Ballard Realty Property Management strives to provide the best property management services in town. We are local, we are reliable, we are trustworthy and will manage your property as if it were our own. Our goal is to provide that personal touch that only a family business can offer. We will protect the value of your property through proactive management.

It’s simple. The first step would be to contact us for an over the phone consultation or a face to face meeting.

Next:

For vacant units: All we need to get started is a signed management agreement, proof of insurance for the property, reserve funds (see below) and keys to the property. We will then take pictures and begin marketing the property for rent.

For occupied units: All we need to get started is a signed management agreement, proof of insurance for the property, reserve funds (see below), a copy of the tenant lease(s), tenant security deposit funds and keys to the property. We will then send out a welcome letter to your tenants and begin effectively and efficiently managing your investment.

Prior to advertising your property, we will come in and take pictures. We will then advertise the vacancy on our vacancy flyer at our office, on our website, Craigslist and many other free internet site. If permitted, we will put a for rent sign up in front of the property.

Prior to a tenant moving in, and before advertising if possible, we require that the following turnover items are completed by our vendors; carpet cleaning, blind cleaning, general cleaning and touch-up painting. This will insure that your property is appealing to prospective tenants and move in ready.

There is no way to predict how long a property will remain on the market, even in the best market conditions. However, we do work diligently to rent the property as quickly as possible. The most important objective is to find a quality tenant as bad tenants will only create more expense and another unwanted vacancy. Waiting for the right tenant is worth the additional time it can take to rent the property. We do our best to find the best tenant possible in the quickest amount of time.

Once a tenant completes an application, we will do a credit check, criminal background check, verify employment or source of income and get a current and previous rental reference. We have very strict qualifying standards and work diligently to find the best tenants possible. 

We collect a security deposit equal to the rental amount when a tenant signs a lease. If you have approved pets for your property we take an additional pet deposit. We take $250 for a cat and $400 for a dog. If there is a combination, for example, a cat and a dog or two cats we typically take $600. We hold the security/pet deposit in a security trust account at our bank.

When a tenant signs their lease, we require a full month’s rent and a deposit equal to the rent to be paid. The tenants next month’s rent that is due will be prorated based on the days that they lived in the unit during their first month of tenancy. For example, if a tenant moves in on September 15th and their rent is $1000 they will pay $1000 for the first month rent and $1000 for their security deposit at lease signing. When rent is due on October 1st they will pay a prorated amount for the 16 days that they lived in the unit in September. You can expect your first owner draw to be lower than normal. You will also have to factor in our rental fee of half of one month’s rent when determining your first owner draw.

We take our leasing fee from the tenant’s move in costs when they sign their lease. We take our management fee, which is based on a percentage of the rent, from the tenants rent payment funds at the beginning of each month.

We direct deposit your owner draw into your bank account on the 15th of every month. If the 15th falls on a weekend or holiday, it will be deposited on the next business day. If you prefer a check mailed to you we can accommodate that as well. If you do not receive your owner draw within ten days of it being mailed, we will then issue a new payment to you.

Ballard Realty Property Management will switch the electricity and gas account, if applicable, into the tenant’s names as of their move in date. The City does not allow us to put the water, sewer and garbage bill into the tenant’s names; therefore we have that bill sent to our office. Ballard Realty Property Management pays that bill with owner funds. We then send a copy of the bill to the tenants and ask them to reimburse your owner account with their next month’s rent. Ballard Realty charges $60 per year for facilitating the billing for w/s/g. This amount is charged in January of each year. This amount is never prorated. The City requires that the owner call and authorize Ballard Realty Property Management on the account so that we may make changes for tenants move in and move outs. You will need to continue paying all utility bills until we have found a renter. You should then get a closing bill from the City.

When you sign the management agreement with us, we will take a check in the amount of either $500 for a single family unit or $1000 for a multifamily property, which is your reserve amount. We always keep your account at a minimum of that amount throughout the month. This reserve will initially pay for any turnover work completed if you have a vacancy. When we send your owner draw on the 15th of the month we will give you all of the money in your account at that time minus that reserve amount. The reserve funds are refunded to you when you no longer employ our services.