OWNER FAQ

We are active investors like you and understand what makes a rental property profitable. We take a proactive approach to management. Our goal is to catch small issues before they turn into major problems. We also put a lot of value on our residents' satisfaction. Residents that feel respected and have a clean, safe place to live are going to pay on time, take better care of the property, and stay longer. 

We understand you need to make money for it to be a win-win. Unlike our top competitors with hundreds of purchased google reviews, we don't crush owners and tenants with fees for everything. We're super fair in what is charged to both sides. 

We understand vacancy destroys your cashflow and work super hard to minimize it. Our renewal rate is phenomenal (and we don't charge owners renewal fees like the franchises). Our collection team works very hard to get rent in so we don't have to file eviction on many. Even when we do, we're able to save over half of them. When a tenant vacates, our turn time is super fast. We often have tenants ready to move in within 7-10 days of the prior tenant vacating. That's unheard of in the single family arena. No one works as hard as Prestige Management to keep your properties occupied with quality tenants. 

Maintenance has over a decade of experience flipping houses and uses that experience and relationships to get you quality vendors at great rates. In addition to great rates, all the vendors are properly vetted for insurance and work comp. We don't use Chuck 'n a truck vendors found on Craigslist. Cheaper isn't worth the risk when it comes to your most valuable assets. 

Lets schedule a call. Click on the link below and answer a few questions and pick a time that works best for you. 

Click HERE to schedule a time to chat. 

Show me the money!!!! 

There are two different times most management companies pay owners. 

First, some companies pay out in the beginning of the month between the 10-15th. This is nice because you get your money sooner. The challenge is that leaves the management company with no funds to cover maintenance for the rest of the month. To overcome this challenge, either companies do no maintenance in the second half of the month (not practical) or they hold reserves. In NW Indiana, the companies who hold reserves hold $500-1000 per property in a reserve account to cover those end of month expenses. This can add up fast. Having had properties with 2 companies who did this, we found the accuonting to be a mess. Some months they paid maintenance with rent and some months with reserves and it just never made sense. 

The second way is to pay owners at the end of the month and hold the rent to cover any expenses. This eliminates the need to reserves and accounting is much cleaner. 

Back in 2021 we surveyed over 100 of our owners and most perfered to have cleaner accounting. As long as they received their funds in time to pay the next month's mortgage, it didn't matter to them if they got paid on the 10th or later in the month. This is why we pay at the end of the month. If an owner had a need to have funds sent sooner, it could be arranged. 

The decision to allow pets is up to the owner. There is value to allowing pets in that it increases your pool of prospects and often times the tenants sneak them in anyways. Allowing pets gives you the ability to increase rent and control what type of pet is allowed. When residents have pets, we get a larger deposit to cover potential damage and charge a monthly pet fee. Unlike other companies who encourage pets in all their properties since they keep the monthly pet fee, Prestige Management treats pet fees as additional rent paying it out to the owner. 

Our marketing process starts as soon as a resident notifies us of their intention to vacate. Within a week of this notice, we are doing an in-person viewing of the property to get a feel for it's general condition and to prepare the resident on the next steps. If the property is in good condition and can be turned fast, we'll start marketing and showing the property prior to the tenant turning in keys. More than 33% of our vacancies have a new resident move in within 7-10 days of getting keys. This is insanely fast in the single family arena. 

Our software syndicates the property listing to over 30 sites. In addition, we'll list our nicer single family homes on the MLS for additional exposure. 

We show properties IN PERSON. While most companies are giving lock box codes and using apps for self showings, we don't feel safe allowing random people access to your property without someone there. Too much can go wrong: adjustments made to heat, water left on, doors/windows left unlocked, theft, vandalism, squatters, etc. Sure it reduces company payroll costs but the risk isn't worth it. Plus meeting the prospect in person allows us to answer their questions and  get a good feel for them. 

