FAQ for Owners

Modern Property Groups manages residential properties. This includes single family homes, townhomes, condominiums, duplexes, fourplexes and larger, (multi-unit buildings), and apartment buildings.

Turning over your rental property to the care of an unknown property manager can be an emotional and frightening experience. That is why you want to choose a company with experience and the right hands on approach. Modern Property Groups is personally invested in the community as it was the management of our own real estate holdings that led to the opening of Modern Property Groups.

We pride ourselves on being educated on housing regulations. There are a multitude of applicable laws related to rental property and leases. You need an educated firm to handle all the different property laws that come with renting out your property. Why deal with it yourself and hold the responsibility, let us carry the burden for you.

Modern Property Groups will perform a rent ready inspection to ensure your home meets our move in ready criteria. We are able to get your property up for rent as soon as your property meets our move in standards. Why waste precious time with a vacancy, let’s start right away and get your property on the market today! The quicker it rents, the quicker you can start collecting your money!

Management fees vary based upon size, occupancy and location – Average fees range from 7% to 10% of gross rents collected. Call today for more details.

Remittance of collected money will be submitted to the owner on or before the 25th of each month. The timing of when rent can be remitted to an owner is dependant on the method of payment by the tenant. Cash or cash equivalent rent payments can be made quicker than payments via a check as we must wait for the check to fully clear our account before it can be remited to the owner.

With changing regulations and the growing number of legal issues, managing a property is more challenging than ever. Having a professional property manager to protect your investment and help you avoid the unexpected difficulties is a sound business decision. Whether you are a seasoned investor or a first time landlord, the business of owning investment real estate can be complicated without skill, experience and guidance of a professional.

Our main office is open Monday – Friday 8am-5pm. Our leasing department will work with the resident’s schedule, including nights and weekends. We also have a 24 hour emergency maintenance line.

We give it maximum exposure while it is for rent and we carefully scrutinize all interested parties.

FOR RENT SIGNS – Posted at the property with our website and phone number clearly displayed. Prospective renters can find out very easily the price and size of your property and when it will be ready for move-in.

INTERNET LISTINGS – Our available homes for rent in the Columbia area are posted online complete with photos, maps and property details for the convenience of those searching for a new home.

WORD OF MOUTH / REFERRALS – Current and past tenants, friends of our tenants, referrals from other agents that we network with.

CORRECT PRICING – Even the best and nicest homes will not lease quickly if overpriced. We make sure your rental home is priced according to current market conditions.

THOROUGH PREPARATION – Even the best located and well priced rental homes will not lease quickly if the rental home is not in top showing condition. Homes for rent in the Columbia area absolutely must show well and have an attractive “curb appeal” or they may sit empty for extended periods. Part of our job as property manager is to make sure your rental home is presented in a clean and attractive condition so that it will attract a good tenant.

This is the most important aspect of the successful management of a rental property. In general, we look at an applicant’s past behavior and assume their future behavior will be the same. An applicant must demonstrate a history of being a good, responsible tenant or homeowner as well as meeting credit/income standards.

LANDLORD REFERENCES – We send a landlord reference form or personally talk to past landlords and ask detailed questions about the applicant’s past rental history.

CREDIT REPORT – Our property manager and leasing agent has a direct connection with a credit reporting service. We obtain a credit report which tells us the applicant’s current and past performance toward meeting their financial obligations. It also tells us their monthly debt and shows their previous addresses (which we compare to addresses listed on the application). An applicant must meet established credit standards.

CRIMINAL HISTORY REPORT – We pull a copy of the applicant’s criminal history report to verify if they have a criminal history.

EMPLOYMENT/INCOME – We contact the employer to verify length of employment, status, and income and also require that the applicant provide a copy of a recent paystub and/or income information.

Above all, careful tenant selection from the beginning provides the highest ability to protect your property from being rented to irresponsible people. During the lease term, we may have occasion to enter the property for repair or maintenance reasons and will use that opportunity to have a look. If we are fortunate enough not to have any repairs or maintenance at your property over an extended period of time, we do schedule a preventative maintenance walk-through to make sure the air filter is being changed, that the smoke alarms have batteries and that there are no unreported problems at the property.

Your property manager gives the tenant an opportunity to correct the situation and usually they will. If a problem persists, we will make a decision based on that specific situation.

We take a very proactive and hands on approach as it relates to the handling and management of tenant delinquency accounts. Our dedicated collection staff utilizes a combination of letters, phone calls and hand delivered notices to tenants with delinquent accounts.

Given the large number of properties we manage we are able to offer tenants a convenient rent drop-off location.

Absent any special considerations unique to you or your property, our rule of thumb is this: If something may cause a potential interruption in your ordinary cash flow (loss of tenant or non-emergency repair), we will let you know about it right away. Other than that, the saying “no news is good news” is most appropriate. Non-emergency items will be communicated along with your monthly statements and, of course, we encourage you to contact the property manager anytime you have a question or wish to discuss something.

We know some owners desire a level of involvement that our property management system is not designed to accommodate. We try our best to make sure you are a good match for our style of property management. Part of that process is this Question and Answer page so you can obtain a sense of how we think and how the manager will manage your investment property.

Tenants may fax or mail their requests to us, but most fill out an online form on our website or via phone. After we receive a repair request, the property manager may contact the tenant and ask them questions which will help us determine the exact nature of the problem before sending a service technician. We also make sure it is not something the tenant can fix themselves (ex: reset button on the disposal, tripped breaker) before your money is spent on a service call. After determining that it is a legitimate problem, we will send the appropriate service employee/vendor to make the repair.

We tell our tenants that we are able to handle most repair requests within 1 to 3 working days, and in fact are usually able to do so. Emergency service calls receive highest priority followed by comfort items such as air conditioning.

We can establish and hold back for you any amount you wish.

This is a legitimate fear. We promise in writing not to do that. For ordinary maintenance and repairs we will set a predetermined amount to use without notifying you. You will find out when you receive your monthly statement. If we think a repair might exceed the predetermined amount, we will call you and let you know what is happening, what we think should be done, and what the estimated cost might be.

Sometimes expenses such as a replacing a bad water heater, a roof leak that needs patching or repair, or emergency A/C and furnace repairs are unavoidable. In those cases where 1) the health or safety of a tenant is an issue, or 2) in instances where there is only one option to consider or 3) the property will incur damage if immediate action is not taken, the property manager will initiate the repair work, even if it is higher than the predetermined amount, and then let you know of the situation and what we are doing about it. Mainly, we don’t think important repairs should be delayed while we try to contact you for permission to do the obvious.