Owner Frequently Asked Questions

• What are your monthly management fees?

  Great news! There are no uop-front costs to getting started with our services. Once a tenant is placed, we typically collect 10% of the monthly rent. Peace of Mind currently offers incentives for military and investor clients.

• What type of properties do you manage?

  We specialize in Single-Family homes, Townhomes, Duplexes and condos. We have preferred business partners that handle commercial and all other types of properties.

• Are there any properties you don’t manage?

  We do not manage commercial properties nor do we manage homes in conditions that could affect the health or safety of an ordinary resident.

• What kind of experience do you offer?

  Each member of our staff has over 5 years’ experience in property management.

• Are you licensed?

  Yes. We are licensed real estate agents in the state of Texas.

• What do you do to get my property rented?

  We place your property on the Multiple Listing Service as well as multiple websites such as Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, and many more. We show the property to potential renter and take professional pictures of the property.

• How do you qualify someone that is applying for my property?

  We are looking for responsible residents by using and processing a detailed resident application. We review credit report, criminal history, employment verification and rental history.

  • Credit Report
  • Minimum 600 credit report.
  • Bankruptcy and foreclosures must be at least two years old.
  • Any payments due to a property management company and/or Landlord.
  • Criminal History
  • Full criminal background check.
  • Any person required to register as a sex offender will not be approved.
  • Rental History
  • Rental History will be verified through credit report and also through current landlord
  • Broken leases or eviction will not be accepted
  • Income Verification
  • All applicants must make a combined income of three (3) times the rent.
  • Verify self-employment by requesting two (2) years of tax returns, financial statement prepared by a CPS and current bank statement.

• How long is the lease that my residents sign?

  The normal length of the lease contract will be for 12 months. We may suggest a longer or shorter lease contract in certain situations

• How do you make sure the resident is taking good care of my property?

  We make sure to carefully select responsible residents when processing the application. During the lease term, we may have occasions to enter the property for repairs or maintenance issues and will use this opportunity to examine the property.

  We will also schedule a renewal assessment of the property prior to renewing a lease contract. This will let us know exactly how they are maintaining your property as well as protect both you and your property.

• What if the resident is not taking care of my property?

  We will give the resident the opportunity to correct the situation. If the property continues we will make a decision based on the situation and discuss with the owner.

• What happens if the resident does not pay their rent?

  If payment has not been made by the 5th - 6th day of the month, we send an eviction notice. Whether or not we eventually have to proceed with a formal eviction depends on the specific circumstances. It is usually financially better, for all involved, if a solution can be worked out. If the resident has experienced a one-time event which caused them a financial hardship, and we have had no previous problems with them, we will normally give them a chance to catch up, if there is reason to believe they can do so. If the resident has demonstrated an ongoing pattern of late payments, broken promises and/or evasiveness, eviction is usually the best course of action.

  Each case is unique, and we make our decisions based on what is best for you and the property in the long run. We always proceed with the legal notices required for eviction regardless of any other factors. We will simply postpone the actual filing of the eviction if the resident is showing favorable effort toward resolution. Evictions in Texas are a simple legal matter as there is no way a resident can prevail in court if they have not paid rent, and the landlord has properly executed the notices and filing. Full evictions, when necessary, can usually be completed in five to eight weeks.

• How often do you contact me with what is happening with my property?

  We will contact our owners when a repair is going to be over your owner reserve of $500. We will also contact you if your resident has not paid rent and we have to take further action. Owner will also be notified when the residents lease is going to expires or if a 30 day notice is submitted. We want to make sure that the owner is aware of any turnover so they are aware of relate expenses and be prepared for it.

• What if I want to be contact more with what is happening with my property?

  For some property owners, our system is not a good match, and we understand that. We are very up front about the fact that we do not want you to hire us if you expect to be involved in minor details or decisions related to the management and leasing of you property. We have designed our systems and procedures to provide our owners peace of mind and not to accommodate a high level of involvement by owners.

• Under your system of property management, how informed then will I be about what’s going on with my property?

  We will contact our owners when a repair is going to exceed their owner reserve of $500 and/or a resident vacates with or without notice. Anytime there is going to be a financial impact on your monthly statement or there is going to be a turnover on the property we will contact our owners to prepare them for what is coming up. Our goal is for our owner to have peace of mind and if an owner desires to be updated on every minor detail we will most likely not be a good fit.

• How will maintenance requests be handled?

  resident must submit a work order through their resident portal. Once the work order is submitted our 24 hour maintenance service will contact the resident to help determine the problem before sending out a contract. We want to make sure that it is not something the resident can fix themselves (ex: tripped breaker, reset button on the disposal, etc.) before there is a charge for a service call. After determining that it is an issue that needs to be handled by a contract then we will send out the appropriate contractor. We tell out residents that in most cases repairs will be handled within 1-3 business days. We continue to follow up with the resident and the contractor to insure the repairs have been taken care of.

  If a resident has an after hour emergency call they are instructed to contract our 24 hour maintenance hotline to report their problem.

• Do you use the cheapest maintenance contractors you can find?

