This Property Management FAQ section was designed to help you navigate some of the difficult questions that come up in the day-to-day life of property management. No question is too small, and we try to address as many as possible in the drop-downs below. For more helpful information, visit the Green Residential Blog for updated property management information and articles!
Owner FAQs
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Click here to schedule periodic maintenance requests in advance. This form can be used to schedule Monthly, Quarterly, Bi-Annual, or Annual maintenance requests. All periodic maintenance requests will be in effect indefinitely. To cancel, please email support@greenresidential.com . All periodic maintenance requests will be billed to Owner at the actual cost of service. Bi-Annual or Annual HVAC maintenance is our most common and recommended service.
No
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Green Residential’s contractors are happy to assist our clients with any make ready needs. We recommend that our clients (1) have the home professionally cleaned (2) have the carpets professionally cleaned (3) have the yard manicured (4) de-clutter your home (5) make sure you remove any valuables (6) touch up or fully paint walls depending on their color and condition (7) address any deferred maintenance (8) use pest control service (9) make sure pool is well maintained (10) and do not be present at the home when a potential renter comes to see the house.
Your home will be listed on the local MLS (www.HAR.com). Houston’s local MLS is one of the most robust online systems in the country. In addition to the local MLS, your home will be listed on sites such as www.zillow.com, www.trulia.com, www.realtor.com, www.homes.com, www.chron.com, and more. If you would like a sign in your yard, we have attractive “For Lease” signage.
We use recent historical data taken from the local MLS database to determine what your home will rent for.
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The lease commission covers all services and costs related to marketing your property for lease. This includes photography, showing service, listing your home on the local MLS, screening tenants, and preparing lease agreement paperwork.
No, Owner’s receive an electronic copy of every invoice with no markup fee.
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We charge $299 plus court costs for current management clients and $699 plus court costs for non-management clients.
We reduce the risk of a tenant not paying rent or damaging the property by using a conservative tenant screening approach. We do not assume we are being told the truth until we verify the information with credible evidence. We look for tenants who have something to lose (i.e. negative impact on credit) if an eviction or small claims suit is brought against them. We look at tenants credit, employment history, rental history, and check for any type of criminal background to identify any potential red flags to be concerned about.
We expect that our tenants pay rent in accordance with their lease agreement. We charge late fees, send notices to vacate, and file eviction suits if a tenant is in default of their lease agreement.
We also offer inspection services while the tenants are occupying the residence to reduce the risk of damage to the home.
As a result of our strict screening and payment management procedures as well as our inspection services, we minimize the risk of tenants not paying rent or damaging the property for our clients.
When a tenant needs to break a lease, we inform them that they are responsible for all costs that our owner would not have otherwise incurred if the tenant did not break the lease. This means that the current tenant will be responsible for (1) the lease commission of one month’s rent (2) the rent, lawn care and utilities until the day the new tenant moves in (3) all make ready costs to get the home ready for the new tenant and (4) the cost of rekeying the home. If the tenant pays all of these costs we will release them from the lease contract.
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Yes, you need to make sure you have a landlord property insurance policy which includes a minimum of $300,000 of public liability insurance.
This simply means that we are interested to know that you are maintaining an active landlord property insurance policy with public liability coverage. This does NOT mean that we have any type of insurable interest in your home.
We submit an ACH file to our bank on the 10th of every month with rent distributions, assuming the 10th does not fall on a weekend or holiday. It takes most banks 1-2 business days to process the distribution into your account after we have submitted the ACH file to the bank.
Every month you will receive an electronic accounting statement which includes all income and expenses for the reporting period. We also provide electronic copies of any invoices incurred during the reporting period.
The majority of our repair & maintenance personnel are contractors NOT employees. You are not required to use our contractors if you have established relationships with contractors you would like us to use.