Phoenix Management Services

A Full Service Property Management & Rental Resource Company

Property Management - What We Do As A Team

Pricing of Your Home	Contract Negotiation	Maintenance Team On Hand
Screening Tenants	Rent Collection	Discount Vendors
Advertising Your Home	New Technology	Marketing Your Home
Inspection of Property	Communicate with Owners	Coordinate All Repairs
Eviction Process	Local Office for Tenants	Monthly Statement & Proceeds

 

Our properties are primarily residential homes. Our homes come in a wide range of rates, from $850 and up to $3,500. A selected number of our homes are targeted towards corporate rentals. Most of our leases are for a minimum of one year or more but in specific cases, at the request of the owner, we may reduce the lease lengths. Most of our homes come equipped with typical common appliances (refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, washer & dryer). Some have access to pool and tennis facilities where there are neighborhood associations and covenants. Some properties also permit pets. If so, there is a reasonable pet fee and deposit. We do not have pet rent. None of our homes permit smoking. Very few will allow smoking on premises.  

Most of our rental homes are located in the heart of the Triangle area with easy access to major employers (IBM, GlaxoSmithKliens, Cisco, RTI International, Quintiles, Fidelity Investments, US Environment Protection Agency, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) in Research Triangle Park , Duke University and it's Medical Centers, North Carolina Centennial Campus, UNC Hospital and the University, and NC State University. Visit our Relocation Information link for more information about some of the great amenities our area has to offer.

You can view our rental homes by clicking here or contacting us. Anyone in the office will be able to assist you in scheduling a viewing. To apply for a rental home, you may do so online, fax us with the filled out rental application, or drop by our office. We require a deposit and an application fee before the office will process your application. The deposit reserves the home for you. We are capable of taking credit cards over the phone if you desire, instead of doing it online. To sign a lease, we request that you and/or your significant other be present. 

For landlords and owners, Phoenix Property Management offers an additional service to help you rent your home.  Landlords who wish to manage their own property, but need help in finding a tenant, we offer a Landlord Assistance Program. Ask anyone in our office for details.

Our full property management service encompasses a variety of areas. Some of which are: (1) Prospecting a tenant, (2) Marketing the property, (3) Screening the tenant, (4) Negotiating the term & condition of the lease, (5) Preparation of Move-in & Move-out with tenants, (6) Checking-up on the property, (7) Collecting rent, (8) Coordinating repairs for the property, (9) Handling issues during the term of the tenant stay at the property.

Who We Are: A dedicated group of property managers and leasing professionals dedicated to 1) maximize your rental income, 2) minimize your rental cost, 3) proper tenant management, 4) and preservation & protection of our property. We have been in business in the Triangle area for over 20 years and pride ourselves on the fact that we build and maintain lasting relationships with our clients. We currently operate our services in Wake, Orange, and Durham Counties. To date, we manage over 150 residential homes and several complexes in the Triangle. We have a proven track record of success and excellence.

Our Fees

COMMITMENT FEE: $300. One-time. Non-Refundable.

FINDERS FEE: Ranges from ½ month rent to 1 full month’s rent depending on the type of service, property, and location of property.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT FEE: 8% - 10%. Depends on how fast we rent the property. We collect no fee until the rent is received.

Please contact our office (919.544.2922) or email us

Market Analysis of Your Property

Determining the rental value for your home is both a science and an art. While we can determine what other similar rentals have commanded in the recent past, we also balance our projected rental price to that of market dynamics. Our goal is to price your home at the optimum price point the market can bear with the highest quality tenant we can acquire in a timely manner. These metrics (price, quality tenants, timeliness) are a must if we (you) are to achieve your return on investment in the long run.

In rentals, pricing of the your home depends on a number of elements 1) availability 2) supply 3) condition 4) location 5) unique attributes - in that order. School is an example of an unique attribute. Renters are less concern about the schools. Much less than if they were to buy the house.

We have found that the date of the availability of the house is quite important to most renters. The reason is simple. Most tenants are moving because they have to. Their lease is ending some time soon. And it usually ends a certain date. Therefore, they MUST move on or before that date. Therefore, the the rental property has to be available on or before that date. There usually is little room for manuver.

Area inventory, supply, affects everyone. Most amature landlords lever the price to get their homes rented. While this certainly can work, it comes at a risk. We try very hard not to compete on price alone. Having a qualify tenant for example is critically important to us. So is the terms of the lease. Having access to a base of potential ready tenants is also nice. So is getting their first, our agent showing the house becuase it is the only time the client is available is a great advantage. We have encounter many times when our client rents a house from Phoenix at $1,395 while an identical vacant home two house down is listed for $1,100. So not everything is exact or efficient as you might assume.

