Common Questions
Answers to Your Property Management Inquiries
Included in your monthly property management fees are:
- A dedicated property manager
- Rent collection services
- Tenant management
- Coordination of maintenance tasks
- Oversight of compliance and licensing requirements
- Financial reporting
- Management of eviction processes
Virginia Property Management Group follows Fair Housing guidelines and thoroughly screens each applicant. The screening process includes reviewing credit and criminal backgrounds, rental history, as well as income and employment verification
VPMG’s leasing department conducts a comprehensive rental analysis of your property and neighboring rentals to provide a rental rate recommendation that ensures maximum return on investment (ROI). The recommendation takes into account factors such as location, amenities, and the current rental market. However, the final decision on the listing price is up to the owner.
The responsibility for maintenance costs depends on the cause of the issue. Either the owner or the tenant is responsible. Your property manager will help determine the cause and obtain repair quotes.
Yes, you have the option to handle maintenance work on your own. However, we highly recommend utilizing our in-house technicians or our network of licensed professionals. This ensures access to competitive rates and allows us to oversee the project and hold the contractors accountable for their work.
Yes! We will make the initial inspection to review any risk management issues like loose railings, improperly installed items and potential maintenance issues. We will document all your mechanical systems, HVAC, plumbing and appliances for our maintenance system records. As part of the inspection we will review mold policies and take a look around to see if there is any evidence of mold. After the inspection we will be happy to share any marketing recommendations and schedule a good time to take pictures for the MLS listing.
Yes, once you have a tenant you will need to convert your owner policy to a landlord policy. In most cases it will cost less than your current policy because you don’t have to insure any personal property with the exception of appliances, which should have some coverage.
It is always prudent to maintain your equipment but it is important to service any sprinkler systems and sump pumps. Sprinkler systems should have the lines blown out prior to winter. We will be happy to review your plan and make further recommendations on our initial site visit.
We recommend you place all the service manuals in a binder and maintain the records on site in the property. This is very helpful for our vendors and the tenant as well. Certain pages we like to scan to our system for the tenant. The most common pages we keep on file are gas fireplaces, garage door programming, microwave operating instructions, security panel instructions and any proprietary manuals for sprinkler systems and audio video systems.
Our official day for marketing is “picture day”. We recommend marketing your home 30 to 45 days prior to your departure. The day your home is ready for pictures to be placed on the MLS is the day we start the marketing process. Once we have the high resolution, wide-angle photos, we can upload them to the MLS system, which also populates up to 250 additional websites. It is essential that your home be clean and ready for the photos. It is very important to have all the photos ready and uploaded at one time.
The responsibility for maintenance costs depends on the cause of the issue. Either the owner or the tenant is responsible. Your property manager will help determine the cause and obtain repair quotes.
Yes, you have the option to handle maintenance work on your own. However, we highly recommend utilizing our in-house technicians or our network of licensed professionals. This ensures access to competitive rates and allows us to oversee the project and hold the contractors accountable for their work.
Your dedicated property manager will promptly address any rent payment issues. They will work diligently to either bring your tenant up to date on their payments or initiate eviction proceedings if necessary. Please note that management fees are only charged based on rent collected, so we don’t receive payment until you do.
Getting started with VPMG is really easy. Just give us a call and have the following information available. This helps us to start the set up process and establish the basis for a new account.
- Contact information for Condo/HOA management company
- Home owner’s insurance company information
- Home warranty company contact information
- Community amenities
- Trash pick-up policies
- Utility companies
- Mail box information
- Parking policies
- Contact information for any vendors you would like us to use
- Three lease related questions
- How much you would like us to hold for maintenance and repairs
In Virginia you are required to supply working smoke detectors on every floor and we also recommend supplying a new fire extinguisher for the kitchen. The lease your tenant’s sign warrant the smoke detectors and we suggest that, if you have an older smoke detector, you replace it with a newer unit which has an easy access door for the battery. We also recommend you do a couple of routine maintenance items before you leave especially if they have not been done in a couple of years.
- Replace smoke detector batteries and test.
- Professionally clean the dryer vent.
- Check your sump pump to make sure it is working properly and, if you have a battery backup, test to make sure the battery is still operational.
- Put in a new air filter upon departure
- If you have a high efficiency gas furnace, please make sure you clean the venting system in winter and or the evaporator coil drain in the summer.
We recommend you inspect any wood burning fireplace if you anticipate the tenant will use it during their stay. If you have a gas fireplace, please make sure the pilot light is lit and the fireplace is working. It is very helpful to provide us with a copy of the instructions to have on hand to provide the tenant in case they wish to re-ignite the system. It can be costly to have a vendor visit to start the pilot light.
We do NOT recommend you leave any personal items at the property. They can be damaged or lost.
The Leading Property Management Firm with Licensed Realtors in Northern Virginia
Areas we serve:
- Northern Virginia
- Alexandria, VA
- Fairfax, VA
- Falls Church, VA
- Reston, VA
- Herndon, VA
- Leesburg, VA
- McLean, VA
- Manassas, VA
- Woodbridge, VA
- Sterling, VA
- Vienna, VA
- Chantilly, VA
- Centreville, VA
- Ashburn, VA
- Great Falls, VA
- Annandale, VA
- Springfield, VA
- Burke, VA
- Oakton, VA
Virginia Property Management Group
Let's Find You Together The Place You Deserve
Contact us today and let our expert team of professionals assist you with all your property management needs. Your investment’s success is our top priority.