  We do not use the cheapest contractors! Our contractors are competitive in price, competency, and reliability. We save our owners money by using these contractors for the majority of multi-trade and make ready tasks. An additional benefit to using these contractors is the opportunity for checking out the general condition of the property.

• Do you hold my money for repairs?

  We keep a $500 owner reserve per property in your account to insure there are always funds to pay the contractors.

• How do I know you won’t spend my money on large repairs without my approval?

  This is a fear of most owners. Our management agreement let you know exactly how much we keep in your account at all times. Maintenance and repairs that are less than $500 are paid out of your account and will reflect on your monthly statement. If a repair is going to exceed $500 we will contact you. If for any reason we are unable to contact you we will approve repair work even if it is higher than $500. The following issues would get approval from management if we cannot get an approval from an owner.

  • An issue that affects the health or safety of a resident
  • If the property will incur damage if immediate action is not taken
  • No A/C when the temperature exceeds 90+ degree
  • No hot water
  • Leaking Roof

  Our contractors have been informed to contact us for any repairs that are going to exceed $500.

• What if I know someone that can take care of the repairs on my property?

  Unfortunately, we only use our qualified and approved vendors. We are not able for liability reasons to use your friends or relatives to perform work on you home unless they are in fact licensed vendors.

• What if I have home warranty?

  We prefer that owners do not use a Home Warranty Company to make repairs at their rental property. We have found that home warranty companies deny the service either on grounds of lack of maintenance or abnormal wear and tear.

• What if I want to use my own plumber, A/C Company, etc.?

  We will be happy to invite them to join our vendor list if they are qualified and insured, but we cannot promise that a specific contractor will be dispatched to your home for certain repairs. If a company you prefer wants to be added to our contractors list, they can contact us and we will interview them and let them know what documentation and references we will need. However, we cannot guarantee that your favorite company will be sent on all service calls to you property. Our concern is always to resolve repairs problems in the timeliest way possible with the available contractor at the time. We cannot keep track of a pre-established roster of which vendors are assigned to certain properties – it would be very cumbersome and inefficient and would not achieve the best service to you, the resident or your property

  Our professional reputation, with both residents and owners, is largely, if not entirely, determined by how well we handle maintenance. Therefore, we follow a practice that is most likely to insure the best possible response and resolution to problems.

• When do I receive my owner statement and payment?

  Owners should expect their statement and payment between the 10th and 12th of each month. There could be a delay if these dates land on a weekend or a holiday. If this should be the case then payment will be process the following business day. Once we have submitted payment owners will receive an email letting them know to expect a direct deposit and when the funds should be in their bank.

• How do I receive my payment?

  All of payments are made through direct deposit. We will need voided check and/or direct deposit information. You will also be able to login to your owner portal to view your monthly statement.

• What bills do you pay that are related to my property?

  We will pay bills or invoices that are generated as a result of repairs, lawn service, utilities or other services to your property. We are not able to pay your mortgage, insurance, or HOA fees. We strongly suggest that the owner keep up with these payments to avoid liability, fines, fees, or other legal issues that could arise.

• What will I receive with my monthly statement?

  Your monthly statement will be uploaded to your owner portal along with invoices for repairs that have been completed.

• What can I see in my owner portal?

  Our owner portal is designed so that owners can see what is going on with their property. Owners will be able to view their owner statements, resident lease contracts and documents, repair invoices and submit request to management.

• What is the leasing fee?

  Our leasing fee is 50% of the first month’s rent. This fee is only charged when we place a new resident into the property.

  We market the property as follows:

  • Multiple Listing Services.
  • Multiple websites such as Realtor.com, trulia.com, and many more.
  • Professionally take pictures.
  • Showing the property.

• Are your fees negotiable?

  Our fees are very competitive and unfortunately not negotiable. We do understand that you can find a cheaper property management company but price should not be the determining factor in determining who you hire to manage your property. Choosing a property management company should be determined by other things then the fees we charge such as the efficiency and manner in which we handle your property. We believe that our experience, expertise, systems and service offers a great value at the fee structure we have established.

• Are there other service charges I should know about?

  There is a 25% renewal fee that is charged if a resident decides to renew their lease contract.

• Is the management agreement a standard contract?

  Yes, our property management agreement, residential lease agreement and rental application are promulgated forms provide by the Texas Association of Realtors®.

• Who holds the resident’s security deposit?

  Any deposit that is collected by a resident will be held in a security deposit account and will not be released until the resident gives up position of the property. If you have collected a resident’s security deposit, you send it to us at the time we take over management of the property.

• How much security deposit do you collect from the resident?

  We usually collect a security deposit that amount to one month’s rent.

• What if I receive a call from the resident?

  We ask that you avoid direct communication with the resident and refer them to our office. It is best for management handle any request the resident may have.

• What if I want to view my property?

  Not a problem. We suggest an owner visit their property once or two years. We recommend that owners give management at least a week notice of when the will be arriving so we can make arrangements with the residents.

• How soon can you start managing my property?

  We can start immediately. Please contact us so we can get some more information about you and your property and to see if we would be a good match for your wants and expectations. Feel free to contact us if you have any other questions or if you would like to discuss managing your property in more detail.