if they truly pre-qualify and should be offered a showing.
Once a prospect has been pre-qualified, they are invited to schedule a self-guided tour of the property any day of the week between 8 am and 9 pm, granting them privacy, flexibility, and convenience.
- Follow On Showings
After a self-guided tour takes place, we automatically send prospects a feedback form and an application. We solicit feedback to learn about their experience walking a property, which helps our team determine ways to further improve future showings, and potentially consider small alterations we can make to the property, which would result in a prospect becoming an applicant.
For example, if a prospect communicates they loved a property, yet stumbled upon carpet blemishes or a strong tobacco scent, we’ll bring these concerns to an owner’s attention and come up with ways to fix them swiftly to alleviate the prospect’s apprehensions. This can oftentimes lead a prospective tenant to submit an application or agree to the lease terms, ultimately resulting in a signed lease and future move-in date.
Lastly, while a property is vacant, our team will communicate with owners weekly, and provide them with traction reports where we break down the number of leads who have shown interest in the property, how many of those pre-qualified, scheduled a tour, and ultimately how many prospects showed up to view it in person. In the event a property does not enjoy a healthy level of interest, our team will communicate this to the owner, and make suggestions to improve the listing. This is typically done by making changes to the condition of the property or adjusting the price to a level where enough prospects are expressing interest.
- Application Received & Screening For Approval
Once an application has been filled out by prospective and future residents, we collect all the information and documentation to run them through our rigorous 14-point screening check. At the time we receive a completed application, owners are notified, and we immediately begin processing, as we aim to provide prospective residents with an answer 24 to 48 hours after they’ve sent it in.
Our 14-point screening process includes the following:
- Verify the applicant’s income by use of paystubs or bank statements
- Perform a full credit check
- Conduct a full criminal background check
- Verify employment with their current and former employers
- Verify residential history with their current and former landlords
- Search all open and closed court records
- Cross-reference names and social security with the terrorist watchlist
- Cross-reference names and social security with a sex offender registry
- Review all of their open accounts, debt collections, etc
- Ask for personal and professional references with whom to double-check these details
Through our comprehensive screening process, we aim to get a full picture of the prospect’s identity, why they’re moving, and whether they have a history of honoring their financial and professional commitments. We also validate that they earn at least 2.5 to 3 times the monthly rent price to avoid any possible issues.
- Drafting, Sending, & Executing the Lease
In most cases, within 48 hours of receiving a completed application, our team will complete all screening and verifications, and send a digital lease agreement to any of the adults (18 and older) who will be moving into the property. Once they review, initial, and sign, a property manager who is also a licensed real estate agent will execute the lease agreement, and move along in the process, while also keeping all stakeholders in the loop. As soon as a lease agreement is fully executed, our system automatically notifies owners that we have successfully signed a lease, and their new residents will be moving in shortly.
- Move-In Inspection & Checklist
Before residents move in, our team holds one final inspection of the property, where our maintenance team takes pictures for record-keeping. These are uploaded to our Move-In Inspection Report, which can be shared with owners through their portal. Doing so ensures the homes are ready, residents enjoy a positive move-in experience, and we have a documented state of the condition to reconcile with an inspection we complete at the time residents move out.
At this point, residents are asked to fill out a utility and insurance form, which allows our team to ensure utilities are transferred to the resident’s name as of their lease start date (if applicable). Lastly, we’ll collect their renters insurance policy, ensure that it adheres to the requirements stipulated in our lease agreement and that owners are protected with a minimum of a $100,000 landlord liability policy.
Once we’ve signed the lease, completed a move-in inspection, collected the security deposit and first month’s rent, and generally confirmed everything’s in the clear, residents are cleared to move in.
- Post Move-In Follow Up
We take pride in our attention to tenant satisfaction, which is why the final step in our leasing process is listening to their feedback and doing everything in our power to implement any necessary changes.
After the move-in, tenants have 14 days to submit what we call a Property Condition Form. This record-keeping document allows them to take note of imperfections and things they should not necessarily be held liable for at the time they move out. For example: dents, scratches, and blemishes that were already there before they moved in. Keyrenter uses this condition form along with the move-in inspection to cross-reference during the move-out, so our team ensures the property is in the same or better condition when tenants move out.
- Move-In Complete
As soon as a move-in is completed, homeowners get an automatic confirmation from our system. It is then that Keyrenter’s day-to-day work to manage an occupied property finally begins.
Ready to Experience the Keyrenter Difference?
One of the most important things to assess when looking for a property manager to work with is their leasing process. After all, it outlines the quality of their tenant-facing services and how involved you’ll need to be as a landlord.
Keyrenter’s 9-step leasing experience has been optimized from years of working with thousands of tenants and landlords. Our priority is to eliminate the friction of the rental process for tenants and to take care of everything for landlords, from the make-ready of the property until the completion of the move-in and beyond, so that their experience as a landlord is as passive, profitable, and stress-free as possible.
If you’re interested in working together or curious about other ways we can help you grow your wealth through real estate, schedule a discovery call with our local BDM through Keyrenter Arkansas’s website and step into the life of a passive landlord you’ve always dreamed of.