Renters love nice homes. They like "good" looking ones. Appearance is everything. So in addition to keeping the house clean and freshen, a nice kitchen cabinets, shampoo carpets, new stove, refrigerator, ceiling fans go along way.

Location is surprising less important. Most tenant when they contact us about a house, they already look at the area and have "accepted" it. So selling the area is secondary to what is "in that house". Granted, never second guess the area surrounding.

Lastly, unique attributes to "rent" the house. I had a client who liked a TH more than a standalone house because of the particular "office room" on the first floor where it is separated from the rest of the house. To her, it was this feature she did not want to live without now that she seen it. Another example is a house with a nice large fenced-in yard. This particular tenant had to have it becuase he has a golden retriever and having her happy is the most important thing in his life. So the house comes in second.

Our market analysis of your rental home takes all these elements - availability, condition, neighborhood, the available rentals (supply), location, and the property into consideration. These factors affect your rental. We will provide you with our recommendation, and together, we can achieve the best rental for your home.

We no longer require a visit to each property as we have in the past. The shere volume of information available today from our inventory, local MLS, City records, Real Estate websites, enables us to do alot of the leg work from our end. We do still come to your home before we list it to inspect and take our own measurements, pictures, in preparation of the home.

Properties We Manage are Single Family Homes & Townhomes.

Please contact our office (919.544.2922) or email us

Marketing Your Home

 

We pride ourselves in the variety and quality of our venues when marketing your home. As noted, we pay for majority of these expenses. You, as the owner, pay for one print ad in local newspaper.

Here are a few of those venues we openly share with you and our competitors. While the list is quite long, we are always in search of new and better approaches as the market evolves. Feel free to drop us a note if you know you have a winner.

• Phoenix Rentals is a recognizable brand.  Local folks, real estate agents, know Phoenix is the place to go to for quality residential rental homes.  This is what keeps our phones busy.
• Our specific targeted rental home websites - Triangleplace.com.  Triangleplace.com only advertises home in the Triangle area. 
• Triangle Multiple Listing Service - all properties are listed in this service, which reaches thousands of local and regional real estate agents. 
• Newspaper Advertising - News & Observer, Cary News, Durham Herald, Chapel Hill News, Daily Tarheels, NCSU Technician, and other local papers.
• Other local and national websites - Raleighrent.com, Caryrent.com, Durhamrent.com, Apexrents.com, ChapelHillrent.com, Rentclick.com, RTPLinks.com on and on.
• Local institutions, colleges, campus bulletins and forums at UNC, Duke, NCSU.
• Our office networks - office traffics, leads, contacts.
• Rental list sharing with other property management offices in the area.
• Contacts with local Relocation Specialists and offices. Area real estate agents and relocation specialists rely on Phoenix Property Management as a source for their clients' rental needs.

• Local Newspaper Advertising

  Below is an additional list of National Websites that Phoenix utlilizes to maximize exposure for our clients:

Please contact our office (919.544.2922) or email us

Acquiring Good Tenants

Quality homes attract quality tenants.  More, quality tenant desires quality rentals.  We have found this truism to be ever more absolute.  Many of our past tenants are owners themselves.  They are usually professionals making a move into the area due to job changes.  Some are for short term (12 months) and others may be for a few years.  Many are in the high tech area working in RTP, nurses, faculty members at the Triangle universities, doctors, expats, professors.  One of our property had three physicians consecutively in the past five years.  Some are local moves, relocating due to job advancements, new addition to the family, or needing a larger place.  These tenant understand and respect the home they live in.

Where do we get these tenants?  A larger portion of our tenants find us through time-developed referrals.  These referrals are agents from many professions including realtors - insurance agents, brokers, merchants, restaurants, relocation agents.   A growing channel is the internet.  We are anchored all North Carolina RTP newspaper portals including Newsandobserver.com, Carynews.com, Durhamherald.com, Chapelhillnews.com.  Realtor.com.  Rental sites such as Triangleplace.com, Rentals.com, Triangle.com. Raleighrent.com. Caryrent.com. Durhamrent.com. Chapelhillrent.com.  Local universities like www.unc.edu, business, medical and dental schools.  Duke Housing Department.  And lastly our local realtor multiple listing services (MLS) which is viewed by all realtors in the area.  This does not include our own Phoenixpropertync.com.

