Are you relocating to the Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill .. now including Cary, Morrisville, Apex, Holly Springs) of North Carolina? Moving to a new area and new home is a alot of work. Lets us help make it easier. The information below is to help you acclimate to the area and theh house. Our Relocation sheet also details the larger are of the Triangle to give you some perspective to the area.
Tenants, welcome to Phoenix Property Management. We hope your stay with us will be an enjoyable experience and that you will seek us out when you need other real estate services. The home that you are living in- there is an owner behind each one. They care deeply how their home performs and how it is treated. We ask that you keep it in top shape by treating it as if it were your own.
Like all homes, repairs will inevitably be needed. We have identified a number of common repairs we receive in the office that can easily be addressed by you. Read carefully and see if they can be any assistance to you. For other repairs that may require our involvement, you can submit the maintenance request conveniently here below.
Tenant News is our venue to share with you daily all the things that concern and matter to you. Please check this "bulletin" regularly.
Tenant News |
Taking care of your air condition. Summer is here. This week alone we have had a few days where temperature has exceed 100 degree. To keep your AC in best shape, we suggest you take the following measures.
1. Keep areas around the air-conditioning-unit free from dirt and grass. This will keep your unit operating in best shape and do so efficiently. You should check your air-condtioning-unit monthly from congestions and debris. See picture.
2. Keeping your air-conditioning coils clean. Through time, air-conditioning coils get dirty and natural elements and grass. Consult a professional expert to get their advice how to go about it. Often, hosing down the dirt from the unit does the job.
3. Water Restriction still in effect. For complete information regarding Raleigh Water Restrictions click here! Please click here for all information regarding Durham Water Restrictions. Failure to follow the rule will result in violation which will be bill to you as tenant and not the owner. Consult your lease contract if you have doubt.
Paying Rent on Time |
Rent is due 1st of each month for that month.
There are a variety of option in the methods to pay your monthly rent:
1. Visit Our Office. Come into Phoenix rental office and pay us directly. Our office is 'always' open for rent payment because when the office is close, there is a drop-off box for rent to be dropped off. When you do drop of the check, please make note in your drop-off that the check is for which property.
2. Mail in your check. You are responsible that the check gets to us. Therefore, give yourself and the Post-Office enough time to get your rent to us. Neither the Post Office or Phoenix is responsible for your rent.
3. Wire rent to Phoenix. You can have the rent automatically wire to Phoenix from your bank. This must be instructed by you to your bank. Contact Phoenix for our account information. Note setting up the wiring at some bank requires week so plan ahead.
Note the following when you make your payment:
- Phoenix accepts personal checks, cashier's checks, Money Gram, Money order, and credit card (3% transaction fee).
- On all checks, cashier's checks, Money Gram, to include your name and rental property address.
- Make check payable to "Phoenix Realty".
- If you are late once or write us a bad check, all future rent will need to be in cashier check or cash. No exception.
- Rent is considered paid on the day we receive your check. If you mailing to us, make sure it is sent early enough to ensure the mail arrives on the date due. We are not responsible for loss mail or is the mailman. It is your responsibility to ensure the rent is paid.
- Credit card accepted are Visa, Mastercard, and Discover Card. There is a 3% charge for the transaction for the service provider charges. This value may change at any time. So verify with us.
Maintenance Policy |
Residential Lease Contract per paragraph 5 (Tenant Obligations), 10 (Damages), and 17 Limitation of Remedies and Damages defines the responsibility of the tenant and the landlord in handling repairs and damages. They are sumarized below.
1. All maintenance request must be done in writing (website submission, email, fax, letter mail).
2. If the item at question is caused by tenant outside of normal usage, the repair bill will be charge to tenant.
3. Report of item damages must be done so in reasonable time within the occurance. Failure to do so when damages exceed normal course will result in great damages which will be charge to tenant.
4. Tenant must take active preventive measurements and/or measures upon the item of issue. Damages beyond normal cause will be bill to tenant.
5. Tenant failure to be present or make home available for repair when agreed upon of date and time will be charge minimum of a Trip Charge of $60.
Click here to submit a maintenance request.
Common Maintenance Requests
We have listed below a list of most frequent repair items we receive in the office. We post them here to help you resolve them independently where possible to save cost. You as tenant are responsible for repairing of items as the terms of the lease contract. However, there are cases when the owner will be called to pay for the repairs as appropriated noted in the examples.
1. My disposal stop working.
The first place we suggest you look for is a switch. It is probably tripped. The switch is usually located by the kitchen sink above the countertops. If you are not sure which switches it is, try toggling them all. The one that appears to have done nothing is probably the switch for the disposer. If this step does not get the disposer back on, the next step is to reset the disposer. The reset button is on the bottom of the disposer. You will need to get on your knees to lower your head enough under the sink to see the bottom of the disposer. There is a button like shape (red, black) you can push into and you will feel like it click when you push it. The click signal that the disposer has been reset. If the 2nd technique does not appear to work, it is possible the blade in disposer is stuck. You usually can tell this if the hear the motor starting when you turn the disposer on but it grinds to a hault. To loosen the blade, turn off the disposer first. Jam something long enough that it can reach the bottom of the disposer to break loose the blade. DO NOT IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PUT YOUR HAND IN THE DISPOSER. Give the blade several jolt. Afterward, switch the disposer on. Usually, this will do the job.
