Property Management

There are two good questions any homeowner in the process of making a decision about leasing a home should ask:

Why should I use professional property management?

Why should I employ 3 Options Realty?

Your decision to investigate leasing your home is most likely based upon an expected financial short-term or long-term benefit.  Our property management company strives to maximize and then sustain competitive market rents.  We do our best to get the financial benefit you deserve. We also have a duty to you to protect your investment, so that it continues to make money for you years down the road.

We are particular about who we serve, and we expect that you are equally particular about who serves you.  This is a proper balance of expectations.  Our objective is to render unrivaled professional yet  personal service.  Unlike the industry norm, we do not hand over our operations to a staff.  Rather, each pairing of landlords and tenants is assigned a sole agent.  This agent handles all aspects of home leasing and property management for your investment.  

When you employ us, you are free from day to day property management chores.  All you will need to do is log in to your owner portal, acknowledge the monthly rental proceeds disbursement, and verify with your bank that the funds were received.  We really do the rest!  And you might like to know that there are no hidden fees that pop up as surprises once under contract.  Our version of a good relationship is one that holds no surprises! 

So what does it cost you to employ our services, and what services do we offer?  

When the property is occupied, we charge 8% of the gross monthly rental proceeds as a management fee. But you never pay a management fee when the property is either vacant or when the tenant fails to pay rent.  In return for this fee, we do the following:

Manage the tenant:

• Collect maximum monthly rents.
• Collect maximum amounts for security deposits.
• Collect maximum amounts for pet deposits (if applicable).
• Use a real estate trust account to process and retain all deposits. (Please ask us about this very important feature.)
• Service tenant periodic needs in coordination with you when appropriate and per agreement.
• Process contract terminations, and evictions (if necessary).
• Insure compliance with Georgia landlord/tenant law O.C.G.A. 44-7, and other applicable laws.
• Insure compliance with federal/state fair housing laws.

Manage the Property (the investment):

• Conduct comprehensive, legally binding, move-in and move-out inventories.
• Conduct periodic property inspections and report findings to you.
• Coordinate minor maintenance services while keeping you informed.
• Coordinate major maintenance services in consultation with you.
• Coordinate utility services between occupancies.
• Generate for you a monthly financial report.
• Generate for you an annual financial summary.
• File Form 1099-MISC with the IRS.       

Then, when it’s time to find a new tenant, we charge one month’s rent for these services.  For that you get the following:

• Professional market research to help to decide on fair-market rents.
• Professional advice to you about how to prepare the property for maximum results in marketing.
• Broad market advertising (multiple listing service, company website, and Internet syndication with multiple websites).
• Skilled showing of property to prospective tenants.
• Employment of a universal lock box to maximize showing opportunities.
• Professional signage to attract drive by applicants.
• Comprehensive rental applicant interview.
• Extensive applicant background screening (credit, employment, residential history, criminal background).
• Expert negotiation of rental agreements.
• Professional drafting of custom rental agreements using our proprietary, attorney reviewed and approved forms.
• Careful conduct of move-in/move-out inventory/inspections.

But what is probably most important is how much money you save.  We do not charge a management fee during periods of vacancy, as most property management companies do.  We can afford to not charge such high amounts because we maintain good customer relations with our tenants over the lease term.  This is also possible because our comprehensive applicant screening process results in minimized management tasks, and simplified and efficient renewals.  Consequently we can return these costs to you as savings. Additionally, if we can keep a tenant for subsequent terms, you save big money avoiding the inevitable costs of sprucing up the property for marketing. 

Our greatest concern is fostering an ongoing business relationship with you.  We are less concerned with the short-term financial benefit to the company.  We have a long-term view.  We want you to be so satisfied with our services that you cannot wait to refer us to friends and family with similar real estate needs.  In pursuit of this company core value, we realize that our reputation is on the line every day.  We are comfortable with that, and we think you will be too.

Finally, we do not cloak our incidental operating fees in legal gobbledygook.  We announce them right up front so you know what you’re getting when you make the decision to hire us.  We believe this business philosophy is critical in pursuit of a sustainable professional relationship.  Our business model is founded on this first principle.

You may find some property management companies that will offer some services for less, but we believe that nobody can do them better.  This is because of our unique business model, where the same agent does both the leasing and the property management.  Your agent will know you, your property, and your tenant.  This awareness minimizes confusion.  Confusion is the most frustrating part of managing residential property for both owner and property manager.  If you ever have questions about any of our fees, please contact us, we’ll gladly explain the benefit and the necessity. 

While our main office is located in Roswell, we also have an office in East Elijay (north Georgia mountains), and we have agents that live all over suburban and in-town Atlanta.  For us, property management is agent centric, meaning our landlords and tenants are best served by agents that live in or near the communities in which they manage and lease.  We have an agent near your property. So please contact us and let's discuss your investment objectives.