A complementary role to acquiring good tenants involve skill in matching them with the rental property.  Our agents have many years of practice.  For each applicant, we perform:

• Thorough applicant screening, including a detailed application form.
• Instant credit checks through a nationwide credit bureau service.
• Personalized interview with prospective tenants.
• A check of references and previous rental history, as well as employment history.
• Preparing and executing leases based on NC Real Estate Commission guidelines & rules.

Maintaining your property to look its best, allows us to attract quality tenants who take pride in maintaining their rented homes.

We have done this for over 20 years.

Please contact our office (919.544.2922) or email us

Leasing and Financial Management

We use Yardi Property Management & Financial software to manage our properties. Yardi is a national software development house whose software is adopted by small, medium and large management companies. Yardi tracks each account by owner, units, tenants, lease term, and the rental cycle process flow from contract, move-in to move-out.  Below are examples of some of the things we provide to owners on a monthly basis.

• Timely rent collection & disbursement to owner
• Provide owners online monthly cash-flow statement & and direct deposit to owner's account.
• Payment of mortgage, utilities bills (if requested by owner).
• Manage the move-in and move-out process.
• Schedule & Coordinate repairs.
• Regular property inspections.
• Pay mortgages, homeowners dues, maintenance bills, taxes, insurance as requested by the property owner.
• Year-end 1099 tax statement.

Please contact our office (919.544.2922) or email us

Caring of Your Home and Investment - The Daily Management

 

Managing a property entails two general areas: 1) Ensuring tenant is keeping good care of the home; 2) Perform timely & preventive repairs.  To ensuring tenant are performing above their responsibility, we perform a number of steps below.

• Periodic inspection of all properties.  We do frequent drive-by and inside inspection.
• Advises owner of require repairs and/or improvements as necessary.
• Move-in and move-out inspections. 
• 24-hour a day service - we are there in times of emergencies.
• Build rapport and trust with tenants

Having reliable tenants is good start. Good tenants protect and care for the property.  A good start does not prevent the house from repairs. It will if it is a normal home. We seek to resolve an issue before it becomes a problem. This means sometimes going ahead of the problem and informing you (the owner) of the possible issue. With this vital information in hand, we believe a sound decision can be made. In the landlord business, no news is not necessary good news for us. Look at your own primary home and see the number of issues you might encounter in a year. Wouldn't you expect something similar in a rental? When there are few or no problems with the house, you should count it a blessing. We count ours. At Phoenix, we expect things to break.  Toilet to leak.  Gutters to be clean.  Water heater to go bad on.  We don't hope they won't happen.  We plan for them.

Here is how we handle to minimize your cost and repair it right and expeditiously.

• We have the office staffs, the handyman crew, and the contractors, and the skill supervisor to ensure what needed done is done right and at the right cost.
• We make a distinction between handyman work and contractor work and we use them according to the job require.  This cut cost.
• We made extensive use of digital camera in our inspection and repair.  Sometime, a picture explains more than any word.  All of our staff carries a camera whenever they inspect the home.  We also ask the repairman and contactors to take pictures of their repair so to assist us and you to see what is being done.
• We advises on improvements that we think will add-value to your property and your rent.
• Contactors we use are those we have come to trust and know they do reliable work.  We build this trust from many years of interactions with them.  This is so crucial in the field especially in the HVAC and Plumbing world. 
• In addition to our normal drive-by and inside inspection, every repair opportunity is another opportunity for my staff to double inspect the property.  We have found this to reinforce our assessment of the tenants to be quite accurate.
• We supervise all repairs and improvements.
• Initiation and follow-through on any insurance claims for damage.

We do more than just manage the repairs of your property. We care for it as if it is our private residence. Most of our homes are in as good or better condition than its neighbors - outside and inside. This is a good testimony for us and the owner's behalf.  View our portfolio. We work very hard at prevention in comparison to waiting and hoping things won't fall apart. At times, we may decline to manage a property if we view that the owner's philosophy contrasts ours.

Please contact our office (919.544.2922) or email us

Communicating With You and the Tenants

We keep you and the tenant informed. We expect likewise from you.

• We'll let you know of any repairs our staff inspects prior to sending a repairman to site. 
• We expect a discount from market price from our repairman and/or contractors. We have used them and continually monitor the market price. We expect honest opinion and quality work from our contractors.
• We provide a Quarterly Tenant newsletter to inform them of news, reminders, latest prevention technique, and other important information.  
• We will advise you, the owner, with any major repairs before starting the work.
• Our possible communication venues are phone, cells, email, instant messenger, forms, and anything you deem necessary.

Please contact our office (919.544.2922) or email us

 

Our mission is to protect and enhance the value of the owner's investment