Yes absolutley- this is how we get many of our owners. Before we jump into the details, lets discuss the biggest fear agents have- losing their clients. That's a fair fear. However, even though we're a properly licensed brokerage, we do not have sales agents. Any sales you see are sphere leads the owners have from pre-existing relationships and not referred clients. Even those sphere leads are ofter referred out to other agents as we're too busy running the business to list houses on top of that. When clinets are ready to sell, we encourage them to go back to their referring agent to help them with the sale. 

We are happy to pay a referring fee and discuss how we can help your clients with their management needs. There's a ton of questions agents have so schedule a call so we can see if we're a good fit for you and you client.

We service Lake and Porter counties in Indiana. We manage single-family properties as well as small to midsize multi-family properties. 

We will assess the property for condition and marketability and make any necessary recommendations.

We perform a detailed market analysis to maximize the rent potential and recommend a rental rate. If any work or repairs are required prior to marketing the house, we will arrange such repairs to be completed. We will ensure the property is in proper showing condition and prepared to make the best impression.

Once ready, we market the property across multiple platforms using Appfolio’s syndication services. We also have paid services which put your property at the top of those sites’ search results. 

We work with our clinets to set the rental rate. We talk with our clients before setting the price to determine their goals with the property. Do you want to create sustainability for long-term residents or push the market? Whatever we decide,  we react to what the “market” tells us after the property advertising goes live. A property’s advertised market rent can vary seasonally and even monthly depending on what other properties are available in the neighborhood/area. Our goal is always to maximize the rental rate; however, a vacant property does not produce any income, which is why we sometimes need to adjust rental rates based on market conditions.

Our rental criteria is published on our website and in the application prior to prospects paying. All prospective residents over 18 are required to complete an application. The application includes a credit and criminal background check looking at eviction records, judgement history, and sex offender registry. We ask for verification of employment, proof of actual income, and we research rental history. We don't rely simply on documents provided but call past jobs and landlords to verify the information. We use state of the art AI technology to help identify fake documents applicants submit. Once approved, the security deposit is based on their qualifications and can range from 1X to 5X. We have alternative deposit options prospects utilize when higher deposits are required. Unlike some companies who charge residents with lower credit extra fees (which the PM keeps), our goal is to place high quality residents in your property. We all make more money when residents pay on time and stay multiple years. Vacancy is your biggest expense. 

We hold all security deposits since we are ultimately responsible for returning it to the resident after they vacate the property. If you are bringing occupied properties to us to manage, we ask that you forward the security deposits as soon as the management agreement is signed. All security deposits are held in a separate account solely for deposits. 

We focus on maintenance. Our goal is to have emergency items completed within 24hrs and non-emergency items within 3-4 days. The top two reasons residents move out is they do not like the landlord/property manager and maintenance items are not completed timely or at all; usually lack of maintenance leads to not liking the landlord/property manager. Proper maintenance makes our residents happy, which reduces vacancy, which reduces client costs, which improves client profit, which makes our clients happy. 

We have move-in/move-out and periodic assessments completed to document a property’s condition and identify preventive maintenance items. 

We have in house maintenance to deal with the basic stuff quickly. For larger items like HVAC, plumbing, and electric, we have a list of trusted vendors we use regularly.  If a client has a preferred vendor(s), we are happy to use that vendor as long as the vendor can be placed on our approved vendor list and adheres to our company policies. 

The cost of the repair is deducted out of the rent we pay you at the end of the month. In your monthly statement, you’ll receive copies of the invoices and pictures whenever possible. In the event the repair is going to exceed rent or the property is vacant, you'll able to pre-pay through the online owner portal.

We take every measure to have rent collected on time each month. We have an internal collections process which consists of phone calls, email, and letters. In rare cases, we may have to file for eviction. If that’s the case, we’ll deal with all the paperwork and attorneys necessary to complete the eviction and removal of the resident. 

It depends... if you were referred to us by a local agent, we ask that you reach out to them first and give them the opportunity to list your house. If they aren't licensed anymore, we have a large network of agents we can refer you to who we use and trust. 

Obviously vacant houses are super easy to sell but occupied have significantly more challenges. Lets have a call to discuss your options before listing. 

At the end of the year, owners are sent a 1099 documenting all the income and expenses for their rental property.