Lastly if the techniques above fails to get the disposer started, contact our office and we will schedule a repairman to come out to your property. Note that if the repairman determines the problem is due to misuse of the disposer (fork in the disposer, baby bottles in the disposer, bones in the disposer, excessive man-made items in the disposer), we will charge the expense of the repair to you as called for in the lease contract.
2. My dishwasher stop running.
This usually happens frequently if you have not use the dishwasher for weeks. The dishwasher is a device meant to be use frequently. This means about 3 times a week. If you don't use it, the motor gets stale and get stuck. To start it, you need to remove the bottom panel and spin the wheel to get the motor going. We don't suggest you do this if you are not mechanically incline. When you first move-in the home, our office agent normally have the dishwasher run in front of you to proof that the dishwasher works. If you fail to use it frequently and this problem occurs, it will be is your responsibility to repair the dishwasher. If the dishwasher fails to operate per our evaluation, we will have the owner pay for the repair as called fourth by the terms of the lease contract.
3. My heat does not warm the house.
We get this most when at the beginning of winter. The most common cause of this is that the pilot has not been lighted. You need to locate where the furnace is, usually it is either in a back closet or under the crawspace, follow the instruction on the equipment to light the pilot. Your other option is to call a HVAC technician to come out to light it. If this does not fix the problem, then contact our office. We will schedule our own technician to come out to repair the problem.
4. My AC does not blow cold air.
This normally is due to low freon. We usually get this type of call at the beginning of a hot season. You will need to contact our office so we can have our HVAC come out to replenish the freon in the system.
5. My outlets in the kitchen stop working suddenly.
This usually is due to circuit load by an appliance such as new microwave,
Emergency Response |
If this is an emergency call 911, then call our 24-hour phone line at 919-544-2922. For non-emergency repairs, submit in writing the repair request on our website (www.Phoenixpropertync.com) or by fax.
It is your responsibility to handle each emergency incident as call fourth by the rental contract. You are responsible for the incident, damages, etc.. If a fire, call 911. If leaking or plumbing, follow the lease terms ie. call our office and take property action to stop the leaking. See our guidelines below if you are unsure. Best policy is always to call our office and take the appropriate action as called for in our lease agreement.
Note, if the need for repair is caused by you or the repair does not fall within "normal wear & tear", the cost of repair will be charged to you. If you are the cause for the repair we highly encourage you, as the tenant, to repair the fault whenever possible before contacting us.
Here are a few examples of calls we frequently receive that are non-emergency and/or tenant caused.
Example #1
Problem: Disposal stops working.
Possible Reason: Utensils or Sponge stuck down in it.
- Solutions: Remove debris inside the disposal, push the reset button on the bottom of the disposal and turn the disposal on again. Or push the re-set button on the GFCI if there is one.
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Example #2
- Problem: Air condition settings won't change, AC thermometer is not working.
- Possible Reason: Low Battery.
- Solutions: Your programmable thermometer is often run by battery. All it may need is a new battery.
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Example #3
- Problem: My AC is not flowing cool enough air.
- Possible Reason: Filthy AC filters or blocked air vent.
- Solution: To keep the air conditioner in good shape, the filters need to be replaced regularly. It is suggested that you use the "blue" color filters (.25cent) and replace monthly. The filters can be purchased in most home improvement stores as well as Wal-Mart.
- Second Solution: AC requires air intake to produce cool air. If the AC vents are blocked, this will cause the AC to work harder while netting little result. When this happens, your bill goes up yet you will continue to receive little cool air. Therefore, check your air vents and make sure they are clear of obstacles and clean.
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Example #4
- Problem: Fire alarm keep beeping, what should I do?
- Possible Reason: Low battery.
- Solution: Replace with new battery.
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Example #5
- Problem: My kitchen outlet stopped working.
- Possible Reason: Recent use of appliance such as a portable grill tripped the GFCI.
- Solution: Press reset on outlet. Your house is wired in series and each line can only handle so much electricity running through it. A refrigerator, hair dryer, or a cooker will usually trip the circuit. This is for your protection. In this scenario, you need to check if there is any GFCI outlet close to the vicinity. If so, push the "re-set" button and see if the electricity returns to the outlet. If not, go next to the circuit breaker box. This usually is located in the garage, hallway, or in utility room. Open the panel, lookup the tab for the area where the circuit may be tripped (kitchen, etc.), toggle the tab from "OFF" back to "ON". In the event we send out a repairman to resolve the electrical failure, if the problem is due to a tripped breaker or GFCI outlet, we will charge you the cost of the service.
