Owner FAQ’s – Austin Property Team

A resource for owner’s to find the most frequently asked questions.

How do I proceed with APT?

First of all, we would discuss our solutions over the phone and answer any questions you may have that haven’t already been answered. We will then work up our management agreement and all supporting documents.

What are your rates for management and maintenance and what does it cover?

APT base’s their management fee on the condition of the property, location and rental amount. Our rates typically average between 8-10% of the gross monthly rents collected. Obviously discounts are provided for multiple properties and large apartment buildings. Our leasing commission is 80% of the first month’s rent which we use to pay the tenants […]

Where do you get your lease agreements?

We use lease agreements provided and promulgated by the Texas Real Estate Commission and the Texas Association of Realtor (TAR). It adequately protects both the landlord and tenants from misconduct or abuse of the rental property. In addition, we include a 6 page lease addendum to cover those areas that are not clearly defined in […]

How are tenants screened and qualified through your firm?

APT provides extensive screening of criminal, credit and rental history of tenants through Appfolio and Transunion. We also do employment verification with the applicants current employer and rental verification with their current landlord or management company. If you would like to review our qualification criteria prior to applying you can find it within our lease application […]

How do you determine a rental amount for my property?

APT is comprised of licensed Realtors and with that comes access to the multi-listing system (MLS). This database is a valuable resource when determining rental rates in a certain area. The MLS provides a true outlook on market consumption and not an estimated number determine by one of the popular search sites such as Zillow. […]

What areas of Austin do you offer management services?

We manage properties in Central Austin as far West as Lake Travis area, North to Round Rock, South to slaughter and East of Austin. If your address is within the Austin city limits we can handle it.

What types of properties do you manage in Austin?

APT handles all types of rentals from Single Family Homes, to duplexes, fourplexes and apartment complexes. We are selective with the properties we take on and understand that our processes may not be the right fit for every investor.

Can an owner hold the security deposit?

No. Below are a couple reasons why:

Liability (judges have awarded tenants and fined management companies even though they never held the deposits)
At move-out we need to be able to distribute the funds accordingly and must comply with time frame of 30 days per Texas Property Code.
It is our responsibility to hold deposits in a separate […]

Do you let owners have communication with their tenants?

No. we ask that our owners have absolutely no communication with their tenants. Below are several reasons why:

Tenants will go directly to owner and not Management Company for issues but owner expects management company to fix them.
Loose creditability with tenants because they communicate directly with owner and our guidelines are not followed.
Rents should be deposited through […]

What is your philosophy of management and what involvement an owner has in the process?

Our firm believes in regular communication with our owners. We want our investors to be provided with as much information about their property as possible. By providing this information to our owners we save them and us time on phone calls and monthly emails back and forth. Therefore, we include several reports with our month […]

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