Frequently Asked Questions about Alarca's Management Services
What price will my home rent for?
This is a common question from our new clients and can only be answered after we conduct an evaluation of your home and the surrounding neighborhood. We can generally give you a feel for a price range, but in this market prices can move significantly in just a few months. We are able to get our homes rented quickly, however, because we ensure that at any price range, our homes look the best. We're not going to tell you to add granite countertops or spend money unnecessarily, but our attention to detail is what counts. Time and again potential tenants tell us that our homes are in the best condition.
How long will it take to rent my home?
A number of factors dictate how quickly a home will rent. Alarca's homes are some of the fastest moving homes in the marketplace. The homes are in the best condition and our team is laser-focused on filling vacant properties. You can tell by looking at our website that vacancies are not a big issue for us. We often have multi-year leases and rarely have a home on the market for more than a month or two.
How do you find a good tenant?
We use a set of pre-determined criteria developed over time that balances finding a qualified tenant and renting the home in a reasonable amount of time. It is important that criteria are set ahead of time in order to avoid violating Federal Fair Housing Laws and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Most of our maintenance is handled by our maintenance company, Alarca Property Services, Inc. Our technicians are trained specifically in our processes and systems for managing your home in the most cost effective ways possible. There is no minimum service charge and you are charged only for the specific time that the technician spends on the job. In cases, where we need to use our partner vendors, we have obtained discounted rates to save you money and ensure a quality job. We know we need to prove our value to you each and every day because you are not locked into a long-term contract with us. Dozens of clients have joined us after having their homes managed by our competitors and our best-in-class maintenance procedures and pricing are another reason these clients remain with us today.
Sometimes new clients want to use their own contractor to work on their homes and we don't have a problem with this as long as the vendor is properly licensed and insured and can meet our work and payment standards. In most cases, our team and vendor network provides better pricing than our clients' vendors, but this is not always the case. Some of our best vendor partners have been provided by our clients.
If the home is vacant and there is some work you'd like to do yourself, we generally don't have a problem with it, as long as it is work that you're qualified to complete. For example, many homeowners don't know that on a rental home, licensed electricians are required to change an outlet or light switch. Remember that part of our benefit to you is that we add a layer of liability protection and, therefore, we want to make sure your home is professionally maintained. We prohibit owners from working on our occupied homes. If you want to work on your investment while your home is occupied, we are probably not the right property management company for you.
When do I get my rent each month? Is there any maintenance reserve?
We process rent checks twice a month on the 11th and 25th. If your tenant pays on time you'll get your rent direct deposited into your bank account by the 15th of the month it was paid (no month lag!). If your tenant pays late, we process draws again on the 25th so you'll get your money by month-end.
We do not generally hold a maintenance reserve so you will get 100% of your funds each and every month.
What type of reporting do I get?
All of our financial information is uploaded to your owner portal. Monthly statements, work orders, scanned receipts of all bills, lease documents, addenda, letters, etc. In addition, you'll get a snapshot right on your homepage so you can see the status at any time day or night. We want you to have 100% financial transparency. On the other hand, you don't have to look at this at all. We will contact you when we need you to approve a repair or new lease price, etc.
How is rent collected and evictions handled?
We do NOT accept cash so you can be assured you're getting paid if your tenant has paid. We encourage all of our tenants to pay online through our tenant portal and we do NOT charge an admin fee for this service. Additionally our tenants may pay at any Seven Eleven or Ace Cash Express location in the Charlotte area.
Rent is simply due on the 1st, late on the 6th and we file evictions on the 11th of each month. We do not accept partial payments and we treat all of our tenants equally. The vast majority of our tenants in eviction get caught up during the eviction process and do not need to be locked out.
Alarca Realty provides Expert Property Management Services in Charlotte, Mooresville, Huntersville, Davidson, Cornelius and the Lake Norman Area